'Barabbas' | Pär Lagerkvist
The Man Who Lived So a God Might Die
The novel 'Barabbas' by the Swedish Nobel Prize winner
Pär Lagerkvist was published in 1950. On the surface it can be summarized as the story of Barabbas - the man
in whose stead Jesus was crucified according to the Gospels. The story begins with his unlikely release from
prison after the crowd shouts that they would rather have Jesus crucified instead of the thief and murderer
Barabbas. He is certainly quite astonished by this and follows Jesus on his way to Golgotha where he
witnesses his death from a distance. His sentiment towards this supposed Messiah suffering a cruel death on
the cross is one of repulsion and fascination alike, and will pursue him for the rest of his life.
Even though his friends rejoice in his new-found freedom, Barabbas seems to not be able to fully enjoy it. He can't really return to his former life and is almost bewitched by the meager man who died in his stead. He approaches his followers, the first Christians, and tries to find out more about the life and teachings of Jesus. Although there are other characters beside him, the story mostly focuses on Barabbas's strange attraction to the community of believers.
In the second part of the story, Barabbas becomes the source of hope for another Christian to whom he witnesses about the death of Jesus that he saw with his own eyes. He tries to believe too, but cannot and - in a moment of trial - truthfully denies being a Christian. He thus saves his life but will lose it later in a confused act of trying to make up for his unbelief. Even though in the end he is in prison with other Christians and afterwards condemned to death with them - he remains estranged from them and, in the end, alone.
The life of Barabbas, as depicted in this novel, is often understood to be reflecting modern man in his condition of unbelief. In the novel, the Christians experience deep joy and tranquility in the midst of their suffering, while Barabbas remains troubled and restless even as a free man. The Christian community is depicted as one of unity and love. Even though Barabbas yearns for love and a feeling of belonging, he can't find it neither with the Christians, nor with his former group of friends. While Barabbas is haunted by his past, the Christians have found peace with their past and have certainty for a glorious future.
To read this as a simple polemic for Christianity would be shortsighted. Lagerkvist does not depict Barabbas as a man who simply chooses not to believe in Jesus - he depicts him as unable to believe. He wants to believe but cannot. The modern man is confronted by Nietzsche's famous "God is dead". For some this might mean the disappearance into insignificance of the God of the gaps, which get fewer and smaller as scientific progress advances. For others this is a signifier of the utter impossibility of a God after Auschwitz and other horrors. This "God is dead" is experienced by more and more people, be it intellectually, be it emotionally or spiritually.
Another way of understanding the death of God is by looking at the cross, and seeing what Barabbas witnessed in the novel: Jesus's cry "My God, my God. Why have you forsaken me?". Philosophers like Slavoj Žižek read this as a hint at the divided nature of the divine. In this world, just like Barabbas, we experience separation: separation from the people around us, but also a kind of separation or division inside the depth of our very being. What religion offers us is the promise of oneness: the overcoming of the separation in our lives. In the novel we see this as Barabbas observes the Christians with their supposed inner peace and loving community. The truth is, of course, that Christians experience just as much inner unrest and divisions amongst themselves as other people. The crucifixion hints at the fact that there is contradiction and antagonism even in the absolute, which means it is woven into the very fabric of reality.
Ultimately, Barabbas remains just as religiously invested in the illusion of oneness as the Christian believers. Perhaps the 'death of God' is less about the absence of a deity, but the presence of a division - a fundamental 'not-at-oneness' of everything. In this understanding, salvation is not found in the illusion of wholeness in the absolute Other, instead it is found in the embrace of the fractured self and the fractured world - a realization that tragically eludes Barabbas to the very end.
Even though his friends rejoice in his new-found freedom, Barabbas seems to not be able to fully enjoy it. He can't really return to his former life and is almost bewitched by the meager man who died in his stead. He approaches his followers, the first Christians, and tries to find out more about the life and teachings of Jesus. Although there are other characters beside him, the story mostly focuses on Barabbas's strange attraction to the community of believers.
In the second part of the story, Barabbas becomes the source of hope for another Christian to whom he witnesses about the death of Jesus that he saw with his own eyes. He tries to believe too, but cannot and - in a moment of trial - truthfully denies being a Christian. He thus saves his life but will lose it later in a confused act of trying to make up for his unbelief. Even though in the end he is in prison with other Christians and afterwards condemned to death with them - he remains estranged from them and, in the end, alone.
The life of Barabbas, as depicted in this novel, is often understood to be reflecting modern man in his condition of unbelief. In the novel, the Christians experience deep joy and tranquility in the midst of their suffering, while Barabbas remains troubled and restless even as a free man. The Christian community is depicted as one of unity and love. Even though Barabbas yearns for love and a feeling of belonging, he can't find it neither with the Christians, nor with his former group of friends. While Barabbas is haunted by his past, the Christians have found peace with their past and have certainty for a glorious future.
To read this as a simple polemic for Christianity would be shortsighted. Lagerkvist does not depict Barabbas as a man who simply chooses not to believe in Jesus - he depicts him as unable to believe. He wants to believe but cannot. The modern man is confronted by Nietzsche's famous "God is dead". For some this might mean the disappearance into insignificance of the God of the gaps, which get fewer and smaller as scientific progress advances. For others this is a signifier of the utter impossibility of a God after Auschwitz and other horrors. This "God is dead" is experienced by more and more people, be it intellectually, be it emotionally or spiritually.
Another way of understanding the death of God is by looking at the cross, and seeing what Barabbas witnessed in the novel: Jesus's cry "My God, my God. Why have you forsaken me?". Philosophers like Slavoj Žižek read this as a hint at the divided nature of the divine. In this world, just like Barabbas, we experience separation: separation from the people around us, but also a kind of separation or division inside the depth of our very being. What religion offers us is the promise of oneness: the overcoming of the separation in our lives. In the novel we see this as Barabbas observes the Christians with their supposed inner peace and loving community. The truth is, of course, that Christians experience just as much inner unrest and divisions amongst themselves as other people. The crucifixion hints at the fact that there is contradiction and antagonism even in the absolute, which means it is woven into the very fabric of reality.
Ultimately, Barabbas remains just as religiously invested in the illusion of oneness as the Christian believers. Perhaps the 'death of God' is less about the absence of a deity, but the presence of a division - a fundamental 'not-at-oneness' of everything. In this understanding, salvation is not found in the illusion of wholeness in the absolute Other, instead it is found in the embrace of the fractured self and the fractured world - a realization that tragically eludes Barabbas to the very end.