The unbearable lightness of life

If every second of life had to be repeated countless times, we would be crucified for eternity just like Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross. In the world of eternal return, every action is loaded with unbearable responsibilities, but on this background curtain, our lives can still be displayed in its brilliant lightness.

But is "heavy" really cruel? And "light" is really beautiful?

The heaviest burdens crush us, bring us to our knees, and crush us to the ground. But in the love poems of generations, what women long for is to bear the burden of the male body. Therefore, the heaviest burden is also the image of the most exciting realization of life. The heavier the burden, the closer our lives are to the ground, and the more realistic and real our lives are.

On the contrary, being completely free of burden will make one's existence lighter than air, make one's existence fly up, far away from the ground, far away from the existence of the world, and become only half-real and unreal, and all movements will become free. But it’s insignificant.

So, which one should we choose? Heavy or light?

"The Unbearable Lightness of Being" is set against the backdrop of the "Prague Spring", when Soviet troops invaded the Czech Republic and intellectuals fled overseas. Through the intertwined love story of a man and two women, Kundera brings reflection and ridicule on politics, culture, and human life.

The love between Thomas and Teresa is "heavy". Teresa loves Thomas with all her body and soul. She doesn't want love to be limited to just one night, but longs for days and nights. However, this kind of weight becomes Thomas' burden. .

The relationship between Thomas and Sabina is "light". They only want a moment of happiness and do not want a permanent commitment. But when Sabina chooses to leave love and her motherland, her lightness is also empty, becoming an unbearable lightness of life.

From this point of view, who can say that "heavy" means cruelty, while "light" means beautiful? How should we choose? Kundera uses stories, dreams, prose, poetry, history, and musical melody changes to present a farce of life that combines sweetness, sadness, and cruelty, and also makes the dialectic of "lightness" and "heavyness" become Kundera's The eternal proposition in La's novel.