At the beginning of the part, Kundera comes out of the story, breaking the fourth wall, and tells the reader that Tomas and Tereza are no, and never were people, but just fictional characters. The story then proceeds, its part one again, but from Teresa’s point of view, so gives a different aspect of the story so far. Shows different events that Tomas didn’t mention, such as the dreams in better detail, and Teresa’s mother, and explains why Teresa may be as she is. Teresa visits Sabina, who she knows is sleeping with Tom, and they act like old friends at first, chatting about the paintings, and they both end up taking nude shots of each other. It also talks of how people started to act towards the Prague war, not reporting on it, forgetting about it, because it is old news. This seems to crush her spirit, and she stops taking pictures shortly after, when they move to Switzerland. However, she soon has doubts about how genuine her and Toms relationship is, and moves back to Prague, taking the dog with her. She considers going back to her old town, but never does; she postpones leaving, until Tom comes back to Prague looking for her.
Themes and motifs
- The body, and how Teresa hates it, and wants her soul to be free of it (does this mean she wants death?). This also links to individuality
- Light and dark, positive and negative (contradictions and opposites
- Tom and Tereza are both similar and opposite at the same time
- The number 6 and the amount of times it crops up in Tom and Terezas lives
- Individuality and wanting to be your own person
- The dreams
- Modesty and privacy
- Shame and sacrifice
- Music, specifically Beethoven, and how Tom and Tereza are like a piece of music
- Books
- The bowler hat
- Religion, mainly Christianity
Characters
- This part develops Teresa as a character more, running over her childhood and explaining maybe why she is as she is. Her mother blames her for the mess she apparently made of her life, and she is constantly having to make this up to her mum, going above and beyond the call of duty, but still getting nothing but criticism and ridicule. She is incredibly modest and also quite nervous as well, possibly a result of her mother displaying the opposite traits, and therefore making them seem repulsive to her. She is also shown to be incredibly paranoid about Toms other lovers, and is jealous of them (not without reason
- Tom is shown in a different light here, he seems much more controlling and dominating than in his version of the story, where he seems indecisive
- Sabina is also portrayed differently in this part, and she is now no longer just one of Toms other women, but a person in her own right. She is very similar to her paintings in some ways, and they are used as a device to show how she is. She is more in control of things than Tereza, it would seem
Places
This part jumps from Prague, to their new life in Switzerland, then back to Prague again. The place the moved to doesn't seem to matter really, just that its is foreign, and not Prague, and that this makes Tereza dislike it, but maybe also because she is not in control there, she would have to rely on other people all the more, which takes away her Independence. Being in Prague seems to give her life meaning, as she is tied into the current events and actually a part of history
Other thoughts
Again its still very philosophical, but it gives a different side of the same coin, many of Toms thoughts are the opposites of Terezas, although some are more similar than it seems at first. For example, they both have sex not for the act itself, but the feelings after it. An example of their opposite ideas is how Tereza feels the coincidences surrounding their relationship bonds them together more, whilst it worries Tom.
The things about the body and soul were interesting, knowledge about the body has taken away the magic of things? Does this mean we should ignore the body, and live for the soul instead? Is the body actually a window to the soul, or do people just treat it like it is, therefore making it so? Your body is itself, a duel object( sorry, i know that doesn't make sense, but cant think of a better way to word it), showing both your own 'i', and your similarity to other people, your relations.
This part of the book makes me question Tom and Terezas relationship further, as Tereza says things that seem to suggest otherwise, for example, saying that Tom was an escape from her previous life with her mother, does this make him more of a key to escape, rather than an object of Terezas love?
I'm also liking the idea that there is beauty everywhere, even in the sad and dark things, and that Tom is depriving himself by not noticing this.
