Philosophy as Metaphor
Robert Musil is not your average writer. His novels are not the carefree walk in the park that typically top the best seller lists. Metaphorically rich and laden with imagery dependent upon comparison of one constituent to another are hallmarks of his body of work. And here’s the really fascinating part: this is not even his most “difficult” book. With that in mind, here is a representative example of the use of metaphor in the book:
“If at that period one could bring a boy to see the ridiculousness of himself, the ground would give way under him, or he would plunge headlong like a somnambulist who, suddenly awaking, sees nothing but emptiness around him.”
Coming of Age
The novel is an example of Bildungsroman or the coming-of-age. It is a story of the transformation of a boy into manhood as he comes to grips with the harsh realities of the adult world and attempt to secure a place for himself within that world. This, naturally, leads to extensive inward studies and expressions of existential dread and angst in an attempt to locate upon a valid meaning to life:
“You see, there are two threads fastened to me too. The first is an obscure one that, in contrast with my clear conviction, ties me to the inaction that comes from pity. But there is the second, too, which leads straight to my soul, to the most profound inner knowledge, and links me to the universe.”
Everything is Metaphor
So dense and rich is the use of metaphorical imagery throughout the text that almost literally everything comes under its spell. At times, in fact, the outpouring of figurative language almost threatens to drown the surrounding narrative:
“The same dreadful indifference that had been blanketed over the surrounding countryside all that afternoon now came creeping across the plain, and after it, like a slimy trail, came the mist, stickily clinging to the fresh-ploughed fields and the leaden-grey acres of turnips.”
The Wow Factor
At times, the author works in the sphere of metaphor like a conductor leading a symphony or a fresco artist painting transforming a wall into a work of magisterial artistry. For the occasional reader—or the reader who prefers the soothing comfort of the literal—such dazzling displays can reach the point of difficulty from which there is no return. For the reader who loves nothing more than a good, long, imagery-laden complex sentences, the novel offers occasional forays to metaphor Nirvana:
“Between events and himself, indeed between his own feelings and some inmost self that craved understanding of them, there always remained a dividing-line, which receded before his desire, like a horizon, the closer he tried to come to it. Indeed, the more accurately he circumscribed his feelings with thoughts, and the more familiar they became to him, the stranger and more incomprehensible did they seem to become, in equal measure; so that it no longer even seemed as though they were retreating before him, but as though he himself were withdrawing from them, and yet without being able to shake off the illusion of coming closer to them.”
Törless the Rational?
The title character develops a close friendship with a young prince. But one day the conversation turns to a subject ripe for debate and the nature of the character of Törless is unleashed, fueled by metaphorical delineation of the extreme nature of the rift:
“…as though independently of himself, Törless's intellect lashed out, inexorably, at the sensitive young prince; he poured out torrents of a rationalist's scorn upon him, barbarously desecrating the filigree habitation in which the other boy's soul dwelt. And they parted in anger.”
