Portret emocjonalny karierowicza? Powieść Edwarda Kupiszewskiego Za grzechy cudze i własne

Abstract

The main aim of this article is to present the emotional portrait of the main character in the novel entitled For Their and My Own Sins by Edward Kupiszewski. The novel is written from the protagonist's point of view in order to describe various thoughts, emotional states and moral dilemmas of a young man who decides to take advantage of a professional career opportunity to raise his social status in a provincial Polish town during the first decade after the Second World War. The main character, who can be depieted as a devoted supporter of political and social transition of the country, finds himself in an uncomfortable situation when the main political ideology starts to change. The author shows the struggle of a man who tries to keep up with the changes which finally lead him to realize how false and fragile his political beliefs in the name of 'the one and only right direction' of the official ideology imposed by the authorities at that time were. Born in Ostroleka, the writer in his novel makes an interesting attempt to depict the inner world of the main character, who perceives the political transformation of the state as his life career opportunity which in consequence leads him not only to abandon values typical for people of his social background but also makes him unable to realise that his actions, such as reporting on or firing his open-minded work colleagues, are morally wrong. Despite that the novel seems to be the author's insight into the process of rejection of communism, his main intention is far from being satirical or focused on showing the falsity of his main character's beliefs. Kupiszewski's main concern is centred on the human side ofhis main character, however, not to the point of trying to be apologetic for his main character's actions. To achieve this goal the novelist uses a plethora of narrative devices in order to describe the young man's emotions and thoughts rather than attempting to present his general outlook on political situation in Poland at that time.