THE NARRATIVE BREATHES LIFE INTO LIFE EVEN AS DEATH LIES IN WAIT. A STUDY ON ”OSCAR AND THE LADY IN PINK” BY ÉRIC - EMMANUEL SCHMITT
THE NARRATIVE BREATHES LIFE INTO LIFE EVEN AS DEATH LIES IN WAIT. A STUDY ON ”OSCAR AND THE LADY IN PINK” BY ÉRIC - EMMANUEL SCHMITT

Summary/Abstract: Death, often perceived as a fatal whole, constitutes a complex phenomenon with multifaceted subcomponents such as universality, finality, non-functionality, and causality, each harboring profound religious, spiritual, cultural or emotional implications. Given the impossibility of the human psyche to truly experience death firsthand, rendering it impervious to internal exploration, it frequently presents itself as an enigma of daunting complexity. The human brain, inherently adverse to enigmas, struggles to embrace what it cannot fully comprehend. Undeniably, death can be understood as a biological fact - as a complex process involving the cessation of all vital functions of a living organism. Rationally, death as a biological phenomenon can be grasped even by children around the age of 5. However, the coordinates of death, the circumstances in which it occurs, how it manifests, the uncertainty it instils, and especially the fact that it takes something away without the promise of replacing it engender unrest, fear and disgust. The brain loathes enigmas but thrives on narratives. The stories we are told structure us, while the stories we tell structure the world. Thus, the human being is nothing but a story within a story, akin to an endless narrative Matryoshka. Fear or the absence of it when facing death is dictated by the narrative through which death has presented itself to us from early on. The significance we attribute to death, profoundly ingrained and visceral, decisively shapes our subsequent encounters with mortality. Therefore, the aim of this study is to underscore the transformative power of narrative, capable of imbuing life with extraordinary vitality and substance even when confronted with the looming spectre of death. In instances where death encroaches prematurely, narrative intervenes to enlarge time through intensity, bestowing vitality upon life, as exemplified by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt in "Oscar and the Lady in Pink."

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