A look inside The Captive Mind
A look inside The Captive Mind
By: Nathan Peter-Grzeszczak Buhr
In his book “The Captive Mind”, Czesław Miłosz gives his readers a glimpse into what life was like during the tumultuous time after World War II in Eastern Europe under the Communist influence of the USSR. Miłosz reveals some key concepts that were required for the sake of survival in this hostile environment. The careers and lives of four writers/poets, referred to as Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta are used throughout the book as real life examples of how to operate during this sensitive time. The stories of these poets reveal how they were required to balance their inner thoughts and beliefs with what was deemed appropriate by the establishment. They are able to live, create, and flourish through these difficult times only through great self-control and calculation. While some writers of the time had little to no reservations about adapting their thinking and writing to match with the views of the USSR, Miłosz manages to stay true to his beliefs and attempts to maintain a more objective and observational point of view.
The chapter on Ketman particularly held my interest. Ketman can roughly be defined as a way of acting and conducting yourself in a way that does not reveal what or how you actually think. In the words of Miłosz, “Before it leaves the lips, every word must be evaluated as to its consequences. A smile that appears at the wrong moment, a glance that is not all it should be can occasion dangerous suspicions and accusations. Even one’s gestures, tone of voice, or preference for certain kinds of neckties are interpreted as signs of one’s political tendencies”(Miłosz 1990, 54). This is a way for a person to live in a rigid society where an action or statement of the wrong type at best could signal the end of a career or worst a trip to prison, labor camp or even death. By being aware of every move on the exterior, a possessor of Ketmen is able to think freely and entertain many differing points of view privately. Miłosz goes on to explain different kinds of Ketman which he describes as National Ketman, The Ketman of Revolutionary Purity, Aesthetic Ketman, Professional Ketman, Sceptical Ketman, Metaphysical Ketman, and Ethical Ketman.
Having lived in Poland and traveled around in Eastern Europe I was always struck by how reserved and guarded most people are in public. A certain rigidness and mistrust which hangs in the air of bus stops, markets, and other public places. In Poland it is most noticeable in older citizens as the younger generation are becoming more westernized and free spirited. Some of this withdrawn behavior displayed by those who lived under the Soviet system may be attributed to a sort of Ketmen. These older citizens are still in the mindset of the past system where saying or doing anything that may be heard or seen by strangers may be reported to the authorities and used against them.
Another concept that Miłosz explores is the story of Murti-Bing. This fictional story begins with an impending battle between the armies of Europe who are defending against Sino-Mongolian forces in a depiction of West versus East. The Mongols, through the use of Murti-Bing pills are triumphant without the need for battle. The Murti-Bing pills have the effect of calming the minds of those who take them by making troubling thoughts, worries, and concerns disappear. In effect these pills make the general population happy, content, and docile, even in the fact that their culture has just been over taken by another. Miłosz states, “There is an internal longing for harmony and happiness that lies deeper than ordinary fear or the desire to escape misery or physical destruction” (Miłosz 1990, 6). The Mongols begin to impose their ideology, culture and beliefs upon the Europeans and, under the influence of the pills, they are more than happy to accept.
What Miłosz is getting at is the question of living in blissful ignorance or questioning and challenging the status quo. The former is definitely easier than the latter. Miłosz states, “If the intellectual must know agony of thought, why should he spare others this pain? Why should he shield those who until now drank, guffawed, gorged themselves, cracked inane jokes, and found life beautiful”(Miłosz 1990, 10)? While pursuing higher education, especially in graduate school I have often thought along these lines. Would it have been easier to have not developed an increasingly complicated, nuanced, and holistic world view? Is it not easier to merely blame all of ones problems on another social, ethnic, religious, political group and be content to have an outlet for ones anger and frustration? I am inclined to believe it is noble to expand my understanding and attempt to challenge most of what others take for granted before accepting it as the standard, but it is neither easy nor comfortable.
The poets featured by Miłosz were forced to adapt and change as their government and society changes around them. A citizen’s thoughts and actions could have been deemed bourgeois or anti-revolutionary by the government and punishments were often issued. Miłosz states, “I am not sure, however, that cast-iron consistency is the greatest of human virtues” (Miłosz 1990, 148). In this statement Miłosz acknowledges that people may change their viewpoints, opinions, and political stances over time, but this should be a result of personal reflection and contemplation not because of a new state imposed ideology. Knowing the parameters and limits of what is deemed acceptable ideology by the current government is crucial to survival during the post WWII time period. The poets must choose their battles wisely and know when it is ok to stand out from the masses and advocate for a point of view and when they must keep quiet in the interest of self-preservation in order to take up the fight at a later time.
On a trip to Warsaw, with my wife and family, I was able to visit the Warsaw Uprising museum and found myself captivated by the story of the resistance movement. The people of Warsaw were fighting for sovereignty, surrounded by two opposing forces that were both interested in dominating the city and country at large. Russia committed the ultimate betrayal of the resistance movement by not intervening and fighting along side the Polish Home Army against the Germans. I was baffled as to why the Russians would not stand with the Poles in fighting their common enemy. Miłosz reveals, “the people dying in the street fights were precisely those who could create the most trouble for the new rulers, the young intelligentsia, seasoned in its underground struggle with the Germans, and wholly fanatic in its patriotism”(Miłosz 1990, 96). According to Milosz the Russians were looking past the current conflict and making future plans for the occupation of Poland. The Russian leadership saw the attacking German army as taking care of the hostile and rebellious elements of Warsaw, leaving only a docile and governable population to be controlled. This shows the ruthlessness and cold calculation that represents the post war goals of Stalin.
In conclusion, it is advantageous to be living in a free and open society where opposing thought, viewpoints, and political opinions can be shared openly without the fear of punishment from the state. However, there are still forces at work in a more subtle way that attempt to stifle the free speech that we enjoy in the United States. Surveillance by the private corporations, police, CIA and other government entities still infiltrate groups who voice opinions and political views that are deemed to be in conflict with the state or business. Fear tactics and bullying by those in power still occurs in contemporary America. Although the abuses are nowhere near the scale and magnitude of those committed in post WWII USSR, there are still improvements that should be made. The balance between the thoughts of the individual versus the communal will continue to be an issue for many years to come. The more we encourage the freeing of minds and the open exchange of ideas the better off our societies will be.
Works Cited:
Miłosz, Czeslaw. The Captive Mind. New York: Vintage International, 1990.
