262
PARTISAN REVIEW
the walking dead," to Brooklyn, to Mrs. Zimmerman's "Pink
Palace," which, as it turned out, was just the final station on her
way to the gas chamber. Do you think all survivors are ir–
redeemably haunted by the burden of a death they had managed
to escape?
WS:
I really don't know. I can't answer that.
GT:
Were you asked to appear before the gathering of survivors that
took place recently in Washington?
WS:
No, I wasn't.
GT:
Would you have talked to them had you been invited? Would
you have anything to say?
WS:
If
they had wished to solicit me, my feelings, I don't think I
would have had anything to say .
GT:
You had so much to say in your book.
WS:
But that's the difference. That's the difference between life and
art - if I may so dignify the book by calling it art. There is a dif–
ference, and I think Elie Wiesel seems not to perceive certain
aspects of the part that's art.
GT:
According to the captions
The New York Times
gave Wiesel's ar–
ticle, the questions are: "Does the Holocaust defeat the artist?
Does the Holocaust lie beyond the reach of art?" According to Elie
Wiesel it does. According to you - it does not. Is it basically a
question of the quality of the artist?
WS:
I think of course, ultimately, it always comes down to the quality
of the artist. I would say that's what the artist is for , on his mis–
sion, \if he has a mission. To be able to take almost anything and
deal with it.
GT:
The book, in spite of the fact that it is dealing with tragic people
and their tragic end, ends on an optimistic note. When Stingo
wakes up in the morning on the last page, he is ready for a new
beginning. One cycle is over, another is about to begin . He is
looking forward to the new day.
WS:
Yes, I think so. The only other way for Stingo to end it wo\..\lq
be on a scream of despair. But I always perceived him going to
that beach and seeing the morning star and realizing that tomor–
row is another day, "excellent and fair."
GT:
Mainly Stingo's coming of age?
WS:
The book has been called bildungsroman. It may be. Among
other things it meant to show the rite of passage of a young man
from relative innocence into manhood .
