NATIONAL, ARTS, THEATRE: A Lethal Taste of Sartre

Death Without Burial (Morts Sans Sépulture)

Review by Shi Rui

2005 was the 100th anniversary of the birth of Jean-Paul Sartre, one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century. People all over the world, especially in France, held activities to commemorate him, and a large number of books were published to tell his life story, to judge his philosophy, or to introduce his works to young people today.

Sartre was always a good friend to China. He loved China, he loved our socialist system, and in return he earned the adoration of Chinese youngsters of the 70s and 80s.

On Dec. 23rd, the Drama Society of BFSU put on Sartre's Death Without Burial as its annual 'dog and pony show' which gave us a chance to get closer to Sartre's play and his existentialism.


The Story and its Themes

A group of French Underground fighters are caught after a bloody, but unsuccessful mission. Only their leader, Jean, escapes. Later he is captured under an assumed identity and from a cage he watches his comrades and lover as they go out to be tortured before he flees. Of the others, one, Sorbier, commits suicide rather than talk, and a young boy (he was changed into a girl in the BFSU play) is killed by his fellows rather than be permitted to talk. The three others in the cage, Henri, Lucic, and Canoris, endure torture, deliver false confessions to be set free, and then are killed at the whim of a Vichy officer.


Atheism

Sartre was unmistakably atheistic. He talked about man only, man alone, afraid, and desperate for the meaning of life.

In the play, there is this dialogue:

Canoris: "Shall I find you a priest to listen to your confession?"
Henri: "The hell with your priest."

This is the most obvious declaration of Sartre's attitude towards God and church; he took them as an irony, a joke.

Also, this is the only line in which something related to God is mentioned. Although people are trapped, they do not turn to God for help. During war time, faith and belief become fragile, not only faith in religion but also in political philosophy like fascism. In the play we see the doubts of some of the Vichy officers. One of them said, "They are fucking nuts, including those Germans."

At the end of the play, on the big set, the red swastika flag falls and lies crumpled and insignificant on the floor, leaving the background wall empty and white. Fascism was only a dream, although it was once the most popular "religion" of the time. Hitler was not God. There is no God at all.


Freedom, Choice & Responsibility

Man is condemned to freedom
Man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself.
Man is responsible for what he is.

The free choice of man and the responsibility it brings are the main topics Sartre deals with in his works. He thought that man has the freedom to choose, that we are responsible for our own emotions, our behavior and the choices we make.

In Death and Burial, every prisoner faces the same question: to turn in Jean or not? To be Judas or to pick the glory of a martyr? They are totally free before they make their own choice.

This is only the first choice in the play and each character has different opinions. Henri, Lucic, and Canoris choose to keep the secret, the little girl wants to talk, and Sorbier chooses to delay his choice. When Sorbier jumps from the windowsill he finally makes his own free choice.

The second choice goes straight to Jean: to kill the 15-year-old girl and keep his own life, or to give himself up and sacrifice 60 comrades along the way? In this part, responsibility plays an important role. Jean is not a common underground fighter, he is a leader, so his choice influences more than a man's life.

In the 4th scene the three survivors are faced with their last choice: to live or to die? Since they have a well-planned false confession, they can live if they want.

Canoris tells Lucic: "There are other people who need our help, we cannot die a meaningless death."

All of these lines are telling people to make their own choice and, at the same time, to be responsible.


Existence Precedes Essence

One will never be able to explain one's action by reference to a given and specific human nature.

"Existence Precedes Essence" is the core of Sartre's philosophy and this single sentence can cover all the topics I discussed above. It denies the existence of God, fate, destiny, and even human nature. There is no human nature at all.

Take Sorbier for example. He is not a hero at the beginning of the play. He hesitates, he fears, he wants to know himself, he lacks all the good features a hero should have: Courage? No. He is anxious and nervous before torture, and he tells others: "I'm afraid of myself. I'm ill and my nerves are frail..."

Perseverance? No. He says: "I always ask myself, 'can I carry on?' and then my body worries me." Loyalty? No. After the first round of torture Sorbier realizes "If I had known where Jean was, I would have told them." ... "I'll even turn in my mother when they beat me."

But his last choice, suicide, makes him a hero and brings him individual victory.


Comment on the Play as Theatre

Generally speaking, Sartre is not a good playwright. There is too much thinking in the story with too little conflict and climax. Sartre's plays become boring, with every character a philosopher delivering long monologues to tell his thinking on life.

It is said when this play was first published in France, a friend of Sartre's put it on the stage. He made great changes to turn the drama into a more emotional one and the play received a very warm welcome. But Sartre got mad at his friend for the changes. Later Sartre put on his original version and no one came.

If we only judge Sartre as a writer, much more criticism can be given here. However, Sartre's thinking is always brighter than his literary works, so till today we can do nothing but read, think and understand.