The Superiority of Novel and Novelist

Question: How does Lawrence establish the superiority of novelist over the saints, scientists and the philosopher in his easy “Why the Novel Matters”?

D H Lawrence

D. H. Lawrence (1885 - 1930), a British novelist, establishes the superiority of novel and novelists criticizing the parson, the philosopher and the scientist in his great essay “Why the Novel Matters”. The author, to prove the supremacy of novel, sings the victory of life and puts the most importance on life as well as a man being alive. Now we will see how the author convinced his reader in favour of his statement in our following discussion.

In order to establish the superiority of the novelists, the author criticizes the parsons who always prefer after life and “talk about souls in heaven”. They give more importance to “soul” than body in order to keep it in happiness in paradise. To them body is like an empty bottle. As they think:

“The years drink up the wine, and at last throw the bottle away, the body, of course, being the bottle.”

But, to Lawrence, body is as important as the spirit is and giving more importance to soul is one kind of superstition. So he asks:

“Why should I imagine that there is a me which is more me than my hand is?”

And, paradise, to him, is matter of afterlife about which we all are unknown. Thus, he thinks, to discuss about such unknown thing is nonsensical. So he says:

“Paradise is after life, and I for one am not keen on anything that is after life.”

On the contrary, a novelist does not make any difference between the body and the soul or spirit. He deals with human experiences while a saint talks about life after death. Life on earth, Lawrence says, is more important and novel talks about the life on the earth therefore, he wants to be novelist and says that novel matters.
Then, the writer attacks the philosopher who talks about infinity or pure spirit which is not alive and has no physical reality. As he comments:

“If you are a philosopher, you talk about infinity, and the pure spirit which knows all things.”

Moreover, the philosophy itself is not alive and its matter of discussion is not also alive. The words and the aspirations of a philosopher is nothing but the vibration on the ether like a radio message. All these things are not alive. As the author writes:

“… …the so-called spirit, the message or teaching of the philosopher or the saint, isn't alive at all, but just a tremulation upon the ether, like a radio message.”

On the other hand, a novelist represents all dimensions of human being and a man alive. The words of a novelist may be a tremble in the ether but it shakes every bit of human being which is alive. So the matter of discussion of a novelist is more important and acceptable than that of a philosopher. The essayist gives more important to life. For this he says:

“Nothing is important but life. And for myself, I can absolutely see life nowhere but in the living”

Living object is more important and acceptable then a lifeless one. So, as writes says, “Better a live dog than a dead lion. But better a live lion than a live dog.” According to the logic, a subject that deals with living thing is obviously better than the subject that deals with dead item. The philosopher decides that “nothing but thoughts matter” but he confirms that “novel matters”.
After that, the essayist criticizes the scientist who does not bother a whole man alive but his bits or parts. A scientist takes a part into pieces. In Lawrence’s speech:

“To the scientist, I am dead. He puts under the microscope a bit of dead me, and calls it me. He takes me to pieces, and says first one piece, and then another piece, is me.”

Consequently the scientist also emphasizes on certain part of human being like a saint or philosopher. But, to Lawrence, a novelist deals with complete human being and is greater than a scientist as “The whole is greater than the part”. So the author declares:

“And therefore, I, who am man alive, am greater than my soul, or spirit, or body, or mind, or consciousness, or anything else that is merely a part of me.

The novel portrays the change of human life in a fullest expression. So the novel becomes “one bright book of life.” In the world, nothing is absolute, so everything is changeable and changes with the passage of time. What is good today will be bad tomorrow. What is wrong in one’s case is right in another case. A man alive cannot stick to one certain pattern.

The holy scriptures are one kind of novel. They might be about god, but actually about human. they describe the story about Adam, Eve, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Samuel, Solomon, Jesus and so on. So the essayist says:

“The novel is the book of life. In this sense, the Bible is a great confused novel. You may say, it is about God. But it is really about man alive.”

So, all these prove the superiority of novel over any other branch of the knowledge. And for this reason, the writer says:

“I am a novelist. And being a novelist, I consider myself superior to the saint, the scientist, the philosopher, and the poet, who are all great masters of different bits of man alive, but never get the whole hog.”

At the stage of our discussion we must say that the novel includes all the dimension of human experience and whole man alive. It shrinks nothing that is related to human life. So the writer considers himself superior to the saint, the scientist, the philosopher, and the poet and all the great master of different bits of man alive.

This paper is prepared for you by Talim Enam, BA (Hons), MA in English.

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