An Analysis Of Vladimir Nabokov's Through The Tunnel

The Short Story: First Formal Assignment: Section 50 “Life’s Profound Connections” Thunders Melik Krasniqi Elza Hasani Enis Dibrani Vjolla Gashi

Topic Number 3

Introduction In this book we will elaborate two controversial theories, Sigmund Freud’s instinctual drives and Friedrich Nietzsche’s philosophy upon Greek Gods, the connection between them, and how are these theories applied in two short stories, Through the Tunnel by Doris Lessing and Signs and Symbols by Vladimir Nabokov. We believe that this topic is rather intriguing, because it involves two interesting theories that are present in our daily lives. In the following chapters, we will provide

He divided the instinctual drives into two opposite parts: the life and death instinct. Freud referred to the life instinct as Eros, and death one as Thanatos. According to Freud, life instinct is the desire to live, make connections, reproduce and so forth, whereas the death instinct is when an organisms “tries to return to its original non-living state, inorganic state” (). Therefore, being the opposite of life instinct, the death one is a drive to reach peace through death (). Furthermore, the second theory is Friedrich Nietzsche’s philosophy upon Greek Gods, Apollo and Dionysus. According to Nietzsche there are two opposite but interconnected impulses in humans, Apollonian and Dionysian. Apollonian state represents “reason, order, intellect, form, moderation, and consciousness,” whereas Dionysian state represents “ecstasy and chaotic emotions”. In order for one’s life to be kept in balance, both impulses need to be experienced by the individual, thus by leaving the Apollonian state and diving into the Dionysian we are able to know ourselves better and achieve

In this story it is harder to put the pieces together, because every sentence of the story represents a sign or a symbol that leads to something. It takes a deep and careful analysis of the story, so we can understand the dilemma that is presented. As in the first short story, in this story we can see two theories present. The young boy that is suffering from an incurable disease is constantly in a Dionysus state, he lives his life in chaos, so he has a death instinct. He wants to fly away, to be free from this chaotic world he sees. I believe that he sees himself as Apollo, trying to interpret all the signs that nature gives him and trying to balance them, but I think that he realizes that he can’t do it and that is the reason he wants to kill himself. Apollonian state in this story is present when they lived in Russia, but when things changed and they had to move we can see that a life instinct is present. Even though they were facing difficulties, they were constantly fighting death, trying to escape it. Their journey is about survival, they are trying to survive, to live, to love. In this part they are in a world of chaos, where they are constantly moving from one state to another state, as it didn’t seem enough that they are dealing with their son’s illness. Here it is clearly noticed that they are in the Dionysus state. I think