Weight of Tereza’s Suitcase in the Unbearable Lightness of Being

Weight of Tereza’s Suitcase in The Unbearable Lightness of Being The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera has a great emphasis on lightness and weight in a person’s life and discusses the benefits and challenges of each side through characters like Tereza, a heavy figure that prefers meaning and purpose over a more carefree lifestyle. He shows the hardships that she encounters as a result of the amount of weight she has taken on but also shows the beautiful and meaningful aspects of life she has been able to embrace thanks to her heavy nature. The book starts off with contemplating whether it is better to be light or heavy, and the rest of the book portrays differently weighted characters (like Tereza and Tomas) to help the reader come to a conclusion. In The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera, Tereza’s suitcase is a good representation of weight because it represents something that implies permanence because it is enormous, heavy, and it is the symbol of Tereza’s decision to give her life to Tomas when she leaves it at the station for him to pick up. The suitcase is also a heavy symbol of settling down in Tomas and Tereza’s relationship because it is not just for one night but clearly is large and heavy enough to imply moving in and establishing a lasting a relationship as opposed to a meaningless one that only lasts the night. Tereza’s suitcase is a clear representation of Tereza’s lightness in multiple ways. One literal way is how Tomas keeps describing it as “enormously heavy” and sees it as a burden because it is not simply enough to sustain a night and instead is meant to last permanently (Kundera 9). In this way it is physically large and heavy which represents Tereza’s weight in a more literal way. This gives a nice, concrete representation of Tereza’s viewpoint that makes her heavy nature more tangible to the reader and therefore easier to grasp. The “enormously large suitcase” that Tereza brought to Tomas’ apartment shows that

Bibliography: Kundera, Milan. The Unbearable Lightness of Being. New York: Harper & Row, 1984. Print.