This glossary will help the reader to see more clearly some of the links between the literal and the symbolical-allegorical levels. The material presented is not intended to be exhaustive.
Characters:
André
French form of the Greek name Andreas, with the first element andr- meaning man, or more specifically, warrior. Outwardly, André is an ordinary ‘man’. Inwardly, he is a ‘warrior’. His German name Von Aussen means From Outside.
It is a journey from the outer man to the inner man – a gradual shifting away of our attention from the outer form, or perceived reality, to an inner plane of seeing and knowing, or a higher level of consciousness.
The characters in André’s world, whether real or imaginary, are aspects of his own being. The fact that they all have a life of their own on the outer plane of existence symbolises André’s inner fragmentation. This also applies to the imaginary characters. They are recognisable externalisations of André’s mind, appearing to him as ‘real’ persons in his field of awareness.
Discovering the separate parts on his inner plane is André’s journey. Through a slow process of integration, the ‘inner André’ becomes whole, changing the ‘outer André’ from a mere shadow of himself into a ‘character of substance’.
In this sense, André’s quest is an analogy. All the characters in the novel, including André himself, refer to aspects of our own being. We all start out as ‘ordinary man’, and most of us have no desire for this to change.
But the moment we start to explore the dark territories of our mind, whether unconsciously and in spite of ourselves or willingly and in good faith, we have no choice but to become ‘warriors’ – or perish.
Delilah
From Hebrew, meaning delicate. As opposed to Samson’s mistress in the Old Testament, the Delilah in this novel is a caring, giving and compassionate character – an allegorical figure of light and healing.
She works initially in an environment that represents the illusory forces of the world, getting to know the darker impulses of her psyche. But her going to India and becoming a Buddhist nun points to the path of spiritual evolution that is open to us all.
Her shaven head on the photograph in Andrea’s handbag signifies that the deceptive Old Testament Delilah, whether she lies dormant in our hearts or is actively shaping our lives, can only be overcome by working on our ‘selves’.
As an aspect of André’s own being, she reflects his gentle, kind and caring side, his potential for cherishing himself and others, as well as the healing energies generated in him through compassionate love.
Andrea
A feminine variant of Andreas, derived from the Greek noun andreia, meaning manliness, virility. Andrea is a man’s name in Italy. The Andrea in this novel is a bodybuilder with a well-developed, powerful physique.
As the managing director and proprietor of a chain of boutiques, she stands for worldly power and success. Her family name Sartor, the Latin word for tailor, and the verb sarcire = to patch, points to the way she sees and values life by its outer form, the ‘wrapping’.
On one level, Andrea is an allegorical figure of darkness and destruction, a predatory temptress, fuelling our worldly desires and trapping us in the web of our illusory delights and calamities.
On a more down-to-earth level, Andrea is simply a hurt person, who relates to other people according to the formula ‘hurt people hurt people’. The image of physical power and material success she projects to the world hides her inward poverty.
As an aspect of André’s own being, she reflects his self-absorbed, impatient and uncaring side, his potential for abusing himself and others, as well as the destructive forces generated in him by vanity, intolerance, anger and desirous attachment.
Eleonora
Thought to derive from Old Provençal Alienor, but most likely of Germanic origin, with ali as the first element (cf. elend [‘wretched’ in modern German] → ali lanti → other or foreign lands).
André’s ex-wife, Leonora, is a metaphor of that which has become foreign or alien to him. As an aspect of André’s own being, Leonora reflects his feelings of guilt as well as his regret and sadness about what might have been.
Children
Gangs of children and younger teenagers symbolise chaotic, unharnessed energies, harmful, destructive forces, as well as trapped and undeveloped creative potential, reflecting some of André’s own inner states of ‘forlorn hope’.
Individual older children, adolescents and young people in their early twenties like Andrew and Elmer, André’s sons, symbolise hope, promise, initiative, strength, positive energies, personal growth and development, nobility of spirit. Some of these qualities are reflected in the names Andrew (cf. Andreas) and Elmer (ædel noble + mær famous).
The ‘youth with the golden hair’ is an Apollonian figure of hope, promise, clarity, light, a new dawn, the rising sun. As aspects of André’s own being, both Andrew and Elmer as well as ‘the youth with the golden hair’ reflect some of his more positive and constructive tendencies.
Doctor Proctor
André’s GP, who speaks of curing rather than healing. The name is a contraction of the Latin ‘procurator’, English ‘procurer’. Its basic meaning is ‘steward’ or ‘agent’.
As a rational, clear-headed character, Doctor Proctor personifies André’s longing for – yet, paradoxically, at the same time his fear of – more order, structure and direction in his life. Doctor Proctor reflects an aspect of André’s idealised image.
Doctor Baraka
A friend of André’s GP, Doctor Baraka is conspicuous by his physical absence, though his spiritual healing influence on André’s fluctuating inner states seems to be mysteriously felt by him.
The root and derivation of ‘baraka’ is Arabic. In this novel, the word is used to mean ‘a blessing from above’. As an aspect of André’s own being, the figure of Doctor Baraka denotes the protagonist’s inclination to the transcendental and mystical.
The Professor
Like Doctor Proctor, the Professor is a rational, clear-headed character. As an aspect of André’s own being, he represents André’s capacity for analytical and reflective thinking.
By a process of trial and error, André slowly realises that each time he uses analytical and reflective thinking in a skilful way – as opposed to mere ‘navel-gazing’ – he experiences levels of insight and understanding that trigger a spontaneous release of positive emotional energies in him.
The thick lenses of the Professor’s spectacles, which hide his eyes, stand for his unfeeling, academic outlook on life. During a rare moment, when the Professor is in touch with his feelings, the lenses become transparent and André catches a glimpse of his own gentler self.
The Countess von Dawinjek Haintal
The figure of the Countess is used purely as a metaphor, pointing to man’s potential for evolving into a being on a higher level of consciousness.
The name Dawinjek Haintal is an anagram of the Indonesian word ‘latihan kedjiwan’, which means ‘spiritual exercise’. Thus, the Countess is not intended to personify ordinary worldly nobility, but to symbolise a more highly evolved inner state of being – a spiritual nobility.
In the novel, Indonesia serves as a point of reference for the East or the Orient generally. From a western point of view, it is in the East where the sun rises. The East has been used in some mystic orientations to symbolise illumination or enlightenment, as well as the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Pan Zacharias
Like the Countess, the figure of Pan Zacharias is used purely as a metaphor. As a highly evolved being – Zacharias means ‘God has remembered’ in Hebrew – he is the guardian of the Countess’ estate. ‘Pan’ means ‘Mr.’ in the Czech language and here also refers to the god Pan, a symbol of base human nature.
The Czech capital Prague as Pan Zacharias’ place of origin merely serves as a point of reference for the West or the Occident generally. From an eastern point of view, it is in the West where the sun sets, a concept used here to symbolise light coming into darkness or, transcending base human nature by a process of enlightenment.
As aspects of André’s own being, the Countess stands for the protagonist’s spiritual potential and Pan Zacharias for the promise of his full spiritual awakening and transformation at a later stage in his life.
Jana
The figure of Jana – the feminine form of the two-headed Janus – is used purely as a metaphor. She represents both light and darkness and personifies life-giving as well as life-taking forces, combining in herself the energies of Delilah and Andrea.
Jana is a Protean being, symbolising the Wheel of Transformations, with one side of her dual appearance denoting the principle of evolution and the other side the principle of involution.
As an aspect of André’s own being, Jana reflects his duality, i.e. a movement towards greater inwardness and spiritual integration, on the one hand, and a counter-movement into fragmentation, a descent into worldly multiplicity, on the other.
Sam and Sara
The two figures Sam and Sara personify our conditioned existence with its reactive, habit-driven mentality, a state described in Buddhism as samsara. ‘Samsara pertains to the endless round of birth and death in which we find ourselves perpetually wandering. It is the state of un-Enlightened being.’
As an aspect of André’s own being, Sam and Sara are metaphors of his deeply ingrained, fixed patterns of thought and behaviour, but they also denote his desire to free himself of their influence.
Monsieur Sylvain
The figure of Monsieur Sylvain is an adaptation from the Latin Silvanus, the god of woods and forests. Following Jung’s interpretation of forest-symbolism, a forest, a wood or a jungle is used in this novel to symbolise the perilous aspects of the unconscious.
As an aspect of André’s own being, Monsieur Sylvain embodies all the unredeemed drives and impulses that exist in the dark recesses of his mind. Coupled with as yet unhealed wounds from unhappy past experiences, these forces erupt into his waking life to create turmoil, chaos and confusion.
Having the French-speaking Swiss town of Geneva as Monsieur Sylvain’s place of origin is used as a metaphor of André’s disconnected inner state. Though part of his own home country (his personality), Geneva is nevertheless a foreign, alien culture (the unknown territory of his mind) to him.
Madame Claire
The figure of Madame Claire – a clairvoyant by profession on the worldly level of existence – is at the same time used as a samsaric representation of the future.
By foretelling events that according to her “have already happened in the future”, she implies that André’s ordinary, reactive and habit-driven existence is chained to the ever revolving wheel of man-made time.
Mr Egwugwu
The figure of Mr Egwugwu is used as a samsaric representation of the past. Taken from the Ibo language in Nigeria, the word egwugwu describes ‘a masquerader who impersonates one of the ancestral spirits of the village.’
The Mr Egwugwu in this novel wears an enormous hat, outsized gloves and a massive overcoat, symbolising the weight of the past that André is constantly carrying with him into the future.
Old Woman with Rabbits
The figure of the Old Woman is used as a samsaric representation of impermanence and the transitoriness of life. She reflects the process of ageing – old age, infirmity and finally death.
The rabbits symbolise the many years that André has spent on a low, barely evolved level. In a figurative sense, all activities and pursuits that generate the dynamic of positive change are equated with spiritual evolution, e.g. rearing rabbits.
As aspects of André’s own being, Madame Claire, Mr Egwugwu and the Old Woman reflect his present unenlightened state and at the same time define the areas where change is necessary.
Minor Characters
André’s mother personifies ‘conditional love’ with its rigidly fixed, habitual patterns of behaviour. A purely reactive, non-reflective mind will find safety and security in such an approach to life.
The woman in the supermarket is a figura of the prototypical interfering, but well-meaning mother who, internalised by André as a child, continues to control him from within.
André’s father personifies ‘oppressive love’ with its relational cul-de-sacs and deadlocks. A passive, acquiescent mind will find purpose and meaning in this sort of pedagogy, where harsh, disciplinarian measures are believed to justify the outcome.
Students, colleagues, secretaries, neighbours and other minor characters are metaphors of the petty everyday trials and tribulations, to which André often reacts negatively.
Objects:
Mirror
The mirror is the most important object in the novel. It denotes all the subtler aspects of André’s being, his mind, imagination, spirit, soul and heart. It possesses a magnetic force with the power to transform – either leading to evolution or to involution.
As the novel progresses, André realises that human beings, animals and other inanimate objects can also be mirrors. This helps him relate more mindfully with the world around him; he becomes more aware of his negative patterns of behaviour and how these result from his reactive, unreflective thinking.
Lamps
Symbols of the light that comes from awareness.
Spectacles
Denote the changeable, unreliable ways of seeing or perceiving the world.
Pottery
Alludes to the fact that all phenomena produced by the process of cause and effect are impermanent.
Boat or Ship
The Barca di Venezia is a modern version of the Ship of Fools, known from mediaeval iconography and usually alluding to terrestrial desires and pleasures.
Handbag
Delilah’s photograph in Andrea’s handbag refers to the ancient mystical notion that there is light in darkness, as there is darkness in light (cf. the Yang–Yin).
Animals
Animals and birds are also of symbolical significance. For example, the panther-like cat that André encounters in the forest symbolises his own as yet untapped inner strength, his capacity to take risks and to be adventurous.
The spider symbolises André’s destiny and the robin the promise of a spiritual awakening in his life. The pigeon symbolises André’s longing for inner freedom and independence, and the wren is his dream of becoming a more joyful and carefree spirit.
Places
Places carry a symbolical meaning, too. Towns, houses, gardens and parks stand for the ordered, civilised world or nature tamed by man, and trees, rivers, woods and forests stand for nature in its wild, untamed state. Both symbolise André’s vacillating inner conditions.
Weather
The four seasons with their different types of weather have symbolical significance, as well. The cold and snow, rain and clouds, warmth, heat, sunshine, thunder and lightning, they all symbolise André’s fleeting moods and inner states, as do night and day, light and darkness, and even the passage of time.
Bibliography
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