Tragedy Journal #2

Topic: motif of decay, disease, illness.
I believe that Ibsen uses the motif of decay and illness to portray how secrets and lies can bring about ones downfall. Metaphorically speaking, secrets can eat people up inside, and often times, if the secret is big enough, lies and secrets can make a person physically sick. What comes from knowing secrets that are not your own, or finding out the truth after a long period of time can be destructive. Greggers for example, tells his father "You have soured my whole life. Oh, I'm not just thinking of what happened to my mother. But it's you I have to thank for the fact that I'm continually haunted by a guilty conscience" (209). Greggers shows that knowing about Gina and his father made his life "soured", and even impacted his conscience. Greggers feels that it is his obligation to solve this illness of the hurtful lies that soured his life which leads to his father telling him that his "conscience is queasy" (210). No one in the novel really understands where Greggers is coming from, but his is motivated in part to tell the truth because he whole-heartedly believes in it, but he also is driven to find the cure to the sickness of the lies and deceit that ruined his life. His mother probably knew before she died that she was being cheated on, or so it is alluded to in the play, and her suspicions most likely rubbed off on her son. Werle having affairs on Greggers dying mother had a reasonably negative impact on his life, therefore it is no wonder why he feels that others should have to bare the burden of this secret, or help him dissolve it. Other characters like Relling view Greggers as simple just being ill. This belief leads Relling to say, "He's suffering from a surfeit of self-righteousness" (212). At this point him, Gina, and Hedvig quickly establish that Greggers need fort he truth makes him ill, therefore rationalizing that the truth is unneeded and, and deciding that their lives are better without the truth. It is easier to deny things if they are found to be flawed, so by calling Greggers ill, it makes what he is trying to preach to them not seem like a necessity. However, shortly after Greggers reveals the truth to Hjalmar and everything then gets worse.