WESTMAN – an allegory

 

We begin our story with Judith patiently waiting for the man that she knows will one day come to rescue her from her difficult life. When Jesse appears and announces that he is the one, a night of passion ensues in which each promises everlasting dedication to the other.

 

But at morning’s light Judith wakes up, takes one look at Jesse beside her, and decides that this is not the man after all. She wakes him up, hands him his shoes and, over his confused objections, sends him packing. She returns to waiting only to soon discover that she is pregnant.

 

Judith will have nothing to do with her daughter Catherine who very nearly dies at a young age but somehow manages to survive alone on the streets. Nurtured by the belief that her father will some day return for her, Catherine ekes out a scruffy existence, eventually blooming into a tough, beautiful young woman. Roman, the richest, finest man in town, who has always looked down on her, sees her anew one day and, the difference in their ages notwithstanding, falls completely in love. He takes her in, introduces her to his mother Plata, and together they make a lady of her: a powerful and imperious lady at that. Westman is their child.

 

Not long after Westman's birth, Saxon, a distinctly uncivilized fellow, appears on the scene. He is nasty, brutish and tall. Engaging Roman in a fight he scores an impressive win and takes Catherine and Westman as his prize. In humiliation, Roman leaves his wife and child and moves east to set up new lodging. This move puts him back in touch with his parents whom he has not seen in some time. While Catherine sets about civilizing Saxon, Roman gets reacquainted with his father Ari and his mother Plata, who have been living with the friendly, mysterious, Aran.

 

Growing up under Catherine and Saxon, Westman is a quiet and respectful child in his younger years. The first inklings of discontent surface when he goes to visit his father and comes face-to-face with Aran and his venerable, wise grandparents who expose him to a world of new, provocative ideas. Catherine, a domineering mother, is a bit worried but tolerant; she recognizes the old folks' wisdom and trusts Westman's obedient nature to keep him in line. The relationship between Catherine and Saxon is increasingly fraught. When they met, Catherine was clearly the more powerful of the two. She was, after all, a lady (albeit of hidden, humble roots) and Saxon a mere field hand. But as time goes on Saxon increasingly asserts himself and the couple experiences a growing struggle for dominance in the relationship.

 

Westman's adolescence changes everything. At about 13 years old, he begins to explore his surroundings, finding places that no one he knows has seen before. On one of these trips he has a truly remarkable experience (the Iberia incident) to which we will return a bit later.

 

To the pure delight of his mother and with her unmitigated support, Westman begins to paint and to sing, pouring out an explosion of creative work. Catherine is tremendously proud of her son but slightly worried about the effect that strange places and new ideas might have on him. And with good reason: a lethal brew of grandparents' teachings, new insights, and plain teenage rebellion has begun to do its work. Westman becomes progressively less willing to submit to Catherine's dictates and her world view. He insists that he can, and will, think for himself, in the new ways that he has discovered.

 

At age fifteen Westman finds a girl friend, Lucy. She is austere and humorless, but strong and ambitious. He brings her home to meet mother who absolutely hates her, seeing the younger Lucy as a challenge to her control of Westman. Saxon, on the other hand, is quite taken with Lucy, not least because she bothers Catherine so much. Taking sides with Lucy is part of his fight with Catherine. Eventually Westman leaves with Lucy to live with Saxon, who is more tolerant of Westman's natural curiosity.

 

Westman and Saxon are soon to have their own conflicts, as Westman asserts himself as a grown man, tired of being under Saxon’s control. They fight and Westman does indeed gain his independence only to find himself, now twenty years old, caught in an internal struggle between his desire to pursue the material aspects of his life, and the uneasiness he feels about his increasingly tenuous grasp on the abstracts of truth and reality.

 

This ends the story proper. Following are three peripheral vignettes, skipped in the initial telling.

 

SAM - Westman’s child. This was a remarkable episode in one of Westman’s early trips of exploration, just before his fifteenth birthday. In a far away place he met a woman, although “met” is not exactly the right word because she was a being of a totally different sort than himself. This woman, Iberia, was distinctly “less” than he -- more solid, more earthly, but less profound, less real. In fact, one could say that he was a god and she a mortal. Like Westman, Iberia was on an adventure of discovery, exploring an ancient house that she had found. Despite their dissimilar natures Westman was smitten with her and did manage to demonstrate his affection concretely enough to leave her with twin children. To Iberia, the romance consisted of no more than of a mystical, dream-remembered experience and the virgin birth of Sam and Andy. From the house she had been exploring, Iberia also took a young girl, Angelita, whose lot was changed from that of a free spirit to a maid unwillingly pressed into Iberia’s service.

 

Iberia returned to her hometown with her twin sons and Angelita. She was met by Frank and John, the town’s outstanding citizens and most bitter rivals. They were both immediately struck with the promise of the boys, leaving Angelita to Iberia. After considerable conflict and cajoling, John took over as foster father to the boys. He raised them until Sam, in his adolescence, began to chaff under John’s stern command, and wrestled himself free, by trouncing John. But that’s another story.

 

Aran’s STORY. Aran lived as a wild free spirit until his adolescence when a god-woman, Jessica, visited him. (Some suspect that this was Jesse, returned in female form). She appeared briefly and left suddenly, but the encounter completely focused and energized Aran who proceeded to worship her and to tell everyone he could about her. In his travels he met Iberia, and although he was to her as a god is to a mortal (that is, he was on the same ‘plane’ as Westman), he was immensely attracted to her. He approached her to join him as a mate in his quest to spread Jessica’s message but, with considerable difficulty, Iberia spurned his advances. At the moment when she finally convinced him to leave her be, Westman appeared and broke through her tattered defenses.

 

Madame Solé. There was another encounter, later in Westman’s adolescence. He first met Madame Solé when he was 17 years old. She was older, mysterious, earthy and beautiful. He wooed her clumsily and won her more through intimidation than through any reciprocal affection on her part. When he was 19, distracted by the angst of his uncertainty, Madame Solé took the opportunity to walk out on him. Her departure left him confused -- he had fancied that he treated her well and she was appreciative -- but he carried on without ever really bothering to understand why she left, determined that he would succumb to neither self-pity nor guilt.

 

Now that the story is really over we can provide the key to the metaphor.

 

Westman = the western mind/western philosophy

Judith = the Jews

Jesse = Jewish Messiahs (including Jesus)

Catherine = the Catholic Church

Roman = the Roman Empire. His trip is the move of the Roman Empire to the East

Saxon = the German tribes (Visigoths) who overthrow Rome. Saxon's move away from Catherine represents the establishment of the Holy Roman Empire. Saxon also plays another role: he represents the political world, both in its conflict with religion (Catherine) and with western democratic tendencies (adolescent Westman).

Ari = Aristotle, rediscovered by Roman’s move east.

Plata = Plato (who had earlier contributed significantly to Christian theology via St. Augustine in Catherine’s initial contact with Plata)

Lucy – Protestantism (Lutheranism)

Aran = the Arabic people, preservers of Greek philosophy, particularly Aristotle.

 

Westman’s romances and children. If this part seems under-developed, it is because it is the subject of a separate musical, SAM.

Iberia = Spain

Sam = the Unites States

Andy = Canada

John = England

Frank = France

 

Madam Sole = the third world colonies

 

Westman's adolescence is the period of global exploration and the Renaissance. The conflicts with Catherine are the Reformation and the scientific revolution in which western philosophy somewhat frees itself from the Church. The final fight is the condemnation of Galileo at which point the force of western civilization deserts Rome and moves north to Germany, France and England. The fights with Saxon are the evolution of the democratic tradition in the West.

 

 

WESTMAN -- THE STORY

 

Westman -- a chronology of the teens

 

With a little slippage in the early years, one might imagine Westman as aging one year per century since the year one thousand. That is to say Westman just turned twenty. This explains the current situation. The West is now a rowdy, dangerous young man -- strong enough to do real harm, with only the beginning of the wisdom to control that capability. Ultimately, one can hope for progress, assuming that this youngster is smart enough to survive his most perilous years and grow into the wisdom that age can confer. We can now ask Westman to provide for us the most interesting event in each of his teen years.

 

Century/ Age

Westman …

Event

10

is sent on a trip to a strange place

Crusades

11

meets his grandfather

Aristotle (Greeks) rediscovered

12

extracts a promise from Saxon to consult him in important decisions

Magna Carta

13

gets sick, gains independence

the Plague

14

voice changes

meets Iberia

the printing press

US created

15

gets Lucy as a girlfriend

learns to paint, write and sing

the Reformation

Renaissance

16

learns that the world and human affairs are predictable, governed by”laws.”

Science

the Enlightenment

17

fights with Saxon; moves out on his own.

meets Madame Solé

Revolutions

Global exploration

18

19

in the day …

works and makes things

at night …

worries and wonders

the day …

industry

the night …

uncertainty and relativity

 

[Century #10 is not the 10th century, it is Westman’s 10th year, i.e. the years 1000-1099, which is the 11th century]

 

Performances

The stories of Westman and Sam exist as musical presentations. The former is done oratorio style -- singers stand up and sing backed up by a slide presentation. The show has two parts. The first develops Westman’s genealogy with songs sung by the participants (Judith, Jesse, and so on) describing the details of the story. The second part, by a solo singer, is Westman’s description of the above events of his teen years. The slides are particularly crucial to this part because the song is sung from Westman’s view while the slides provide the key to the story.

 

SAM exists as a two-hour, music-only play that was presented in 1995 as part of Glendale Community College’s theater season.

 

I have been known to perform pieces of these at coffeehouses, libraries and vacant corner lots.
The story told by Westman

 

Age 10: When I was 10 years old Mother told me that we were going on a journey to a far-off place in order to meet a very bad man. This man, Aran, had taken something from us and it was important that we get it back.

We actually made the trip many times, without any real success. The main effect on me was that I learned that the world is far larger, and the people in it are far stranger, than I had ever imagined

 

INTERPRETED

The journeys were the Crusades, undertaken to wrest the holy sites of Christianity from Arab control. Europeans began to dimly see a world beyond their isolated existence.

 

Age 11: On these journeys I met my grandparents, most especially my grandfather Ari, who struck me as incredibly wise. I was quite amazed to learn that I had descended from so noble a man.

Most surprising was that my grandparents were being looked after by none other than that “very bad man” Aran. It was all quite confusing.

 

INTERPRETED

The Crusades put the West in touch with Arabic scholars who had preserved the works of ancient Greece, long forgotten in the west.

Europeans learned of the stunning intellectual achievements of their Greek heritage.

Aristotle in particular came to be considered the epitome of learning and wisdom.

 

Age 12: I began to find my stepfather Saxon increasingly oppressive and annoying. Young as I was, I told him that I did not appreciate him making all my decisions for me. I wrote an agreement, signed by us both, that he would in the future give me some say in choices that affected me.

 

INTERPRETED

The Magna Carta is signed. Power, rights and responsibilities begin to be distributed across society.

 

Age 13: A dismal time that brought me to a surprising conclusion.

I fell ill; I feared that I would die.

I turned first to my mother for consolation and help. She could only tell me that she had her own problems to deal with and she could not do much for me.

I turned to my stepfather next and got much the same response.

Without their assistance I did manage to recover and noticed something striking. While I was ill a great deal of work had gone undone. I realized that they actually needed me at least as much as I needed them and that gave me a certain freedom to follow my own best interests. They were still my parents, they still exercised a great deal of authority over me, but I felt that I had more power than I had ever thought.

 

I also began to feel artistic urges: I wrote and I painted.

 

INTERPRETED

The Black Plague strikes Europe, significantly reducing the labor force.

Both the church and the political systems are in dysfunctional conditions. The Church was split by warring popes and corruption, calling into question its moral authority. The 100 Years’ War was a bloody, prolonged exercise in futility conscripting peasants and devastating farmlands.

The reduction of the labor force greatly increased the value of labor and, for the first time, peasants were able (and sometimes forced) to seek wage employment away from the bonds of feudal obligation.

 

The Renaissance began to stir

 

Age 14: My voice changed. Suddenly I was able to speak with authority and people could hear me and take note of what I said.

 

At the very end of that year I had an amazing experience. I met a woman Iberia and I experienced making love for the first time.

This woman however was distinctly different than I, clearly somehow a lesser kind of being. In fact you might say that I was to her as a god is to a mortal. Our differences notwithstanding, I left her with twin sons. And I did leave her. I knew that this was no one I could take home to mother. She would be on her own to raise her children in their world of mortals.

 

INTERPRETED

The voice change is the invention of the printing press.

 

The incident with Iberia (Spain) is the discovery of the Americas. The twins are the US and Canada. Their story is told in a separate allegory, SAM – a history of the US. The relationship of Westman and Iberia is this: In the allegory of Westman, the characters stand for ideas; in the allegory of SAM the characters stand for countries. Ideas are to countries as gods are to mortals. The Americas are the ideas of the West born again, in what appears to be a virgin birth.

 

Age 15: I got a girl-friend, Lucy. She was strong-willed and serious and seemed bent on improving me. I took her home to see Mother who immediately and deeply disapproved of her. Mother was disappointed and hurt that I would find comfort and seek advice from someone other than her.

Saxon, on the other hand, liked Lucy a lot. A good deal of the reason for his affection was precisely that Mother so disapproved of her.

Saxon and Mother did not always get along with each other. In fact they were fairly frequently trying to establish dominance over the other. When they first met, Mother was clearly the more powerful personality, but over time Saxon had challenged her dominance. Saxon’s approval of Lucy was significantly a means of gaining my support.

 

I continued to write and paint with increasing force. Mother was, in this endeavor, very supportive, but then I spent a lot of effort to produce art of which she approved.

 

INTERPRETED

Lucy is Protestantism, disapproved of by the Catholic Church but embraced by the Northern political powers. The Church and secular politics had increasingly come into conflict.

 

The Renaissance picks up steam, backed by the Church.

 

Age 16: I looked around me and saw that the world operates according to discoverable rules. “There are rules and there are laws; for each effect a cause.” It then occurred to me that human affairs may run according to similar laws. Among those laws were my right to be a free, independent being.

 

More of my artistic output was dedicated to that theme, and Mother’s support was correspondingly less. Both my parents saw problem with my growing sense of individuality.

 

INTERPRETED

This is age of Science beginning with Copernicus, Galileo and Newton. The insights of science morphed into the Enlightenment with increasingly humanistic calls for individual freedoms.

 

Art begins to become more secular and less Church-sanctioned.

 

Age 17: It came to a head when I challenged Saxon to fight. My victory proved that I was indeed now a man – an independent force to be reckoned with.

 

INTERPRETED

The American and French revolutions put into practice the principles of the Enlightenment.

 

Age 18: As a free man I turned, during the day, to work and I worked harder and smarter than anyone ever before. I produced more and lived better than ever.

 

Yet at night I was visited by discomforting dreams spearheaded by three ghosts who came to tell me that life is stranger than I imagined and that the rule of life is change. It was enough to make me doubt much of what I felt I knew.

 

I traveled and met Madam Sole, an older, exotic woman. I took her for my lover, my marriage to Lucy notwithstanding. Ours was an affair not for the public’s eyes.

 

INTERPRETED

The Industrial Revolution of the 19th century produced goods and standards of living unimaginable before in history.

The three ghosts are Darwin, Marx and Freud, come to destroy our comfortable truths.

Madam Sole is the Asian and African colonies taken in the 19th century

 

Age 19: Again the days and nights were distinctly different.

During the day I returned to work and produced enough to arrive at a level of comfort never before seen.

 

I endured some serious mental problems with deep internal conflicts. It was during one of these episodes that Madam Sole decided to leave me. I was fairly confused since I thought I had always treated her well, only to find out that she felt differently. I didn’t want her to go but I was too distracted to prevent it.

The nights were again most confusing and disorienting. Strange voices whispered that nothing is what it seems and that knowledge and control would forever lie beyond my certain grasp.

 

INTERPRETED

The march of technology and consumerism continues in the 20th century.

The mental problems are the world wars, during which the colonies gain their freedom.

The night of the 20th century begins with Einstein and continues through quantum theory. Mathematics is dominated by statistics, the quantification of “maybe.” These worldviews virtually eliminate the notions of objectivity and certainty, which were so much a part of earlier thought.

 

NOW at 20 years old

Westman turned 20 years old as the new millennium began and we can survey where we are and where we might go. We are NOW dealing with a twenty-year old man, and there is nothing more dangerous than that: considerable power with limited wisdom. So the question arises as to whether this young man will grow to wise maturity or destroy himself and others before that happens.

 

The theme of the past millennium has been the ascendance of the individual. Virtually all of the changes outlined above represent a diminution of centralized power and the growing importance of the individual. Whereas decisions were once made with reference to the tribe or the society – to ‘us’ – now those decisions revolved around ‘me.’ This story has truly been a ‘coming- of age’ tale – the process by which the growing individual gains independence.

 

So which is it to be – me or us? How about both?

The line that “what goes around comes around” asserts that kindness and harm to others produces equivalent effects on the one doing those acts. The best way to further one’s own interests is to exercise compassion to others. This is perhaps how we hope to combine the wisdom of all of human history, not only the wisdom accrued by Westman in his short, eventful, life.