C H A P T E R 5

MARXISM :A VEHICLE FOR COMMITMENT

"The Small Personal Voice", Doris Lessing's

non fiction work of 1957, is rightly called her

"manifesto on the novelist' s commitment". Because

as Bernard Duyfhuizen has said "this work has

trained the readers' eye to recognise the social

themes present in her fiction" (Duyfhuizen (1980) ,

147). From the beginning Lessing has been writing

about the white-black struggle in Southern colonial

Africa, the physical and emotional relationship

between men and women, the acute struggle of the

free woman, the left wing politics, the dedication

of the youth of 1930s and 40s for the left

politics. Because of her ability to deal with

social problems she is often linked with Mary

McCarthy and Simone de Beauvior. When these writers

excel in the intellectual and philosophical

treatment of the theme, Lessing masterfully

exhibits her deep commitment. Paul Schlueter

speaking of it says that "there is no one quite

like or even close to Mrs. Lessing in the intensity

of her commitment" (Schlueter (1965) ,481 . Devoid

of this sense of commitment, her novels are nothing

but a string of stories written to hang her ever

changing and fickle ideas on politics of the left,

Extra Sensory Perception and Sufism which had

occupied her interest at different stages of her

life.

Every writer, writes with a sense of society

and that is why literature is called "criticism of

life". However it is the Marxists who for the

first time emphasised the role of the writer in

shaping the society. Joseph Stalin had reiterated

that the writers are the "engineers of the human

soulV(Dave Laing, 41). If they are the engineers,

there is a tremendous responsibility invested in

them. But not all the writers are faithful in

fulfilling these responsibilities. This is the

reason for the controversy of the theory "art for

art sake" and "art is for life". The exponents of

"art for art sake" emphasised that a writer has no

commitment to society. Whereas the others held the

view that art should transform life. The Soviet

writers, especially after the revolution believed

firmly, that art should not only interpret life,

but also enable people to live life better, with

this view in mind they formed a new mode of realism

called the "socialist realism".

It was in the forties that the word

"commitment" gained popularity in France and from

there it spread to other parts of the world. The

word became prominent as embodying an "answer to

the problems of art and as a contribution to the

requirements of society" (The Hindu. Sunday, March

1, (1992) , XI) . The emergence of commitment in the

Twentieth Century suggests that it corresponds to

the needs of the present age. David Craig points

out two reasons for its emergence. The first, is

that we are faced with a reality which is moving so

fast that it is difficult to understand it. Hence

commitment from the part of a writer (artist) has

become essential.

The second point closely connected with the

first is the profound crisis of Modern

Civilization. Not only two world wars shattered

most of our illusions, but we are now compelled to

choose between life and death for our species. In

the age of nuclear energy this is the dilemma faced

by humanity. Not all sensitive men, especially

writers respond to it in the same way. Some

writers are quite cynical about it, while others

tend to dismiss it as too big and too remote for

them. Their attitude may be an expression of their

refusal to face reality. In our century such

"movements as the revolt of the "angry young men",

the theatre of the absurd and the impersonal

objectivity of the Robbe-Gi ttel type of "nouvean

roman" in which "individuals are crushed in the

inhuman worldr'(The Hindu, XI) are expressions of

the turmoil and violence experienced by people.

Committed writers do not despise any of these

trends but accept it is a historical necessity.

Doris Lessing is a writer of our period who

has accepted this commitment. For her, commitment

was the gift she received through her association

with Marxism. Her Southern Rhodesian days and her

involvement with the communist group in Southern

Rhodesia, left an indelible mark upon her

personality and attitudes. Her life in Southern

Africa revealed to her that the "essential gesture

by which a writer or for that matter anyone enters

the brotherhood of man . . .is a revolutionary

gesture" (The Hindu (1992), XI). Lessing's entry

into the communist group therefore was an

expression of revolt because it was inspired by her

vision of the brotherhood of man. Lessing was too

sensitive not to see the political and social

situation in Colonial Africa which encouraged the

exploitation of twenty five million unenfranchised,

economically vulnerable citizens at the hands of

five million people who had a powerful army at

their disposal, and the wealth of vigorous advanced

capitalist society. James Gindin says of Lessing's

commitment that it is 'intended to reform society"

(James Gindin (1962), 65). This intention is

evident from her very first stories and novels.

234

In Lessing , commitment is prominent because

she writes with an "inner censor" (Personal Voice,

116) which compels her again and again to seize

every subject both social and personal to express

it. For example the first novel The Grass is

Singing expresses the social situations that

existed in Southern Rhodesia in the thirties and

the forties, through the story of Mary Turner and

her husband. Living in the isolated farm, faced

with failure and hardships, Mary turns to Moses for

understanding and consolation, which in turn

becomes an action of "code breaking" (Fishburn

(1988), 200). Lessing succeeds in depicting the

extent of apartheid in society. The ill treatment

of the black by the white both physically and

mentally is poignantly expressed in the Mary -

Moses relationship. Mary, the representative of

the white women, brought up to abhor and despise,

fear and dominate the black becomes an object of

contempt for the white and black. The whites

despise her because she stands before them as the

one who has broken the social codes. According to

Katherine Fishburn Mary breaks two codes, the first

is the code of marriage. Mary refuses to marry, and

settle as expected of every woman and when she

marries Dick later in her life it was not out of

love, but to avoid the criticism of her companions

who found her lacking in some ways, for they said

"she just isn't like that, isn't like that at all.

Something missing somewhere" (Grass, 40) . The

second code is, apartheid, she breaks it by

developing a mysterious relationship with a black,

against the social norms. She is despised by the

black because of her cruelty to them. No servant

fared in her homestead. They left one after

another. In the farm she terrorised them and

struck the best of them across the face with the

's jambok' . Mary and Charlie Slatter represent the

exploitation of the black, by the white, but Mary

in turn is counter exploited by the black through

Moses, who takes revenge upon her race by feigning

to be kind and understanding.

Eve Bertelsen praises Lessing for her

committedness as an individual in exposing the

"colonial oppression" (Bertelsen (19911, 648) as

practised in the colonies. Lessing exposes two fold

colonial oppression: oppression of the black and

the oppression of the white arising from their life

situation. Lessing has succeeded in exposing the

sufferings of the white in the vast veld of

uncongenial Africa. All the white characters in

the farm have their share of suffering. Charlie

Slatter though has become rich, lost his humanity

and has become a ruthless capitalist. His wife and

children have suffered poverty and want and the

inhumanities of Mr. Slatter. Dick lost his wealth

and health and even his senses due to failure and

misfortune. Mary becomes mad and dies at the hand

of her servant. Tony Maston the new arrival to the

farm leaves it after the tragedy of Mary and Dick,

and accepts a profession much against his wish and

got stuck "in an office and did paper work, which

was what he had come to Africa to avoidV1.(Grass,

30). In the Children of Violence series too Lessing

focuses upon the sufferings of the white people.

Their hunger for companionship, the loneliness of

women, and lack of opportunity for the young people

in a colonial set up all receive special attention

in her narrative. It is a dismal picture of

colonial experience that we discern in her novels.

One of the aspects of Lessing's commitment

lies in revealing the greatness and nobility of the

black race who are branded as uncivilised brutes.

She takes every care to present Moses as a human

being, and in a better light. His sympathetic love

for Dick his tolerance and care for Mary and his

willingness to own up the murder of his mistress,

are sketched with great precision that Moses stands

triumphant above the white. By stressing the

humanity of Moses Lessing exposes the absurdity of

the myth of the white superiority. In fact Lessing

confesses that often the "white people have been

given ordinary, decent human warmth by black people

when they needed it" (Under My Skin, 218). Though

it is not possible to say that Lessing's writings

have paved way for the black unrest and their

liberation, it has definitely helped in exposing

the colonial situation to the outside world.

Lessing, even in her personal life raised her voice

against apartheid and organised a gathering of the

black sympathisers in England to demand better

treatment for the black in Africa. Lessing has a

counter part in Nadine Gordimer, a white settler

like her, in South Africa. Like Lessing, Gordimer

too exposes the problem of apartheid and upholds

the common brotherhood of humanity. In her novel

July's People she exposes the humanity of the

blacks, through July who has rescued the white

couple, Bam and Maureen Smales, his former masters,

from the violence in the city and has taken them to

live with him in the village. There, the Smales

realises that the structured world and assigned

roles become obsolete and relationship alone

remains in tact. July even gives up his attempt to

speak the white man's language to these white

couple, and they in turn refuse to simplify their

language for July. Gordimer highlights that

outside the structured world of apartheid human

beings are equal. Lessing exposed the pain of

"racism" in the first novel.

In Children of Violence series she dealt with

the quest of an individual woman to define and find

herself a niche in a male dominated society. Her

focus on women's perspective earned for her the

name, feminist and despite her many denials she is

one of the early powerful voices in the new wave of

Feminism. At this stage her commitment is revealed

in exposing the plight of women in the present

society. She has created two powerful characters in

the Sixties, Martha Quest and Anna Wulf, with a

keen awareness of the problems of society and the

enthusiasm to fight against it.

Martha Quest the adolescent girl of the veld

of Rhodesia rebels against her parents especially

against her mother's social pretensions and social

mores. To express her revolt she joins the

communist group and accepts a life style that was

quite shocking to her parents and her compatriots.

If Mary Turner destroys herself through marriage,

Martha leaves marriage to keep herself alive. She

believed firmly that by joining the communist group

she was "going to change this ugly world" (Under my

Skin, 262), because there for the first time she - saw people who were prepared to do more than talk

about the colonial problems. She found the black

and white sit together, where the black are

respected as human beings and the women are taken

seriously. Lessing reports many quarrels between

Martha and her mother arising from their difference

in views. For Martha every quarrel is a fight for

freedom, either for herself or for the natives.

Her indignation at the ill treatment of the black

is expressed, in a fight with her mother over the

question of walking alone in the veld, conveys the

injustice of blaming everything upon the black. The

conversation follows thus:

What would happen if a native attacked you? I

should scream for help", said Martha

flippantly Oh, my dear. . . . Oh, don't be

ridiculous said Martha angrily, if a native

raped me, then he'd be hung and I'd be a

national heroine, so he wouldn't do it, even

if he wanted to, and why should he? (Martha,

47).

Her feelings for the blacks again find

expression in the scene where she witnesses the

blacks being led in chains for not carrying passes

after the curfew. Every time she witnesses this,

she feels "the oppression of a police state" (184)

and longs for freedom for the blacks. Lessing makes

Martha strong enough to question the authorities

and the powerful capitalists about the disparities

of the rich and the poor, and the exploitation of

24 1

the black. She questions Mr. Maynard about Mr.

Matushi' s punishment for not carrying pass (Proper

Marriage, 212) and Mr. Baker about the low payment

of the window dressers working under him (Martha,

230). She visits the location to help them with

instructions for medical assistance and employment

news.

However Martha's commitment comes to its peak

in London. This time not in the colonial set up,

but in the traditional homestead of the Coleridges

that she exercises her commitment. Martha's

decision to be part of the household and be a

surrogate mother to Francis and Paul, unifies the

otherwise broken atmosphere of the family. In fact

Martha's life too becomes meaningful there, because

all that she has been fighting against get

resolved. Through Marthaf s decision to take up the

responsibility of the family and her success in

manoeuvring them through the hard days, and by

educating the young members of the family and

others from different parts of the world to take up

the rehabilitation activities of the nuclear

blasted world, Lessing focuses on the point that

the broken and fragmented world can be united and

healed only through commitment. It is by seeing

the united and sincere efforts of the young that

Mark remarks. "My son says there is hope in the

world" (Four Gated City, 663) .

Like Martha Quest and her group of committed

people there is another character Lessing creates

with this same "intense commitment" (James Gindin,

65). It is Anna Wulf. She is a writer with left

wing politics. Anna is presented as a free woman,

with a free womant s burdens of existence. As a free

woman she suffers from emotional insecurity. She

frequents Mrs. Mark the psychoanalyst with her

problems. As a writer she undergoes the writers

cramp, which her lover Saul Green the American

writer helps her identify as arising from her

confusion about the question of commitment. Anna' s

author had learned the initial lessons of

commi tment in Southern Rhodesia, from the communist

party, where she was instructed about the high

responsibility of the communist. Anton's emphatic

words like "communist, comrades, is a person who is

utterly, totally dedicated to the cause of freeing

humanity" (Ripple,37), surmnarised for her the

essence and the social, aspect of commitment. He

also emphasised the attitude an individual

communist should adopt by saying that "a communist

must consider himself a dead man on leave". Thus

laying claims to the importance of society over

self. Anna's struggle was to come to terms with

these two realities. To Tommy Mollyf s son, she had

revealed the reason for not writing and publishing.

She puts it as : I'd been afflicted with an awful

feeling of disgust, of futility. Perhaps I don't

like spreading those emotions" (Notebook, 55) . This conviction arises from her sense of commitment.

She cannot agree with Tommy's argument, "if you

feel disgust, then you feel disgust. Why pretend

not?" (551, because as pointed out earlier she

considers the writer's duty as something serious

and sacred. He/she is "an architect of the soulpf,

and as such he/she has to build and not destroy.

T o w ' s suicidal attempts after reading Anna' s

fragmented stuff from the note books, justifies her

reluctance to publish it. She believes firmly that

no writer who is committed can be indifferent to

humanity .

244

The insistence on commitment may be wrongly

interpreted as instruction to produce cheap

propaganda literature. In the Small Personal Voice

Lessing says:

I see no reason why writers should not work,

in their role as citizens, for a political

party; but they should never allow themselves

to feel obliged to publicise any party policy

or 'live' unless their own private passionate

need as writers makes them do so: in which

case the passion might, if they have talent

enough make literature of the propaganda (10).

The demand for commitment would produce only

worthless stuff in the hand of a lesser talent. But

since Lessing has talent enough, she made

'literature of the propaganda' of a different type.

She urges people to commit themselves for the

establishment of a better tomorrow not through a

party but through a philosophy.

Lessing shared with Anna Wulf of the Golden Note

Book all her apprehension regarding propaganda

literature. Part of the writer's block Anna

experiences is due to her confusion regarding the

role of the writer in society. Anna reveals it to

Saul Green thus :

I can't write that short story or any other

because at that moment I sit down to write

someone comes into my room, looks over my

shoulder and stops me (553).

Brought up in the communist tradition, where she

was instructed to be active as a party worker, in

organising and participating in meetings, Anna has

become at least for a while sceptic about the

writerf s role. Anna' s further explanation to Saul,

identifying her disturbers makes the cause of this

confusion more clear. She says:

It could be a Chinese Peasant or one of

Castro' s Guerrilla fighters. Or an Algerian

fighting in the FLN. or Mr. Mathlong. They

stand here in the room and they say why aren't

you doing something about us, instead of

wasting your time scribbling? (554).

All the people who come to her room are people

directly engaged in freedom struggle. Should a

246

writer actively involve in freedom struggle or

write passionately about their cause? This was

what was troubling Anna and Saul helps her to

resolve this, by asking her to write. He gives her

the first line of the story, "The two women were

alone in the London flat" (554). He helps her thus

to understand that as a writer, she is called to

use her pen to propagate the cause of freedom.

Accepting the instructions given by her lover, she

uses her pen and person as expressed in the end of

the Golden Note Book. Anna of the "Free Woman"

goes to teach in the night classes sponsored by the

Labour Party and Anna of the "Golden Note Book"

devotes herself to writing. Her two fold decision

relieve her of the block, she was experiencing both

as a writer and as a woman. The Wind Blows Away

our Words is the supreme example of Lessing's

dedication to the cause of suffering and

oppression. As a writer she conscientises the

world especially the western world about the plight

of the Afghans fighting against the Russians for

freedom.

Lessing's commitment is shaded by a touch of

humanism. Probably she was influenced by nineteenth

century, novelists like Tolstoy, Stendhal,

Dostoevsky, Balzac, Turgenev, Chekov; the writers

of "the great realist tradition". These masters

were the renowned humanists who were revered by

Marx and Engels and other Marxian writers. When

the Russian communists were formulating a style of

writing which would be suitable for the

proletariat, they chose the "socialist realism" in

order to propagate the Marxist principles all over

the world. Lessing herself wrote a novel Retreat

into Innocence in the genre of "socialist realism".

Though she herself does not attach much merit on

it, it throws light upon the sense of commitment

Lessing had in the 1950s.

In her later novels written after the space

fiction she creates individuals who are strong in

their sense of commitment. Jane Somers, Alice

Mellings, Harriet Lovette and Sarah Durham are the

focus of analysis here. These characters of her

later realism are specifically noted for the

humanistic side of commitment.

Janna the protagonist of the Diaries of Jane

Sonuners is not introduced as a left wing supporter,

but definitely she shares some of Lessing' s traits .

She is a writer especially a "fashion editor" who

is in her early fifties. Her casual meeting with

Maudie Fowler the ninety two year old lady at the

chemist store, results in an unexpected and strange

relationship between the two. Jane Sonuners was a

guilt ridden character, who had neglected her

husband Freddie who died of cancer, and her mother

who too died of illness of some kind. Janna's

decision to take care of the destitute Maudie,

brings sun shine into the lives of the old invalid,

and it brings out the tenderness and compassion

that was hibernating in Janna.

Through the story of Jane-Maudie relationship

Lessing exposes a contemporary problem, the

problems of the old in society who are removed to

"Homes", where they become neurotic and die of lack

of love and in loneliness. Society's attitude

towards them is well reflected in the voice of Jim

who comes to Maudie's house to fix the new cable

and switches at the request of Janna. "What is the

good of people that old?" (Dairies, 32) .Every one

will be happy if they are put in a "Home". "Where

young healthy people canf t see them, can't have

them on their minds ! " (33) .

The problems of the old is a crucial one in

every society today, with broken homes, unsettled

and unstable life style. By touching upon this

problem, Lessing once again expresses her unique

gift of sensing the need of the time, an ability

that springs from her commitment to society.

The humane aspect of her commitment is

revealed in depicting the old not as useless logs

but as sensitive human beings whose wisdom

surpasses the younger generations' . On the first

day of their encounter itself Maudie Fowler reveals

her wisdom and her spirit of independence. To

Janna she says "with a place of your own, you've

got everything. Without it, you are a dog. You

are nothingr'(27). The need for privacy and security

is basically human, Maudie Fowler by upholding it

proclaims to the world that though old they are not

"things" but human beings with self respect.

Janna's "transformation from a clever and

capable fashion journalist to a fully aware and

feeling human being" (Toulson, 519) is brought about

by her relationship with Maudie. She who used to be

"sick and panicky" and "hated physical awfulness"

(15) become a changed person through her commitment

to the old woman. It is expressed in her

sensitiveness to her sister and nieces, to her

colleagues at work, and to the social workers,

nurses and neighbours who are involved in Maudie's

fading life. Janna herself is appalled by the

transformation she sees in her. She says:

Once I was so afraid of old age, of death,

refused to let myself see old people in the

streets. They did not exist for me. Now, I

sit for hours in that ward and watch and

marvel and wonder and admire (245) .

This is the transforming nature of human

commitment .

The transforming nature of commitment is not a

special feature of her later realistic novels. It

is visible in her earlier novels as well. Martha

Quest is transformed from a highly sensitive

irresponsible and impulsive youth who rejected

family and party at the same time, becomes a mature

and responsible individual the moment she takes up

the reins of the broken and shattered Coleridge

family at the Radlette street. She becomes an

advisor and guide and guardian to everyone in the

family. Lynda finds a close friend and ally in

her, Mark Coleridge a faithful and able companion

and mistress, Paul and Francis find her, a mother

caring and challenging. Every one in the family

withstands the tension and confusion that have been

reigning in the family for a long time, through the

able presence of Martha. It is Martha again who

introduces the new born children with the powers

necessary for the future world to the newly formed

camps.

The change that occurs in the personality of

Anna Wulf in the Golden Note Book is also

remarkable. She has taken the decision to write and

perform the writer's duty. So also Saul Green her

American writer lover leaves England with the

unfinished novel to resume writing in America and

settle down with his family. Molly, Tommy and

Marion, Richard's second wife, all have found

meaning in their life again, after a period of

confusion, through commitment. Molly for instance

decides to marry "the poor Jewish boy from the East

End who got rich and salved his conscience by

giving money to the communist party" (575).

Through marriage she stops being a drain on

Richard. Tommy likewise, has given up his queer

ideas and confusion and has decided to "follow in

Richard's footsteps" (575) into the business world.

Marion under the able guidance of Tommy enters into

a business of selling "good clothes".

Lessing sees every trouble in society as

springing up from individual's reluctance to accept

commitment. This belief of Lessing is voiced by

Saul Green in the Golden Note Book. He sees even

psychological problems as resulting from lack of

commitment. To Anna he says, "that's the dark

secret of our time, no one mentions it, but every

time one opens a door one is greeted by a shrill,

desperate and inaudible screamN (574) the scream of

frustrations. Anna Wulf thanks Saul for pulling

her out from this state. He achieved it by

compelling her to accept commitment to oneself,

ones duty and ones society. Once that is resolved

society falls into order.

In Marriages Between the Zones Three Four and

Five, Al-Ith, Ben Ata and Vahshi all experience the - same transforming power of commitment. They

experience it in their personal life and in their

respective Zones. From an over sensitive narrow

minded and prudish maid, Al-Ith becomes a strong,

broad minded, considerate woman and her people in

Zone Three become happy and come to know the

presence of other beings like them in other Zones.

Ben Ata likewise experiences a transformation

within himself and with in his Zone. His feeling

of superiority crumbles down and he submits to

learn from his wife Al-Ith. The people of Zone Four

too experience this transformation. They change

their attitude to Zone Three. Al-Ith who was

considered to be a "witch from the high lands" is

now admired and worshipped. The women's initiative

to visit Al-Ith is a great step in Zone Four.

Unlike the women of Zone Three, they had always

been kept under the strong custody of the male

warriors. Now they dare to move out of the Zone.

Vahshi's experience of transformation is seen

in her general attitude to Zone Four. She once

looted and destroyed the kingdom of Ben Ata. But

once she accepts commitment she is changed. She

comes to admire and respect Ben Ata, her husband by

order. She listens to his cautions about the

"degeneration of her people" and believed him

because "She could see it for herself: there was

slackness and a loosening among them and she did

not like itw (216) . The greatest gift she received

perhaps is the ability to think. She changes from a

hyper active woman to a quite and reflective lady,

because "everything in her was changed and she

felt set apart from, the life of her people, and

responsible in a way she did not understandN(217).

Kate Brown and Maureen in Summer Befor the

Dark - 1 the Survivor, Emily and Gerald in Memoirs of

a Survivor experience transformation. Emily's and

Gerald's change is particularly noteworthy. From

the inexperienced adolescence they grow up to

become leaders who take care of the little ones

abandoned by the floating population of a 'dying

culture'. Though they slip into a retrogression of

our civilisation, at the end of the novel Lessing

leads them to a new world order, where the ugliness

of the present civilisation does not exist; perhaps

that's the world order the Survivor and the young

band tried to organise against all odds.

A close reading of Lessing's novels reveal

that she makes no difference between commitment and

responsibility. For her they are synonyms. In her

essay "The Small Personal Voice" she said that "If

a writer accepts (this) responsibility, he must see

himself, to use the socialist phrase, as an

architect of the soul"(Persona1 Voice, 11). With

this statement she lays down a dictum that every

writer with a social sense must commit

himself/herself for a social cause. In "the preface

to The Golden Note Book" she exposes, the way she

overcomes the question of subjectivity by making

the personal universal. She says:

Writing about oneself, one is writing about

others since your problems, pains, pleasures,

emotions and your extraordinary and remarkable

ideas can' t be yours alone. The way to deal

with the problem of 'subjectivity' is to see

him as a microcosm. . . .making the personal

general (13) .

Since for her what is most personal is most

universal, the question of subjectivity was crucial

for Lessing, because when she started her writing

career "subjectivity" was the main problem faced by

writers every where. Lessing recognised this

pressure as building up with in the communist

group. She says:

The pressure began inside communist movements,

as a development of the social literary

criticism developed in Russia in the

nineteenth century, by a group of remarkable

talents, of whom Belinsky was the best known,

using the arts and particularly literature in

the battle against csarism and oppression. It

spread fast every where, finding an echo as

late as the fifties, in this country,

[England] with the theme of commitment (12) .

The jargon against subjectivity was strongly

pronounced by the communist as "bothering about

your stupid personal concerns when Rome is

burningU(l2). As an answer to the tension that was

building up in the writing circle she created Anna

Wulf a communist writer, with a severe writers

block and Lessing resolves at the end of novel the

problems of subjectivity by making her emerge as a

responsible and committed writer.

The humanistic outlook of life, reflected in

Lessing's novels, certainly is the result of

Marxian influence. The Polish Marxist philosopher

Adam Schaff states:

Man is the standing point and final aim of

socialism, and it is man's purposive activity

that brings it into being. Humanism is the out

look which sees the all sided development of

the human individual as the goal of human

activity. Socialist as distinct from other

kinds of humanism links the realisation of

this goal with the specific social and

economic aims of socialism. Marxism took its

point of departure from humanism, and in

258

theory and practice. Its concern has been with

human affairs" (as cited by Bastian Wielenga,

311).

J.M. Lochman too sees Marx as a first rank

representative of "European humanism" (Bastian

Wielenga.311). The French philosopher Althussar

and his school developed a version of Marxism which

became very influential in the academic circles in

the 1960s and 1970s as a "theoretical anti-

humanism". He gives a structural analysis in which

the relations of production and not human subjects

play fundamental role. But Marx keeps human beings

at the central stage of society in the analyses of

the structure of the capitalist economy. He

presents capitalist and labourers as the

representatives of capital and labour power. He

shows that the workers have become "appendages to

Machines". He makes clear how in capitalist

productive process human beings are degraded,

alienated, bled to death and crushed. Marx looks

forward to a time when this situation will be

altered by "the associated producers" who would

bring production "under their common control.

Instead of being ruled by it, [Productionlas by the

blind forces of Nature" and they would achieve

this" [control] under conditions favourable to and

worthy of, their human nature" (Capital , Vol .3,

820). This production and control again would be

the basis for "the true realm of freedom" in which

the "development of human energy. . .is an end in

itself" (820) .

This is Marx's humanistic language, a

humanistic perspective with a vision of human

emancipation. If humanism of preceding ages

centred on isolated individuals, Marx considered

humans as social beings. This humanism that Marx

advocates, is adapted by Lessing also and she

openly declares it in A Small Personal Voice: "The

result of having been a communist is to be a

humanistn (23) Ellen Cronan Rose, who made a study

of the humanism of Foster and Lessing, affirms that

Lessing's humanism takes into account the

connection between man and his world.

The humanism as expressed in her later novels

is the focus of analysis here. In her second novel

of later realism, If the Old Could(1984) Lessing

260

exposes Janna's life after the death of Maudie

Fowler. Janna falls in love with a handsome

American in London, also middle aged, with wife and

children in America, and one daughter in London

following him like a shadow. What would have been

a highly melodramatic and disastrous love story,

Lessing manoeuvres to a final conclusion of happy

family union and lasting friendship. Lessing' s

manner of expressing human emotions is wonderful.

Both Jane and Richard are honest in their

expression of love and the bond they feel for each

other, but at the back of their romance loom two

characters Kate, the alienated, loveless teenager,

Jane' s second niece and Richard' s daughter

Kathleen. It is in the sympathetic handling of

these two lonesome and disoriented young people and

in handling the sincerity of Richard's and Jane's

passion for each other that Lessing reveals her

humanism . In the two novels of the Diaries,

Lessing focuses on the two pressing necessities of

our society - the problem of the old and the

problems of the young.

"Humanism always takes into account man's

relation to man in society, that alone determines

the real value of life" (XIV) says Maurice Merleau

- Ponty in his book Humanism and Terror. Lessing

seems to uphold this view and all her characters

flourish on the strength of their mutual

interactions. She is dealing with commitment not

only at the national or political level, but also

in familial or personal relationships. Janna the

protagonist of the Diaries gains her identity

through her association with the old Maudie Fowler

and the deep understanding and tolerance exhibited

in her dealing with her second niece, the chocolate

eating irresponsible and baby like Kate. The

problem of the old and disabled and the

irresponsibility of the young are the basic malady

of the present day society. The effective handling

of these demands vision and commitment. Lessing's

characters are empowered, despite their weakness,

to manage these difficult situations. Very of ten

one wonders why Janna tolerates Kate and why

Richard simply allows his daughter to follow him.

The answer has been provided by Lessing herself in

her interviews at Stony Brook where she emphasised

her faith in humanity. She says " human kind is a

brave lot of people" (Personal Voice, 81). The same

conviction is expressed by Mark in The Four Gated

-. Citing his son, Francis, he says:

my son has hope for the future of the world.

He says there is hope in the world, a good

thing happening, a new start (663).

Humanity will Survive any trials. This deep

conviction is responsible for the tolerant attitude

Janna and Richard adopt towards their delinquents.

Though Kathleen and Kate are "dismal" and

"hopelessW(508) as they are presented to the reader

Lessing, brings them out of their tantrums, through

careful handling. Hence Janna's decision to send

Kate to Hannah's 'Commune', is a wise one. In the

company of her 'likes', she may stand a better

chance to improve and return to normal society.

A similar story of love in old age and an aunt

niece relationship is dealt again in her latest

novel, Love Again (1995) . The novel deals with the

story of Sarah Durham, a sixty year old producer

and founder of a leading fringe Theatre "Green

BirdN, who cmissions a play based on the journals

of 'Julie Vairon" a beautiful and wayward

nineteenth century mulatto woman. The musically

rendered play captivates all who come into contact

with it, and dramatically changes the lives of all

who take part in it. They are all stricken with a

deep romantic mood, and Sarah herself falls in love

with two younger men, one after another. The

experience of love causes her to re-live her own

stages of growing up, from immature and infantile

love for the beautiful and androgynous Bill to the

mature love of Henry , the American sponsor for the

Play.

Lessing juxtaposes two different ages with

different moral values and problems in Love Again.

But the human emotions explored in it are the same,

'love and commitment'. Love is the theme of the

book, and the theme of commitment, inspired by

humanism, runs parallel to it. Lessing introduces

two characters Stephen and Joyce to develop the

theme of commitment and humanism. Stephen is the

author of the dramatic version of 'Julie Vairon'.

He has captured the romantic intensity of the story

and rendered it in drama, but the same romantic

intensity has captured him. If the others are

inspired by the love life of Julie Vairon he is

influenced by the melancholic mood of Julie. This

melancholy is intensified by his broken

relationship with his wife, Elizabeth who is a

Lesbian. Stephen though resents this, for the sake

of the children and Elizabeth' s talent at

organisation tolerates her whims, but after the

second performance of the play in London "Stephen

killed himself, making it seem an accident while

shooting rabbitsrr(305). Elizabeth was not perturbed

by his death. She only considered it as "daminable

irresponsibility" on his part (307), because 'it is

very bad for childrenV(307).

Through Love Again in particular Lessing shows

the importance of the right person taking

responsibility. Sarah stands by Stephen, in

moments of great difficulty and mental strain. But

Stephen's case needed his wife's attention and

loving care. Her failure in giving him that led to

his tragedy.

Lessing keeps Stephen's tragedy as a contrast

to Joyce and her mother in the same Novel. Joyce

Sarah's brother Hal's daughter, is the youngest of

three children of busy parents. Hal and Ann are

doctors. The girls are neglected but the elder

ones learn to be responsible and mature but Joyce

becomes wayward. She is like Kate in If the Old

Could, born a misfit to society. "She was a crying - baby" a "grizzling toddler", and a 'disagreeable

child" from the beginning. When she went to

school, she at once fell ill and had to come home.

. .A psychiatrist recommended that she be allowed

to stay at home". Sarah was given the

responsibility of looking after the child. As

Joyce became fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen, things

went from bad to worse. "Suicide attempts, crises,

cries for helpr'(l2)went on as usual and Joyce

became a psychological burden to her Aunt Sarah.

She wanted to avoid the responsibility of Joyce but

her brother Hal reminded that "Joyce looked on her

- Sarah - as her effective parent" (13). But with

all the help and care that Sarah gave her she was

not improving. She was in fact becoming popular

and prominent among "addicts, pushers and

prostitutes" (13). This Joyce who had gone beyond

all attempts at redemption becomes a docile lamb

the moment her mother, Ann decides to leave the

profession and look after the child. The

transformation in Joyce surprises even her

siblings. She who knew nothing, not even to "boil

an egg" is now cooking and has beautifully arranged

her life. The mother goes to work as usual and

Joyce keeps the house. She is learning Spanish to

make a living for herself. Here is comitment from

the right person, bringing desired effect of

transformation and wholeness.

Lessingrs humanism does not end with caring

for the disabled and deformed. By concentrating on

educating the young generation to accept

responsibility for themselves and for others,

Lessing is extending her humanism and commitment

from personal and familial to national or social

level. In the Four Gated City Francis and Paul are

given the responsibility of organising the future

generation; in Summer Before the Dark, Maureen; in

The Diaries of Jane Sommers, Kate; in Sentimental

Agents, Incent and in Love Again, Joyce, are

educated by the older generation to accept

responsibility. Despite the many failures Lessing

never loses hope in the young. In all these

characters mentioned above some form of growth is

affected though Lessing does not elaborately

mention about the change. Joyce stays with her

mother in a flat and adjusts to the demands of the

day to day life by cooking and house keeping.

Maureen decides to marry the man of her choice and

start the life of a middle class house wife. Incent

is taken to the hospital for the "complete

Immersion" treatment to cure him of his crazy ideas

of redundant Rhetoric and Kate (Diaries) goes off

to stay with Hannah, the extremist Feminist and the

friend and colleague of Janna. What we hear of

Kate last from Janna, is not all that consoling.

She tells Richard that Hannah is "finding Kate hard

going" (D. J. S . 5 0 5 ) . But believing in the faith

Lessing has in people, Kate's future is safe and

she will grow to take up responsibility and find

her place in society as Joyce did.

However Ruth Whittaker seems to think after

seeing Alice Mellings, the over sized and over aged

adolescent and her revolutionary companions in The

Good Terrorist (1985) that Lessing has lost "hope"

in the "younger generationN (Whittaker, 127) . But in

fact, if we go into the moral values that justify

the actions of Alice Mellings, Caroline and

Roberta, we can realise that Lessing still affirms

her faith in the young. Though they had shared the

aspirations of the group, they stand against the

bombing which takes place at the end of the novel.

Caroline who opposes the group's decision to bomb

the city expresses her protest by keeping away from

following the group to the city. Alice and Roberta

out of curiosity, enthusiasm and excitement for

action joins the group, but Alice informs the

"Samaritan" about the bomb blast and the location

and the people responsible for the blast. "It's in

Knightsbridge . . . Dis the I.R.A. Freedom for Ireland! For a united Ireland and peace to all mankind!"

(Terrorist, 355). From the moment Alice comes to

know that the bomb is going to be blasted in the

peak hour and in the best part of London, she was

upset, thinking of the number of lives that will be

lost. She tries to persuade them against it. The

force that compelled her to dial the "Samaritan"

was her feeling for humanity . Lessing' s

description of her thoughts and feelings before the

act, is proof enough of her humanness. She thinks:

[Blut people might be killed. . . oh no, that

couldn' t happen ! But inside her chest a

pressure was building up, painful., like a

crying but she could not let it be heard.

Like the howl of a beast in despair, but she

could not reach it; to comfort it (351).

Though Alice could not prevent the action she could

bring help to the injured in time and save the

lives of many.

George Kearns holds the view that Alice

Mellings does not posses the qualities of a "Good

Terrorist" because she is blessed with a Dickensian

"Good Heart". She is "unassailably self

sacrificing, unshakeable in her desire to Mother,

to help out anyone in need of whatever she can

give". She cannot be termed a good terrorist,

because she is good at heart, but she is "rotten

being a terrorist" (George Kearns (1986), 122) .

This paradoxical goodness is again proof of her

humanity. He says that the title may better suit

Andrew an intensely serious man who looks Russian,

speaks with a perfect American accent, and goes

under an Irish name. He is the "real thing", in

Alice's starry eyes. "Hers like Lenin!" (Good - Terrorist, 104). The second person for whom the

title may fit is Jocelin, the "humourless single

minded girl with her domestic competence knows how

to follow a kind of recipe book for making

bricolage bombs and it is she who finally drives

the male leaders beyond talk to tragic actionN

(Kearns, 122,123) .

If Jocelin is basically involved in

destruction, Alice is constructive in her action

and thought, in one sense. Her mother Dorothy

Mellings, an ex-communist activist devoted herself

and her resources to party activities. Alice in

her constructive ways drains herself for the sake

of her terrorist group.

Alice is again shown as a person with a high

sense of morality even though she refuses to grow

up and accept responsibility in life. There is no

other person among the terrorist, endowed with such

271

moral integrity. Alice on a pure humanitarian

basis, recommends to her mother the case of Monica,

a total stranger, who could enjoy a better

accommodation in her mother's house. She is a

terrorist not to destroy but to construct and

build, to help and sustain.

Likewise, in her decision to go for Philip's

funeral, again her moral sense is revealed. Philip

had helped the group despite his illness with his

skill in carpentry. Respect and gratitude is the

sign of a noble heart. Lessing bestows upon Alice

these qualities abundantly. Human beings and human

emotions are important for Alice. The same

feelings are evoked in her when she imagines the

extend of destruction that would be caused by the

explosion and she informs the "Samaritan". Hence

as Marilynne Robinson puts it "the Good Terrorist

of the title is Alice Mellings" (Marilynne Robinson

(1985), 4) . Good does not stand for competence in

destruction - but competence for construction,

kindness, humanism and commitment. In other words

as Alison Lurie says, in Alice's case her

commitment and humanism lie in her "domestic

genius" which provides a "haven for the terrorist,

giving them a place where they can stay together

long enough to plot the bombingn(Alison Lurie

(1985), 9). For Alice the bombing is important

because "she dreams vaguely of a general

destruction, after which the injuries people suffer

at the hands of society will be no more" (Marilynne

Robinson (1985) , 4 ) . In her dreams Alice resembles

her author who believes in catastrophe as the agent

of reformation, Lessing's faith in a total change

in society is reinforced in every novel.

Katherine Fishburn draws a comparison between

Lessing and Alice. She says that in her efforts to

heal, Alice is symbolic of Lessing, who has always

directed her energy to the healing of the society,

suffering from the deep wounds of hatred and war,

caused by man's deep rooted selfishness, expressed

in individualism and individual pursuits. Like

Lessing Alice also does not succeed in healing

society at large, but she does save her suicidal

comrade from death. She also saves the house they

have been living in; for after she renovates it,

the council decides to convert it into flats.

Fishburn continues saying that the house really

"symbolises Alice's function in the story. She is,

in the words of Stanley Fish, a "good physician",

tells the people and society what is wrong and she

dedicate herself to heal the society (Fishburn

(1988) ,199). Alice embodies the "Good Terrorist in

Lessing herself". The house becomes a symbol of the

world Lessing hopes to repair, renovate and renew,

the same world that we, her contemporaries seek to

destroy. Like Lessing, Alice also is inspired by

the socialist/Marxist ideology. Though she has not

"read Marx or Lenin, she treats their names like

holy imagesN (Elizabeth Maslen.461, sufficient

enough to inspire a course of action to change the

entire ideology of the world.

The novel The Fifth Child (1988) classed as

the most gruesome novel written by Lessing, deals

with commitment to the disabled and delinquent.

Into the perfect family atmosphere of Harriet and

David, earmarked by holiday parties, homely

festivals, arrives the fifth child, Ben, who turns

out to be abnormal. Lessing refers to him as one

of "the little people" who probably lived in "caves

or mountains" before the fire (Rodenberg (1989) ,3) .

He kills a dog, attacks his brother, kills the cat

Mr. McGregor . Everybody except Harriet decides

that he, who is evidently "unsociable" must be

institutionalised. Driven by a sense of "guilt and

horror that kept her awake through the nights"

(Fifth Child,94) and a "learned ethic of duty"

(Robert Garis, (1989), 756) she visits the

institutionalised child. There appalled by the

condition of Ben heavily sedated, tied up in a

straitjacket, his cell smeared with his own

excrement, she takes him back to the house.

Harriet's decision to bring back Ben from the

institution led to a failure in relationship with

her normal children. They were taken away by

others to be looked after. Harriet realises that

"she had dealt the family a mortal wound, when she

rescued Ben" (112) .

Harriet's decision in favour of Ben reveals

Lessing's humanism. "Throughout her career Lessing

has been intensely sceptical of institutional

solution to human problemsn(Margaret Moan Rowe

(1994), 105). In Four Gated City, and in Descent

into Hell she challenged the Institution of

psychiatry. Lynda Coleridge (Four Gated City) and

Charles Watkins (Briefing) have lost their

potentials for higher sensibility through

institutional treatment. In the Fifth Child she

attacks medical establishment, as well as

educational institutes. Institutional authorities

do not see the problems of human beings in the

correct perspective. In the Fifth Child the

inhuman treatment the helpless inmates of the

institute receive is heartrendingly and shockingly

described by Lessing. Harriet's visit to the

institute, in the North of England to see her son

ends in bringing him back to the house where he is

not accepted. Harriet's choice is a mother's

choice, but it "becomes universal" in the Fifth

Child (Rowe Margaret Moan (1994) ,106) when it is

displayed against the background of the present

society. In the Fifth Child Lessing points her

finger at our consumeric culture, where only the

fittest and the productive have the right to live.

The others are considered dangerous and therefore

unwanted to the society. Society seeks the easy

way to remove them. With this view in mind they

are institutionalised, drugged and are allowed a

slow death. We are facing more and more the

question of euthanasia as a remedy for abnormality

or sub-normality, madness, and old age. What is

humanity's choice? Lessing poses this question

before humanity through the story of Ben. Harriet's

choice, in the face of rejection and loss, is

humanityr s answer to these helpless victims. The

sacrifice Harriet makes is very big and she is

conscious of it. "If I had let him die, then all

of us, so many people, would have been happy, but I

could not do itv (Fifth Child, 157). In her

interview with Hans-Peter Rodenberg Lessing said:

Well, what interests me most of all is that at

the moment when the mother has to decide

whether she's going to leave the child in the

institution where he'll die, or take him home,

that is absolutely the heart of our

civilisation, because we are committed not to

killing the people born damaged or mental

defectives or anything. This is our

civilisation and what we stand by. So there's

no way that, officially Ben could have been

got rid of (Rodenberg, 3).

Harriet's choice of responsibility to Ben

brings about a change in her attitude to others

like Ben. In the beginning she smugly dismissed her

sister's child born with 'Downsyndrom' as "mongol"

and "Genghis Khan" (Fifth Child, 29) . Then in the

'place in the North of England' she sees itr s

inmates as "monsters" and "freaksrf. But after

accepting the task of rearing Ben, Harriet begin to

look behind labels. Her proximity to Ben makes her

begin to wonder "what he wanted, what he

feltt'(132). While never able to understand Ben

fully, Harriet is trying to socialise him. Lessing

shows Ben as fitting into society, because society

is breaking down. In the years after Ben's home

coming, the outside world has become a place of

"wars and riot's: Killing and hijacking; murders

and thefts and kidnapping . . .the eighties, the

barbarous eighties were getting into their stride"

(147). Lessing's vision of the future societies

though 'hopeful' (Four Gated City, 663) is possible

only after a period of trouble and holocaust. In

the Memoirs of a Survivor the society beyond the

walls appears only after the disintegration of the

old civilisation. In the society before the

holocaust people like Ben exist; they find their

place in it and become the agents of change and

perish with it.

Lessing's humanism is an undaunted one - a

humanism which allows her to seek out and befriend

what society rejects. The same question of choice,

responsibility and culture of Institutions is found

in the Diary of a Good Neighbour and If the Old

Could" (1984) . Harriet' s decision to befriend Ben, - transforms her as it did to Janna. Both become

more human and caring. Jannar s love turns Maudie

into an "individual" with identity and not a

"Caricature" (Margaret Moan Rowe, 95). Likewise,

Ben is depicted as an individual who need to be

protected against society that clamour for the

destruction of the disabled. As Janna takes up the

case of Maudie, Harriet accepts her responsibility

for her son. Maudie Fowler refuses to go to the

\HomeN, where she fears her individuality will be

sacrificed and Ben is rescued from the 'home1 by

his mother because she sees him there as a

caricature and a scum of society. Maudie and Ben

receive their identity only outside the 'home', a

home society has devised to accommodate any one who

has out grown the stage of usefulness.

Dorothy Brewster acclaims Lessing as a writer

deeply "committed to humanism of the nineteenth

century classics. The warmth, the compassion, the

love of people" (Dorothy Brewster (1965), 162) may

be the gift of the ancients. But her interest in

the full development of human beings against all

odds is a mark of Marxian influence which makes her

belief in man most authentic and touching. Each

character is empowered with such compassion that

they find companionship and assistance in the

presence of love and commitment of dedicated

people, dedicated for the wholeness of society.

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