Our mind is what keeps us aware (some of us more so after a cup of coffee in the morning)—it governs all of our choices and filters the massive amounts of information we encounter daily. And it never really stops; it keeps working even when we're not telling it to—daydreaming, telling our stomachs that we're hungry, putting one foot in front of the other. Our mind is the boss of all of that. But what happens when our body doesn't keep up with our minds? What then?
Postcards from No Man's Land poses an age-old debate: is it okay to end your life if your body is already dying? For Geertrui, the answer is yes, but we're not so sure everyone else agrees with her. And while other characters might not be thinking about assisted death much at all, they still have to think about what life should be like all the time.
Questions About Life, Consciousness, and Existence
- What is the value of life in Postcards from No Man's Land? Does everyone agree it has the same value?
- Do you think Geertrui should be able to say when she gets to die? Should we all have death cards like Hille carries? Why or why not?
- How does Jacob understand his existence? In what ways does he turn to books and family to define it for him?
- Are we all given the same existence? Geertrui thinks biology governs how we act and think, but how do our experiences come into play?
Chew on This
Postcards from No Man's Land suggests that all men, women, and monsters are born essentially the same, and we're made different by our experiences—like war, family, and love.
It's clear that our experiences are only part of our personalities; we're all born with essential parts of our consciousness formed, and who we are comes down to biology, just like Geertrui says.