Meaning vs. Emptiness

This past Saturday, I finally was able put words to my confused thoughts on The White Castle. While I knew that I didn’t enjoy the novel I wasn’t able to state an exact reason. With other novels that we have read, I knew why I had particular feelings about the book. In My Michael, I disliked it because I hated Hannah and how she interacted with her husband. While in Please Look After Mom, I enjoyed it because the form was fascinating and the story drew me in. And with other books, I had a mix of feelings, as I enjoyed some aspects and not others. But I can usually at least identify what I my thoughts are, however this was not the case with The White Castle…that is until Saturday.

On Saturday, I went to a Bible study on Ecclesiastes, which is known as post-modern gateway to the rest of scripture. Ecclesiastes is where the hard questions are asked and no solutions are given. It is a written quandary of an individual’s life without God as he searches for meaning. When our leader said, “To look in the mirror and see a life without a face, eyes searching for meaning,” then it struck me why I was unsatisfied with the story.  The idea of Ecclesiastes that “emptiness is insufferable” and that life is meaningless, apply themselves to our narrator’s quest. He and Hoja are looking for meaning, looking for a purpose. They write fiction and search for science, only to fail. Their machine gets stuck, the villagers have no grave sin, and they are lost searching for something to fill the emptiness. Hoja and our narrator look to power and science. But in the end are interchangeable with each other, not unique in themselves.

Now I am not saying that the story wasn’t interesting at all. I found parts of it absolutely fascinating. The preface especially captivated me. After all who isn’t urged onward to flip the pages into a tale long forgotten found by a lowly government worker’s chance cleaning. But the tale becomes tainted by an endless cycle of emptiness and meaninglessness.  

I think I am an optimist and an idealist. But, as a Christian how can you not be burdened and filled with discontent as they cycle round and round looking for what we have. Meaning.