MEN WHO BATTER WOMENThe Man Who Wanted to be Guilty – Henrik Stangerup,1973, 1982

HENRIK STANGERUP1937-1998

HENRIK STANGERUP, 1937-1998 Novelist, journalist, essayist, film director Danish writer and film director whose

internationally known works, influenced by the writings of Søren Kierkegaard, revealed his feelings of alienation and contempt for societal attitudes. Social commentary. Non-conformity of the intellect.

Manden der ville være skyldig (1973; The Man Who Wanted to Be Guilty, 1982)

Internationally focused: accounts of Paris, Brazil, India, Mexico, France

Most popular work was a trilogy of historical novels: The Road to Lagoa Santa, 1981, The Seducer: It is Hard to Die in Dieppe, 1985, and Brother Jacob (1991)

1977 movie set in Brazil: The Earth is Flat 1993 essays: Flight is the Order of the Day

THE NEED FOR GUILT

Focus on the concept of guilt Speculation about his father during WW II Consciousness of guilt as a part of the

author’s personality The individual in a social context –

experiencing resistance from the surroundings

The psychological forces that enable the individual to evade a fertile interaction with his surroundings

Affinity with the concept of guilt in Kierkegaard

SØREN KIERKEGAARD, 1813-1855

KIERKEGAARD AND EXISTENTIALISM

The father of Existentialism Pseudonyms Religion, Choice, Commitment Socratic dialogues Regine Olsen, 1840-41

Either-Or, 1843 Fear and Trembling, 1843 Stages on Life’s Way, 1845 Aesthetic – Ethical - Religious

EITHER- OR, 1843

The Aesthetic: “Diary of the Seducer”

The Ethical: “Assessor William”

FEAR AND TREMBLING, 1843STAGES ON LIFE’S WAY, 1845

The Knight of Faith

The Religious

Leap of Faith

THE WELFARE STATE AND EXISTENTIALISM Danish welfare society: Healthcare Maternity Leave / Parental Leave Unemployment and benefits Vacation Education Retirement benefits

Registration

Taxes

KIERKEGAARD’S INFLUENCE ON STANGERUP

The Man Who Wanted To Be Guilty - the dangers of conformity in society The main character, Torben, fought to separate himself

from the tactics of those in charge who wanted him to forget who he was and what he had done

They gave him pills to silent his emotions, took all his memories out of his apartment and attempted to brainwash him into believing he was not at fault for his actions

Soren Kierkegaard – the existence of man as an individual – The single person! Existentialists emphasize the importance of an individual’s

actions, emotions, thoughts and responsibilities Stangerup very familiar with his works, cf. his trilogy with the

three main characters representing one of Kierkegaard’s stages

AROUND 1973 Countries with a hand in the oil trade prosper (Denmark

struggles, is 99% dependent on foreign oil) Danes begin to produce their own alternative energy – wind

power Wars

Cold War, The Troubles (Irish/British Conflict), Vietnam and Israeli / Palestinian Conflict

Chinese cultural revolution, Vietnam War King Frederik IX dies in 1973 Denmark has become a welfare state Aksel Larsen (leader of Danish Communist Party) dies

Watergate Scandal January 1, 1973: Ireland, Denmark and the UK join the

European Economic Community the European Union 1972-U.S. airlines begins checking passengers and their

luggage!

POLITICAL REFLECTIONS Communism

In many eastern European nations Party Shift of 1973

Called the Landslide Election Public Support of “Old Four” parties fell from 90% to 58% Progress was needed

Vietnam War (1955-1975) Anti-Communist Conflict Swedish Prime Minister (1972) draws a parallel between American

bombing of North Vietnam and the Nazi’s mass killings Cultural revolution in China

Power reassertion of Mao, attempted to rid the Communist party of his opposition

Helped by youth group, the Red Guards; self-criticism of those who imagined themselves superior

schools considered elitist and were closed, economy suffered greatly Red Guards began to fight each other, social turmoil ensued

The Man Who Wanted To Be Guilty Lack of the voting public – benign dictatorship? (Demolition Man)

SUMMARY OF THE MAN WHO WANTED TO BE GUILTY Book opens with Torben thinking about his AC

(Aggression Control) exercises Torben loses faith in his wife, Edith’s resolve against the

AC meetings and becomes depressed, drinks a bottle of whisky, gets drunk, kills his wife and is held in a hospital

Torben sees a psychiatrist; they debate philosophy Happiness Park is introduced, and Torben returns home

to a house devoid of memories of wife and son Jasper Torben visits his former publisher who wants social

literature. Torben refuses but is determined to write Torben begins performing poorly at work and reveals

violent tendencies. Meets Bridgit, chain smoker Bridgit wants to be impregnated by him - cannot obtain a

mum-and-dad-card, but he refuses It is revealed that guilt has been eliminated from the

society’s vocabulary Torben tries to locate his son, Jasper and get him back. Is relocated to a one bedroom apartment

SUMMARY, CONTINUED Torben has nightmares about his wife’s death; the Helpers say “The

view that you caused the death of your wife has been abandoned …an accident occurred” (70)

Torben tries to convince the psychiatrist that he committed the murder, to no avail

Torben runs into Jasper who cries and runs away from him Torben thinks he may be “unbalanced” Torben lets himself be “helped” and joins community event for lonely

people Torben throws himself into AC exercises with much anger He sees a woman whose children are removed; he runs away

shouting “I’m a killer, I’m a killer”, goes to Bridgit’s house with the intent to kill her, but meets her brother who is making a TV show called “The People Complain”

Torben moves in with him, goes on the show to air his grievances, and is followed by a panel of everyone who is against him: the psychiatrist, Helpers, and Jasper who says it was an accident

He gets drunk and walks around screaming “Judge me!” After he wakes up from a dream he is finally found guilty of Edith’s

murder and sentenced to write four novels, he is in Happiness Park

TORBEN’S COPENHAGEN

Uniform society: classless, superblocks, helpers, similarities No competition: a contest is created between neighbors for best

bonsai tree Mum-and-Dad-Cards control family lives BLIMP and Propaganda

Worked for the Bureau of Language Improvement where he changes phrases and words to cause less emotion and distress

Two types of occupations: therapeutic helpers and everything else

Helpers: acts as police, therapists, community control AC (Aggression Control) meetings – mandatory if you want to

keep your child(ren) Torben refused to fully engage in the exercises, when Edith did

he was furious - independent thoughts

THE BONSAI TREES

Death of all of the natural trees in Copenhagen ( due to pollution from road salts)

Chemicals in the air Citizens are encouraged to raise bonsai trees Trim, Clip, Control – Control Nature Connection between “harsh” government control and

deathRelating to both people and the trees

Bridgit: resilient to government control of child birth and the “natural” processSame as the tree that grows outside of Torben’s

window

THE NUMBER THREE Actions repeated three times prior to Torben’s murder

of his wife:“Nevertheless he felt embarrassed and awful

enough to fill the glass with whiskey and immediately take three great gulps to that she wouldn’t complain about his lack of moderation” (9)

“She felt for a cigarette, lit it and inhaled three times in a row” (13)

“She backed off three paces” (13) The significance of the number three:

Back luck / deaths often come in threesAs a literary device, often signifies an unnaturalnessTorben’s life can be split into three stages--before

the superblocks, marriage to Edith, after Edith’s murder

THE ROLE OF WOMEN

The stereotype: Interested in appearance

“Didn’t she think of anything but nails?” (9)Emotional

“Edith was grouchy, and it was her right to be that way once in a while” (9)

Submissive“Even the lump in his throat made its appearance as he realized that [the Helpers] had gained control of her” (10)

“He didn’t understand why [Bridgit] kept on behaving as though she had nobody but him to think about” (55)

THE ROLE OF WOMEN, CONTINUED

Women given an active role in society:“In a few weeks the expressions ‘home-working

housewife’ and ‘housewife’ had just about disappeared from the language. There were now only two kinds of women in Denmark, passive-women and active-women, and the aim was to make all women active-women” (47)

In the 1970’s, women became more prominent in society1972: first female FBI agents, Australia commands equal pay for women, women admitted to Dartmouth

1973 : free abortion Potential for a power

Edith calls the Helpers when Torben is drunk – she can get a child certificate as a single mother

THE CHILD-RAISING DEBATE

Woman’s Right to ChooseRoe v. Wade decided in 1973, women may abort

their fetuses for any reason until viability“Only [Bridgit’s] unlimited naiveté kept her from

realizing that the child would be forcibly aborted if the Helpers discovered that she was pregnant within the first three months. It would be put up for adoption even if she was allowed to complete the pregnancy” (57)

Two pieces of legislationBan on children’s books and comicsParents required to take tests relating to having

children in order to obtain a “child certificate,” later the “mum-and-dad-card”

HAPPINESS PARK

In his first experience with Happiness Park, Torben tries to see through the cracks of the fence into the enclosure; he asks the psychiatrist about it with little information revealed

Novel ends with Torben confined in Happiness Park, assigned to write four socially uplifting novels

Clip from The Matrix:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXQozT

xQSiE&feature=related

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

Choice: the right to have children – ”earn your children”?

Innocence? Secrecy? Futuristic Society? Personal Identity – and Brainwashing The need of Guilt? The role of Happiness Park and manipulation of

reality? What role does Jasper play in the novel? What role does Bridgit play in the novel? The function of AC meetings?