The Lazarus Project (Pg. 249-292)

In the opening paragraph of the reading, the audience gets a sense of the setting, how untrustworthy it seems as a whole. On page 249, Brik describes the “most honest-looking” man around as a “hoary, fat little man.” This suggests that, if he appeared to be the most honest but was yet still hoary, then the others around him must have appeared worse. I noticed a few of themes in particular within the last reading of The Lazarus Project. They were light and life versus dark and death, unfaithfulness, and hopelessness. The scene in which the first theme is particularly emphasized is when Isador is stuffed into the casket. The quote “The casket lid is pried open; the corpse is lifted off Isador. The light blinds him again, but when his eyes get used to it, he can see…” on page 271 contrasts the dark casket that Isador was in with the corpse with coming out of the dark and being able to see. The second theme is reinforced through Brik’s love for another woman besides his wife as well as the scene described on pages 254 to 255 in which Brik hides in the closet with his lover’s child. Referring to the child, the quote “how he drew God having many big eyes” on page 255 may suggest the immorality of Brik’s unfaithfulness to his wife. Most of the characters at this point in the book seem to be hopeless in some way as well. Brik, for example, feels he cannot win over his wife’s love and affection. Also, the idea that those that are dead are inevitably lost and dead forever is mentioned a few times throughout this reading. Two motifs that I noticed were violence and lack of sleep. Throughout the entire book, violent scenes are mentioned. This emphasizes how tragic and bloody the war and violence is that’s occurring. For example, on page 278, Brik describes in gory detail his desire to see his wife’s “hands saw open a skull, cut through bone and brains.” Regarding a lack of sleep, earlier in the reading, neither Brik nor Mary could sleep but a couple hours the night before their first trip. Later on, during this trip, the driver’s girlfriend Elena is described as “pretending to be asleep” (page 258). In this reading, many contrasting elements are mentioned. For instance, when Rora so abruptly dies, Brik wishes he would have said “something uncomforting and senseless to him” (page 285). One would not expect someone to wish this, but rather to wish they could have said something loving and encouraging. The contrasts may give insight into the characters’ confusion within their own situations and amongst the ongoing war. Another interesting thing I noticed in this reading was the repetition of the word “serpentine.” This could refer to Satan, which in turn could refer to the evil surrounding the war. Lastly, I felt that the ending may offer a little hope. Though lives have been lost and violence is still ongoing, Brik can still tell his story through written word. He can still engross himself in what he likes to do, writing. Though he may be lonely and possibly emotionally scarred from his experiences in the book, his ability to write has not been taken from him. VOCABULARY: 1. Theme: a unifying or dominant idea, motif, etc., as in a work of art (dictionary.com) 2. Motif: a recurring subject, theme, idea, etc. (dictionary.com) 3. Repetition: something made by or resulting from repeating (dictionary.com) 4. Engross: to occupy completely, as the mind or attention; absorb (dictionary.com)