A Social Realization in a Philosophical Solipsism

The chapter begins as Jean-Baptiste wishes to speak further with the reader regarding his affairs in Amsterdam. The narrator recalls the beauty of his Greek vacation while sailing the foggy Zuiderzee. The sea represents a constitutive experience. The thick fog of the sea juxtaposed with an island vacation presents a stark contrast. He remembers men holding hands in public while women remained indoors. Such an open display of affection shifts his attention towards his experiences with women. Jean-Baptiste yearns to reenter such an existence but his experiences with men have remained professional. He then seeks refuge among women. One of these women whom he calls a “parrot” threatened to starve herself. He soon lost all passion for the music he once loved. He makes a vow of chastity.

Jean-Baptiste soon finds himself caught up in a debaucherous orgy. Once a forbidden fruit, sex becomes a hedonistic refuge. He is driven by an insatiable desire he believes will lead him towards true happiness. Jean-Baptiste enters a thirty year self-engagement following what seems to have been a perpetual failure. He writes “Alcohol and women provided me, I admit, the only solace of which I was worthy. I’ll reveal this secret to you, cher ami, don’t fear to make use of it. Then you’ll see that true debauchery is liberating because it creates no obligations. In it you possess only yourself; hence it remains the favorite pastime of the great lovers of their own person.” (103) Jean-Baptiste’s alter ego sees happiness as the road to freedom. Once his narcissistic personality clashes with that of his lover his happiness quickly turns into feelings of betrayal and jealousy. These moments of self-judgment and detachment have only led to months of hedonistic orgies. There is no redeemable end in sight. Jean-Baptiste turns his attention away from his failed love life.

Jean-Baptiste searches his own mind for anything that might have given him an existential experience. At work he is resigned to boring tasks. There is yet another incident when he was plagued with indecision. He remembers ignoring a black speck in the water during a trip. He wonders whether this resignation has withdrawn him into a period of confinement. It is a rather absurd notion to suggest a man who is not guilty is struggling between innocence and judgment. He believes one might compare this to being spit on the face in a medieval oubliette awaiting justice. This is an awfully strange comparison. Jean-Baptiste has a tendency to blame man for the sins of mankind simply because there is no clear distinction between guilt or innocence. It is a commonly held belief that divine power passes judgment. Therefore, by acting as a judge-penitent Jean-Baptiste has assumed the role of God.

Religion plays a critical role in the solipsistic philosophy of Jean-Baptiste. He is well-versed in scriptures. Jean-Baptiste draws parallels between the Slaughter of the Innocents and post-WWII sentiments. He believes the Synoptic Gospels clearly demonstrate the importance of self-judgment by using a first-hand account of the life of Christ. The Confession of Peter refers to an episode in the New Testament where Peter proclaims Jesus Christ the messiah and Son of God. The Fall is essentially a long confession in which Jean-Baptiste proclaims himself judge-penitent. He does not mention whether God is the one dictating his philosophy on life. Jean-Baptiste maintains the continuity of his existence relies on his ability to cope with such parallels. Which leads us to wonder: Does Jean-Baptiste take the role of judge-penitent because he would gain more freedom of thought or does he desire to detach himself from reality as he has in the past?