AARON C. EASTLEY


and others have done. Indeed, no less a literary figure than Maryse
Cond6 chose to turn from tradition in her play depicting Solitude, An
Tan revolysion (Kadish 217). This, however, is a choice he did not
make-perhaps because he did not wish to contradict a tradition not
his own.
 Whatever the elusive "truth" may be (and each reader must obviously
reach their own verdict here), the importance of Schwarz-Bart's
portrayal remains. For especially with the reprinting in 2001 of the
English translation of the novel, for better or worse Solitude will likely
be known primarily through Schwarz-Bart's text for years to come. How
this will affect her symbolic influence is uncertain. Thankfully, however,
as I have attempted to show here, in its integrity, complexity, and human
sympathy, Schwarz-Bart's representation may not be nearly so
symbolically or politically unavailing as it may at first appear to critics.
For Solitude's madness as represented by Schwarz-Bart is indeed an
effectual madness. In its several forms, it is a madness matched to her
challenging circumstances, circumstances in which the virtue of being
a changeling vividly appears. She is, at various times and in various
necessities, able to live two lives at once, or to withdraw from life
altogether, or to fight with phenomenal strength, courage and power.
A symbolic figure so shaped seems both humanly familiar and heroically
resourceful-a fine candidate for political inspiration indeed.