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PARTISAN REVIEW
•
SIMONE WElL AS SAINT
WAITING FOR GOD.
By
Simone Weil. Tronsloted
by
Emmo Croufurd,
with on Introduction
by
Leslie A. Fiedler. Putnom. $3 .50.
The six letters by Simone Weil which are published in this
book, together with her essays, "Reflections on School Studies," "The
Love of God and Affliction," "Forms of the Implicit Love of God,"
and "Concerning the Our Father," do not go as far as one might wish
toward revealing the life and thought of this remarkable woman. Her
position with regard to the Catholic Church is adequately covered by
the letters, in which she makes it clear to her friend, Father Perrin,
who tried to persuade her to accept baptism, that she feels she belongs
outside the Church as a bridge between believers and non-believers,
and that "God does not want me to join the Church ... that I may serve
[Him] in the realm of the intelligence." Her further reasons for refusing
this step appear to be the desire to leave her mind open to all forms
of doctrine, and suspicion of the influence of "social organizations."
For fear of offending the priest, she says little about the politics of the
Church-an issue that must have carried some weight with her; she
speaks of such matters with great reluctance. This gives the impression
that she is holding back, and not only in fear of offending her corres–
pondent; she may be withholding from herself full recognition of her
antagonism to protect a faith which is already full of perplexity. (The
fact that she was Jewish is not mentioned, though this must have been
of some importance.) These letters and essays fail to make clear why
her baptism should have been so ardently pursued.
Since Father Perrin's letters are not included, it is possible to
suggest that she imagined the heat of the pursuit to be greater than it
really was. She seems to enjoy the contention for its own sake, as
though she wanted to be courted and come after. She is careful not
to terminate the courtship by expressing too firm an opposition to the
Church; the possibility is always left open that the will of God (which
she declares herself ready to obey, even if it meant damnation) will
direct her to join. This may have been the woman in her, but God
knows she was lonely enough.
The real reason hardly appears: that this woman enjoyed, with
some regularity, genuine religious experience, Christ's coming down to
possess her. Her modesty at this point (unless she has described it in
her other writings) is a typical expression of her nature; she is fearful
of satisfactions, of being touched too deeply, and holds herself far
