Zobrist’s idea about population is exceptional. He uses a mathematical calculation to predict men existence in the future. Since mathematics does not have
any feeling, he thinks that even death is acceptable when it comes to the safety of mankind. In one occasion Sienna Brooks says that Zobrist even sees the Black Death
as a boon. She says: Essentially it’s a mathematical recognition that the earth’s population is
rising, people are living longer, and our natural resources are waning. The equation predicts that the current trend can have no outcome other
than the apocalyptic collapse of society. Zobrist has publicly predicted that the human race will not survive another century … unless we have
some kind of mass ex
tinction event.” Sienna sighed heavily and locked eyes with Langdon. “In fact, Zobrist was once quoted as saying that ‘the
best thing that ever happened to Europe was the Black Death
113
. The dialogue shows that Zobrist obsession on reducing population is not merely
evil. He has logical calculation and based on other experts, his calculation is possibly accurate. Although it cannot be used as a justification for his action, from the passage,
it is clear that Bertrand Zobrist is not crazy. All of his acquisitions are based on math, on truth.
Besides his evil action, when people see his reason, Bertrand Zobrist is an existentialist hero who relies on himself and himself only. The core of existential
doctrine is men and their freedom. Men are the one who decides their own life. There is nothing that able to change a man besides his own choice. He decides to release the
Viral Vector virus that will make 13 of human population sterile, which in the sense of morality, especially for people who claim themselves as pro-life, is unacceptable.
113
. D. Brown, Inferno, 105
However, it does not mean that he is not an existentialist hero that has a high awareness of his existence and the existence of mankind.
His deed is the evidence of his existence. Therefore he is an existential hero. Although his action does not fit common logic, it does not change the fact that he is a
man of action. He decides and executes his plan without any remorse because he thinks that this action is truthful. His action is an evidence of Existential attitude.
Beyond logical discussion, his effort is a depiction of a man who fights the absurd, the world.
The other form of alienation appears in Zobrist involvement to the story. Zobrist is one of the main characters of this novel. However, he does not appear on
many occasions. His only actual appearance is when he meets Sinskey to explain his idea of the world population. Another event where he appears is in the video that he
gives to The Provost. Even though Zobrist has a significant role in the store, if not the most significant, he rarely appears in the story and his deeds are only explained by
other characters. Readers acknowledge
Zobrist’s deed only from the narratives that are given by other characters. He is known as a fanatic from the explanation of Martha. He is
known as a bizarre individual from Langdon’s partial understanding on Zobrist’s
ideology. He is known as an evil man from the narration that was given by Sinsky. Zobrist has no opportunity to briefly explain himself. He is alienated from every
aspect of the story. Therefore, Zobrist is an alienated man. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Based on the explanation from other characters, Zobrist shows an authentic self. Apart from right or wrong, he practices the notion of authenticity, therefore he is
alienated. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
83
CHAPTER IV POINTLESS RELIANCE
A. Suicide and the Existence of Man
“The Provost”, the leader of Consortium, believes that Bertrand Zobrist only has one year to live. He chooses to leave Sienna because he does not want to make
Sienna see him in pain. The Provost feels certain that Zobrist prepares to commit suicide since he has already known that he is not going to live long.
Provost : “He may have been planning to do that anyway,” then provost
added. “He was convinced he did not have long to live.”
114
The Provost assumes that Zobrist does not hesitate to kill himself because he is sick and even though he does not kill himself, he will eventually die in one year. One
might think that Bertrand Zobrist has lost his mind for choosing to kill himself because there will always be hope in life, but Zobrist is an existential hero who does
not believe in hope. In this case, his certainty to commit suicide is the item that must be highlighted. Discussing suicide is always problematic. People try to explain it in
many different ways, but actually, people could not explain the reason for someone’s
suicide since no one has experienced death before. Camus states that there is no one except the one who commits suicide that
understands its reason
115
. The most important thing to understand, he says, is to understand whether life is worth living or not. The first thing that one must do is to, at
114
D. Brown, Inferno, 260
115
A. Camus, “The absurd Reasoning”, The Myth of Sisyphus and other Essays, 8
least, see the problem of suicide to understand its subjectivity; there is no general truth in suicide.
People assume that it is inviolable to talk about suicide. However, there are some countries that think suicide as an honor. One of the most famous suicide
traditions in the world is Seppuku. Historically, such suicide manner firstly appeared in 716 AD in the story of Harima. There was a young goddess who slit her stomach
after fighting with her husband. Since that time, suicide has continuously emerged in Japan literature and mythology. Seppuku, then, spread to the samurai military
aristocracy during their rise to power in the 12
th
century as a form of preserving one’s honor from the indignity of capture by the enemy
116
. Based on that story, Seppuku is an act of honor and bravery. It is not a form of desperation for they embrace death in
order to maintain their dignity in life. It is true that there is a huge possibility that the reason behind people’s suicide is because of their desperation, but desperation is just
the surface; there is a big philosophical problem in their heart. When his mission is half complete, Zobrist is chased down by the authority and
it leads him to Badia tower. O, willful ignorants Do you not see the future? Do you not grasp the
splendor of my creation? The necessity? I will gladly make this ultimate sacrifice … and with it I will extinguish your final hope of finding what
you seek. You will never locate it in time.
117
116
Toyomasa Fusé, “Suicide and Culture in Japan”.A study of Seppuku as an Institutionalized Form of Suicide. Social Psychiatry 15 Spring 1980: 57-58
117
D. Brown,. Inferno, 15
From the excerpt above, it can be seen that Zobrist is cornered by the authority, but is that the main reason for his suicide? He labels the people who chase him as
“ignorants”, the people who refuse to understand the fact that he has revealed. He sees those men as absurd men who do not understand the fact. He clearly thinks that
in order to fight those men, he needs to make the ultimate sacrifice, to commit suicide.
Zobrist is well known as a scientist who concerns on the apocalypse and utopian dream. He wrote an essay called “Who Needs Agathusia?”. In the
conversation betw een Langdon and Sienna, Zobrist’s standpoint on suicide is
different from most men. Sienna describes: I finally remembered the name of Zobrist’s essay. It was called: ‘Who
Needs Agathusia?’ ” Langdon had never heard the word agathusia, but took his best guess based on its Greek roots
—agathos and thusia. “Agathusia … would be a ‘good sacrifice’?” “Almost. Its actual meaning
is ‘a self-sacrifice for the common good.’ ” She paused. “Otherwise known as benevolent suicide
118
. From the title of the essay written by Zobrist, he believes that sacrifice is
needed in order to save the world. Resembling Logan’s Run, depicted as a future society where everyone agrees to commit suicide at age twenty-one, it seems that
Zobrist expects everybody, or himself, to be willing to sacrifice for the greater good. For Zobrist, maintaining the world population should be the main goal for every
human being in this world, therefore he thinks that when people do not understand that idea, those people are absurd.
118
D. Brown, Inferno, 143
Zobrist is a scientist and he is living in his subjectivity, the only truth that he understands are number and fact. He is, undeniably, an authentic individual who tries
to find the answer to life by his own effort. Zobrist furthermore states that: I do not fear death … for death transforms visionaries into martyrs …
converts noble ideas into powerful movements. Jesus. Socrates. Martin Luther King. One day soon I will join them
119
. Zobrist does not fear death for death transforms his name into immortality. In
this state, he understands that no one is able to see his vision. Therefore, he compares himself to visionaries like Socrates, Martin Luther King, and even Jesus. He puts
himself as the savior of mankind. Therefore, he needs to become the martyr of the revolution.
However, the problem with suicide is its contradiction to existence. The key of existential principle is men’s existence and the only existence that can be seen by
men’s eyes is life. When an individual decides to kill himself, it means that they deny their own existence. The basis of existentialism is the existence of men. When an
individual decides to commit suicide, it means that such individual, in the perspective of existentialism, is absurd. Therefore based on existential teaching suicide are both
an existential act and a non-existential act as well. Since it supports and, also, contradicts existential belief.
If Zobrist thinks that he has no more goals in life besides his mission, His idea is absurd for existentialism which the theory is based on. People might think that men
119
D. Brown,. Inferno, 207
without a goal are just like rock or tree. However, having no idea about a goal and having no goal at all is entirely different. There is a big possibility when men think
that they have no goal, it is the condition when they are unable to see the goal. As states by Sartre that man is nothing but what he wants himself to be. Living
without an idea of a goal means that men can do anything for their life besides killing himself because committing suicide means avoiding men’s existence. Having no life
goal is a part of human life. According to existentialism which develops based on human authentic reality, it is natural for an individual to have no purpose until he can
find it. After men can achieve their goal, there will be another purpose to achieve because it is the essence of existence, to walk through it. Camus states that:
By the mere activity of consciousness I transform into a rule of life what was an invitation to death
—and I refuse suicide. I know, to be sure, the dull resonance that vibrates throughout these days
120
. But it is bad to stop, hard to be satisfied with a single way of seeing, to
go without contradiction, perhaps the most subtle of all spiritual forces. The preceding merely defines a way of thinking. But the point is to
live
121
. Based
on Camus’ idea, there are so many things that worth the trouble. He states that even when one has no idea about the purpose of his life, there is no reason
to stop and to avoid his existence. This is one of the essences of atheistic existential philosophy that can be the basis for the discussion of suicide. People often put
desperation, social condition, religion and even tradition as the major themes of
120
A. Camus, “The absurd Reasoning”, The Myth of Sisyphus and other Essays, 42
121
A. Camus, “The absurd Reasoning”, The Myth of Sisyphus and other Essays, 43
