Authenticity and Fabrication

This book was strange and that is an understatement I do believe.

I do want to draw attention to two interesting sets of relationships: the one between Stanhope and Pauline and the relationship between Wentworth and his conception of Adela. This, ladies and gents, is a lesson in the concrete and the abstract: the difference between what is real and what is illusory. There is a tendency in every human being to want the abstract, the fabrication if you will, of the ideal life and existence. The human will for the ideal is extremely powerful; it fuels fanatics to suicide and hermits to live in solitude. There is an ideal to strive for, we Christians have identified it as a relationship with God by grace through faith and the transformation of our world in love, yet there is also the danger of fabrication. When we fabricate our existence we give in to living in a world similar to what we find in the film The Matrix, a world that only exists as our minds illusion; a world that satisfies only because we believe it does.

Charles Williams in his interesting and admittedly twisted work Descent into Hell shows vividly the contrast and the consequence of living in authentic relationship as opposed to a fabricated one. Let me begin by putting this bluntly, Wentworth does not have a relationship with Adela (corporeal or incorporeal). His perception of a relationship is really the manifestation of his ideal, which is divorced entirely from relationship. In contrast, Stanhope and Pauline have a very real relationship based on a demonstration of love and a consistent corporeal interaction. Their relationship is incarnate, meaning it has flesh, it is expressed in the language, rhythm, and mystery of poetry.

Wentworth and, as Katie named her, Adela 2.0 seem to have a relationship. They have intimacy, they speak to each other, there is even the sensastion of touch. Their relationship is very sensual and many philosophers have argued that one cannot experience or understand the world except through the senses. Wentworth can see, hear, feel, touch, and dare I say it, taste this apparition of Adela. Yet, that is the problem Adela 2.0 is an apparition; she does not corporeally exist. There is nothing incarnate about Adela 2.0; she has form but no substance; she is a feminine reflection of Wentworth's lust and tortured desire. Notice also that the more Wentworth gets attached to the fabrication the less he is connected to the authentic; he loses any hope of a real relationship with the real Adela and eventually begins to become so caught in the illusion that he begins to fade from reality! As the book draws to a close, even Adela 2.0 fades in to oblivion, because he rejected the authentic, even the fabrication is taken away from him; he is left alone to be consumed endlessly in the abyss beyond Gomorrah.

Stanhope and Pauline share an authentic relationship and the reader will likely think it is odd that this is so. In fact, the situation of Stanhope and Pauline is eerily similar to that of Wentworth and real Adela. However, there is one major difference: their relationship is real. At the beginning Pauline is confused and wary of Stanhope but when in a genuine offer of love he takes on her fear of the doppleganger that has been stalking her, she becomes devoted to him. Later, Pauline will ask for Stanhope's help and will even emulate him by taking on the parcel of the dead man. This emulation is not some distorted mirror of Stanhope, it is an actual imitation of his characteristics by a free agent who embraces imitating him. While Wentworth's succubi leaves him alone in the end, Pauline will continue to keep in contact and even probably visit Stanhope in the future. Their relationship is incarnate; it has flesh to it. One more thing, Wentworth seeks to live in the realms of dates, facts, and history and ends living the lie. Stanhope lives is in the realms of poetry, devotion, and actual love and is living the truth.

Their are tremendous consequences for living an illusion, a fabrication of what is actually true. Eventually everything we construct, everything we put our faith and trust in comes crashing down and is taken from us. If any of us are on that road, let us pray that God saves us, before like Wentworth we get to the end of our rope and descend into the abyss. Let us instead, embrace the world of poetry and deeper meaning; let us embrace love in all of its true demonstrations and so honor our Lord Jesus Christ.