IGNA;:,IO SILONE
U.S.S.R., not on the grounds that these policies and this justice were
"political" in character, but on the grounds that they were antithetical
to the political concepts of Marxism? And I prefer, since one cannot
be entirely certain in such a matter, to interpret Spina's boredom
.with theory as something other than a rejection of Marxist theory. I
relate Spina's boredom with theory to his need for something less
abstract than theory, to his greater affection for the peasants than for
the industrial workers, to his turning to the country. Spina's object is
moral inspiration, and inspiration is magical and spontaneous. It is
natural and human to be bored by theory when the heart is sick and
the will dispirited, and in such a case does not everyone turn to nature
for renewal? So is it not possible ·to believe that Spina's attitude to
theory is psychological rather than political and is not to be referred
back to the ideology of his creator, Ignazio Silone.
The city, politics, theory. The country, ethics, the heart. None
of these values are absolute in themselves, only the unities formed by
bringing these terms together are absolutely to be desired. How cruelly
these values oppose and negate each other in the society we live in!
Shall I say that Silone has set these values in opposition? But that
would be totally false. No man is more friendly to the friendliness of
the town for the country, of ethics for politics, of theory for the
heart, than is Ignazio Silone. And if he has communicated to us
certain doubts as to how and under what circumstances these values
can be brought together, be sure it is out of sympathy and friendliness
for us.
Fontamara
was a book of hope.
Bread And Wine
is a book of
misery and doubt. But Silone's doubts are valuable, set down as they
are so simply and concretely with an eloquence that is also a resource
of friendliness.
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