I was wrong about the characters were having a dialectic that resulted in a middle way forward instead Young stood her ground and said, nope it’s pretty much a mystery, good luck everybody!
Which frankly shows a surprising amount of restraint unlike every other Tom, Dick, and Harry out there.
I just finished a Substack newsletter where ‘male genius’ is highly overrated and mostly due to devaluing women and their work and not valuing the work they ARE doing.
Did you know Einstein wrote up a list of conditions for his first wife, Mileva Marić, that essentially outlined the duties of a domestic servant rather than a loving spouse or intellectual equal? He proposed this in 1914 during a rocky period in their marriage which required Marić to handle household chores and meals, maintain his study, and refrain from expecting any personal relationship or intimacy from him. He even demanded she stop talking or leave a room if he requested it.
And we expect anything different from our current crop of “geniuses”?
Anyway I digress. Back to dialectics and paradoxes which still DO exist in MM,MD just not in the way I thought because of my own bias and wanting there to be an “answer.”
*I saw someone else use the comma, sorry I don’t remember who, and thought that was more respectful to the book.*
Dialectics
Dialectics is still very much present in the novel. It shows up as the interplay and tension between opposing concepts, states of being, and perceptions. The dialectics are not just part of the themes of the novel; they are woven into the novel by blurring the lines between the opposites and suggesting that they are two sides of the same coin, or even indistinguishable. The narrative constantly explores the ambiguous space where these forces meet, conflict, and sometimes merge.
Reality vs. Illusion/Dream
This is perhaps the most pervasive dialectic. The novel questions the nature of reality itself, suggesting that what appears real may be an illusion, and what seems illusory may hold a deeper truth.
Life vs. Death
Life and death are not presented as mutually exclusive states but often as intertwined, coexistent, or even reversible.
Order vs. Chaos
The narrative juxtaposes attempts to impose order and meaning onto a fundamentally chaotic or disordered existence.
The narrative structure itself can feel chaotic, with shifting perspectives, non-linear time, and associative logic. This is also the most discussed feature of the book.
Unity vs. Division/Identity and Its Loss
Characters are often fragmented, doubled, or struggle with a sense of a divided self or lost identity.
Known vs. Unknown
The narrative privileges mystery and the unknowable, often suggesting that attempts to define or understand lead to further confusion.
Male vs. Female
Traditional gender roles and identities are frequently blurred, reversed, or challenged.
Silence vs. Sound/Voice
Communication is often described as failing, distorted, or existing in unconventional forms, while silence can be meaningful or terrifying.
And like I said above, Young sticks to her guns where the dialectics are not resolved in a simple or definitive way. Instead, Young created a novel that thrives on this tension and ambiguity. The constant shifting, blurring, and paradoxical nature (which we’re going to talk about next) of these opposing forces contribute to the dreamlike, unsettling, and profoundly philosophical atmosphere of the novel. The characters' struggles are often defined by their attempts to navigate, understand, or escape these fundamental contradictions in the perceived reality of their world. Young leaves us to ponder which if any characters ever escape or come to terms with their world.
Paradoxes
This novel is saturated with paradoxes, which serve as a fundamental structural and thematic element, constantly blurring the lines between seemingly opposite concepts and challenging conventional understanding of reality, identity, time, and existence itself. I also like to think of them as philosophical questioning or Zen Master Koan (statement or question in Buddhism).
Reality vs. Illusion
This is arguably the central paradox. The novel consistently questions what is real and what is not, often suggesting that illusions are more potent and meaningful than objective reality.
Life vs. Death
The boundary between the living and the dead is porous and often indistinguishable. Death is not an endpoint but a state of being that coexists with or is an extension of life.
Identity and Multiplicity
The concept of a singular, stable identity is constantly undermined. Characters are often perceived as multiple beings, confused about who they are, or seem to absorb aspects of others.
Appearance vs. Underlying Truth
What seems obvious or superficial may hide profound complexity, and what seems fantastical may hold a deeper reality.
Time and Space
Time is not linear or fixed but fluid, cyclical, and sometimes experienced as simultaneous. Space is not stable; locations can shift, expand, or contract.
Order vs. Chaos
Characters often seek or impose order, but are constantly overwhelmed or defined by chaos.
Tangible vs. Intangible
The material world is often presented as elusive or less real than the non-material world of thoughts, dreams, and spirits.
Love and Absence
Love is often sought or exists most powerfully in its absence, or directed towards those who are dead or unreal.
These paradoxes are not merely stylistic devices but rather reflect a deep philosophical uncertainty about the nature of existence, consciousness, and the self. They create a disorienting yet richly textured narrative world where the internal landscape of the mind is constantly projected onto and interacts with the external world, making the reading experience itself a journey through ambiguity and contradiction. The novel's language itself, often spiraling and repetitive, reinforces this sense of a reality that refuses to adhere to simple definitions or linear progression. Young is enveloping the reader in her world, whispering in the ear, “You don’t know, you know the barest minimum and you may never know and how will you live with that?”