The Devil Went Down to...Germany?

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Within the first few pages of Faust I feel like I'm reading a strange version of the opening chapter of Job. Basically Mephistopheles is bored and wants entertainment and God is like "Oh, have you checked out Faust in Germany? He's bored too." The deeper I got into Faust though, the more I started seeing ties to the last book of Candide. The chapter 30 when Candide asks the Turk why he is so happy, he says, "I have but twenty acres. I cultivate them with my children; our work keeps at bay the three great evils: boredom, vice, and necessity." It seems as though this is where Faust has come, except he has given up even on work. Now, he is so bored that he doesn't even have a vice or feel a necessity to do anything of value. He feels as though it's all beneath him. He even equates himself to a god since he has nothing left to learn or experience. The question that kept repeating in my head was this: is it possible that boredom is equivalent to or worse than suffering? This seems to be what both Voltaire and Goethe believed.

I commented on Olivia and Brady's posts.

Comments

  1. Abigail BrockOctober 22, 2017 at 7:33 PM

    I feel that boredom is equivalent to suffering, however, that would also depend on what someone views as suffering. I'm sure we can all agree on a few things that would make us suffer (torture, death of a loved one, mental disorders) but there are situations that some would view as suffering, while others would see them as a mild inconvenience. I really think it depends on the person.

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  2. UnknownOctober 23, 2017 at 2:55 PM

    I, too, was compelled by the uncanny resemblances between the opening lines in Faust and the book of Job! My question to your question would be, on what sort of grading scale are we comparing these to very experiential feelings? In respects to what are they equivalent to? Is it merely in respects to experienced emotion that we are comparing, or is it something more detailed, yet universal that all humans experience, like evil or sin? Of course, from here, we have to go even further back to with what worldview we are drawing these conclusions, and the same going for the authors. As far as your question goes, at first glance and worth more inquiry, I would say that though suffering and boredom are two separate entities that are felt, their natures can be borne of one another. I think that boredom can produce a sort of suffering that is just as painful as the next (whether the one experiencing is aware or not), and suffering can produce a narrow-minded boredom that only continues a chained and depressive cycle.

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  3. Trey NorthcuttOctober 23, 2017 at 5:04 PM

    First off: Best. Title. Ever.

    Thinking about it, I noticed the comparison to the book of Job. As for the boredom question, I think that if boredom is allowed to build up for a long period of time, it can lead to a type of suffering. They themselves are separate feelings, but can be used in conjecture with one another if we are not careful (and we've observed with Faust, he was not). It can turn into a vicious cycle - one that even the most enlightened can't escape from.

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  4. Zelda PeachOctober 23, 2017 at 9:26 PM

    I agree with Trey, I think a good example would be some of the elderly in retirement homes. They often get so bored and tired of the same exact things everyday that they slip into depression, which I would classify as suffering. I personally wouldn't say that boredom is worse than suffering, especially concerning physical harm, but it can be equal.

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