In Bertolt Brecht “the life of Galileo” various innate truths regarding the power struggles that have existed in the modern human race are explored. Bertolt most influential themes expounded in the novel are the, Distortion of truth due to reality, Humans intrinsic cognitive ability to reason, subservience of the poor to the rich and that social progress stems from doubt. All of these themes are associated with the challenging of authority and its own limiting convictions. An interesting character in history who congruously fits into this argument is Thomas Muir, leader of the “friends of the people” and a political reformer during the Scottish Enlightenment.
The Distortion of truth due to reality is a principle theme that runs constant throughout the novel, and is one such that Galileo in is constant conflict with. His own truth in validating ‘Copernicus Hypothesis’ that the earth revolves around the sun is in direct contradiction to the Church’s view that the sun revolves around the earth, and although the truth can be proven the reality that the Church is the ultimate source of knowledge is a reality that distorts the truth, hindering a challenge to its authority. Galileo explicitly references to his battle with the reality of the Church and his own truth when he converses with Andrea ‘Galileo: The big shots won’t allow it; Andrea: But it’s the truth; Galileo: But they’re forbidding it’. However Galileo remains an optimist during his formative years and although circumstance confines him to himself, his overwhelming belief that Change is the only constant in life due to human reasoning and doubt, ‘because the old days are over and this is a new time’ hold firm despite great adversity.
A similar radical later in history that attempted to covey a truth but was inhibited by reality is Tomas Muir, an influential Political Reformer during the age of Scottish Enlightenment. A man who