For one of my literature classes, we read an essay about the role of desire in narratives. This essay used Balzac’s novel La Peau de Chagrin as an example of a novel whose narrative is driven by desire; however, it is twisted such that the narrative is actually driven by the protagonist’s attempt to avoid desire. He was given a talisman that would grant him his every wish; however, it also would gradually destroy him. I found this to be an interesting exploration of the interplay of desire and pain. Often, desire is associated with emotional pain such as the loss of something or someone one loves, but in Balzac’s story, desire has been associated with physical pain, and ultimately, death.
I am not sure how the association with physical rather than emotional pain changes the portrayal of desire. At first, I thought that the association with physical pain seemed to cast a more negative light on desire, especially since desire here was ultimately associated with death even more so than with pain. The more I though about it, the more I began to think that perhaps emotional pain was in fact the more damaging. One can attempt to ignore or at least lessen physical pain by focusing on something else, but no matter how hard one tries, one cannot escape from the pain inside one’s head. The physical aspect of pain is more visible to others, but mental pain is hidden.
Regardless of the form that pain takes, I found it interesting that Balzac’s portrayal of desire in his novel is so similar to the Hindu belief that desire and attachment lead to suffering. We tend to believe that we will be happier if we have something; however, often once we have whatever we desired, we realize that it was not worth the cost. Alternatively, we experience desire and attachment towards something we have, and we suffer when it is lost. Balzac deals with both of these points in his novel. The main character experiences physical pain as the cost of obtaining what he desires, and when he finally receives his ultimate desire, he experiences the pain of losing it through his death.
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