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The Origins and Development of Lagerkvist's Barabbas

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SOURCE: Scobbie, Irene. “The Origins and Development of Lagerkvist's Barabbas.Scandinavian Studies 55, no. 1 (1983): 55-66.

[In the following essay, Scobbie traces Lagerkvist's creative process through an examination of Barabbas.]

During his lifetime Pär Lagerkvist was extremely reticent about his work and about how he experienced the creative process. One gains the impression that he was inspired in the old-fashioned sense of that word, wrote when in an almost visionary state and that he then divorced himself from what he had created. On his death in 1974 when it was revealed that he had kept diaries, correspondence, drafts, manuscripts, typescripts, and proofs of many of his works, both published and unpublished, it became possible to examine Lagerkvist's method of writing. What emerges is the image of a painstaking craftsman as well as an inspired author.

One of his most successful novels, Barabbas, provides an excellent example. If we trace this work on the evidence of material deposited at Kungliga biblioteket in Stockholm, we can gain some impression of how a Lagerkvistian masterpiece emerges.

To single out the exact moment when a work is conceived is hardly possible. In the case of a work by Lagerkvist the temptation is to go back to childhood memories of a loving home that for the youngest child Pär was too permeated with piety, Christianity, and Bible-reading. Even at the most practical level this background makes itself felt in the Barabbas manuscript, where Lagerkvist concentrates on Biblical figures and gives chapter and verse from the New Testament. But much more important is the affinity between Lagerkvist and his creation Barabbas, both of whom try to establish a mode of existence that does not necessitate either an acceptance or a rejection of Christianity. If we resist that temptation, however, we might be inclined to think of his slightly later impressions also stored in his emotional memory-bank. In the spring of 1933 Lagerkvist went on a journey to Greece and Palestine, and by early 1934 Den knutna näven was completed. Impressions of Greece were subsequently used when he began to fashion his novel Sibyllan. The section on the Holy Land, “Stridsland-Evighetsland”, has several possible titles at an early typescript stage (L120:33 1-4)1 including “Ökenland” and “Ökenland i evighetsland”. On p. 55 of this typescript the text states “Det är människans sak att bedrövas intill döden. Hon är den varelse som förmår fatta dess väsen och känna ångest över att göra det.” At that point Lagerkvist has scribbled “Jag gör det ej längre!?” (Typescript dated February 1934). Both the memory of his visit to Palestine, to Ökenlandet and the Dead Sea, and that combination of exclamation mark and question mark remained within him and were brought to the surface again towards the end of the 1940s.

For much of his life Lagerkvist kept a series of diaries and notebooks where, as well as recording personal events, he also entered concepts and ideas for new works. After writing Dvärgen (1944) Lagerkvist had turned to drama again, completing De vises sten in 1947. It was at about that point, towards the end of the 1940s, that he wrote in one of his note books “Försöka skriva världshistorisk koncentrerad enaktare som samtidigt är idédrama, belysande, liksom kastande ett blixtljus över människorna och hennes öde.” The play was to be called “Se människan!” or something similar. (L120:17:VII). It was to have a series of representatives of mankind, including Jesus, perhaps Socrates, Judas Iscariot and Jeanne d'Arc, et al., and its aim was to “ge en bild av människans och mänsklighetens historia.” There wouldn't be a plot in the conventional sense but each character would present himself.

The one-act play could also conceivably be expanded into three acts. The Devil would figure in one of the acts “med figurer som han haft mycket att göra med, bl. a. Barabbas, storförbrytaren som inte blev straffad, inte korsfäst.” So Barabbas as a representative of man, “han som inte blev korsfäst” has occurred to Lagerkvist at least as a subsidiary character in a play.

Barabbas was also to have a drinking companion by the name of Bill, a gangster who had raped a woman in a park and to his amusement had got someone else punished for his crime. There is no reference at this stage to Barabbas having a conscience but, interestingly enough, Bill has pangs of conscience brought on by Barabbas. Bill is boasting about someone else having been arrested in his place but when he realised “att den Barabbas fått straffad i sitt ställe är Kristus då drar sig Bill, blir betänksam, kommer att tänka på att hans eget också ett brott, att en oskyldig lidit den förfärligaste död för hans skull—söka gottgöra?” (L120:17:VII p. 696-7).

There is also to be a conversation between God and Jesus where they discuss Barabbas' release and Christ's crucifixion. “Gud grubblar över Barabbas, det gåtfulla problemet B. (förbrytaren)” (p. 702). I think it is at this point that the novel Barabbas was born, for Lagerkvist goes on to write “Men detta hellre en prosasak?—Det vore något att försöka göra!” (p. 702); and later (p. 704) “Hellre skriva en prosabok med alla dessa motiv och uppslag? Den dramatiska formen så otillfredsställande för att man aldrig får fördjupa sig så mycket när man vill och inte breda ut sig.”

The work germinating in Lagerkvist's mind is now to start with Barabbas who, rather like Bödeln, is to sit surrounded by figures from all ages (“få begreppet B. har alltid funnits” p. 705). But then Lagerkvist goes further. “Bygger upp en hel bok med B. som huvud—och central figur … Jag har skrivit om Bödeln och Dvärgen—nu ska jag skriva om Barabbas” (p. 705).

At this stage Lagerkvist intends linking Barabbas with Judas Iscariot, “dessa två han som förrådde människan, sålde henne och han som slank undan, som fast värdelös blev frikänd i stället för det högst mänskliga guddomen …” but then, thinks Lagerkvist, “sen kompliceras det hela genom problemet: var B. värdelös? … Människan kan inte dömas bara efter sina gärningar. Detta är huvudproblemet i boken.”

Satan and Barabbas are to converse at Golgotha and Jesus is to join them after the resurrection. “I slutet säger B. (Det är jag som är förbrytare). Men Jesus ska korsfästas. Inte han. Men då träder Jesus fram och säger: Nej, det är jag, kärlekens son, som ska korsfästas … B. träder först fram inför människomassorna och säger att han som ska korsfästas, de vill det inte … Sen inför Gud med samma begäran—Gud vill det inte heller.”

By this time the idea of guilt seems to have become an essential part of Barabbas' character. When thinking in terms of a title for the work, Lagerkvist writes, “den inte dömde kunde boken heta (eller Barabbas, den inte dömde. Men dömd blir han ju! B. den frikände. Men helst nog bara Barabbas) ty härom … handlar den (boken) samtidigt som om den skuldtyngda mänskligheten; B.:s gestalt och det oskyldiga lidandet i Jesu gestalt” (p. 708).

From being a static subordinate representative of evil conversing with Bill and the Devil Barabbas has thus become a central representative of guilt-ridden man. Lagerkvist then goes further. “B. blir kristen sedan? Nej, han blir det inte—men genomlever likväl—(liksom jag)” (p. 709).

He doesn't write here what Barabbas does experience but goes on to outline a plot in embryo. Barabbas is unable to tear himself away from the Christians after the crucifixion and finally is at the execution of Peter and Paul in Rome. “Han är icke-kristen men ändå bunden vid kristendomen—som jag” (p. 709). “Bunden vid Kristus, vid denne hemlighetsfulle, underlige man som blev korsfäst i hans ställe, bunden genom sitt brott, att inte bli straffad för sin brottslighet.”

Still following the same train of thought Lagerkvist goes on (p. 710) “Det egendomliga med B. bl.a. är att han inte har något syndmedvetande (= jag) (fast han vet han bär på skuld). Detta gör att han aldrig kan bli kristen.”

So we see Lagerkvist absorbed now with the idea of “Barabbas den frikände” and “Barabbas den skuldbetyngde” who can never accept Christianity.

Plot and some motivation are further sketched in the following pages of the note book. Barabbas is crucified after the fire in Rome. In this early version he hears a rumour that the Christians started the fire and he goes to the authorities and “säger att han anlagt den för att bli tagen för kristen och äntligen straffad såsom han förtjänar, för att på detta sätt bli kristen, vilket han aldrig kan bli, lika lite som jag” (pp. 710-711). Because of his testimony other Christians are also condemned although innocent. Then follows another point essential in the development of Barabbas's character. “Blir korsfäst samman med dem, men utan tro och utan gemenskap (som jag)” (p. 711). This “utan gemenskap” is something Lagerkvist returns to frequently in his manuscript.

At this stage Lagerkvist plans a meeting between Barabbas and Jesus, perhaps on the Appian Way. Jesus is gentle and calls Barabbas his “lekbroder … De är som tvillingbröder?” (p. 713). Here too we have an essential feature which is worked out in the novel: the deliberate comparison of Jesus and Barabbas. “Jesus och Barabbas är två eviga motsatser, pendanger” (p. 713).

By this time Lagerkvist has decided on the initial paragraph. He writes “Början. Alla vet hur de hängde där på korsen …” and gives what is with slight modifications the introductory paragraph of the published novel. He goes on to say, as if to remind himself, “Den skyldige har kommit (sugits) dit för att se den oskyldige dö i hans ställe … Från början bör grundproblemet i boken läggas fram, just här på Golgata och i motivet till att Barabbas kommit hit” (p. 714). And after emphasising this basic point he goes on to reiterate the final point. “Slutar med att för att ‘bli kristen’ då tänder han på världsbranden, tänder han på Rom, för att bli korsfäst som Kristus, Guds son, världens Frälsare—han vänder på det hela, gör alltsammans likadant men bakvänt” (p. 715).

Let us now turn to the manuscript L120:37:1. This consists of 380 handwritten pages in pencil and provides an excellent illustration of Lagerkvist's method of working. He has a fairly clear idea of where he will start and where he will finish; he intends the book to be a presentation of the central figure and all the characters and events are to be marshalled to that end. (He reminds himself frequently in fact that he does not intend to write a novel rich in detail or an historical novel. “… ska inte vara en beskrivande bok” (p. 4). “… utan en uppgörelsebok … Och B:s själshistoria” (p. 6) he writes at the outset. When, much later, he finds himself getting too involved in a description of the hare-lipped woman he scribbles “Ej berättande! Aldrig berättande!” (p. 203). He also writes “Ej bryr mig om det historiska förloppet (i detalj åtminstone)” (p. 12) and on other occasions he says he doesn't care whether he is being anachronistic or not. Is it probable, for instance, that the Roman proconsul would have arranged for Barabbas, who is state property, to come to Rome in a private capacity? Lagerkvist's answer is “Jag kan strunta i att är otroligt” (p. 260). Indeed an anachronism could even add universality—“det blir tydligt att egentligen ej alls fråga om Barabbas och Jesus och deras tid … utan om mig och oss, nu och människan i allmänhet och i alla tider” (p. 40). Occasionally his admonitions to himself read like a résumé of his critical essay Ordkonst och bildkonst: “Aldrig skildrande, bara gå på. Bara det väsentligaste. Endast ta upp sådana detaljer om den historiska verkligheten som passar för att framföra det väsentliga” (p. 148).

At the top of the MS after Barabbas he has listed the pages in the notes to which I have just referred “Början 706, 707” etc. He has also written “Ej syndmedvetande: utan gemenskap. B. = den skuldbelastade människan.”

The narrative then follows, with a tendency to use the odd-numbered pages to carry on the story (with a considerable amount of emendations and re-writing and polishing) and the even-numbered pages to discuss his characters and to plan coming events. What emerges is both the inspired writer immersing himself in the emotions of his characters and letting his imagination lead him, and the conscious and conscientious craftsman viewing objectively what he has just written. There are also some absorbing conversations with himself, or perhaps one should say thinking aloud. All the interviews and statements on himself and Barabbas which he refused to grant in his life-time are here.

The manuscript keeps closely to the sequence of chapters we know from the published novel. (There are 14 chapters as opposed to 15 in the final version, but the slight discrepancy is explained by the fact that at the typescript stage Chapter IX dealing with the robbers in their hide-out wondering how to get rid of Barabbas is divided into two; Chapter X then consisting of only a couple of pages.) Lagerkvist writes the chapter heading and then sometimes prefaces the actual text with essential points he intends to deal with in the chapter and with reminders of important attributes of Barabbas that must be brought out. Chapter V, for instance, in which Barabbas meets the early Christians in Jerusalem and then visits Lazarus, has a “Förteckning” that is characteristic. It includes “(… Lazarus m.m.) B.:s grumliga smutsbruna ögon. Ärret, skägget. Ej glömma hans utseende och hur han är … Oskulden hos Jesus som upptar B.” … “Inblickar i Jerusalems förbrytarvärld. Laz. m. viktig anteckning 20 40 92 104 112 116 11 84 122 48 etc. B:s rädsla för döden … Tänk hela tiden på Slutet: att vill bli kristen men inte kan det” etc. The series of page references are to earlier places in the MS where Lagerkvist has been chewing over his characters and his material, and it is by determining what he finally omits as well as what he selects that we can sense how his mind is working. We can follow by way of example the first two references to Lazarus. P. 20 runs parallel to the narrative of Chapter I, dealing with Christ's crucifixion. “Lazarus, han som varit död, som verkligen upplevat döden, spelar en stor roll för Barabbas som är oerhört rädd för att dö, liksom jag. Lazarus tror inte på Jesus (just på grund av vad han upplevt?). Fast han på sätt och vis sätter värde på att han blivit återuppstånden att leva, ty älskar inte döden så han har aversion, en viss obehagskänsla och lite agg mot den som gjort detta med honom.” P. 40 (parallel page to Chapter II) reads “När B. ser honom (L.) får han ingen lust till uppståndelsen … och judens brist på tro på något efter döden står upp i honom.” One can see from this how Lagerkvist makes notes as they occur to him but then goes back and ponders them before then embarking on the appropriate passage.

There is also a strangely Lagerkvistian correlation between the subjective creative process and the objective organising of the characters. This is shown at various stages in the MS. In the notes on this chapter dealing with Barabbas's approach to the Christians and his visit to Lazarus Lagerkvist writes that “Blott längtan efter gemenskap kan väl ej locka honom till något så oerhört som att utsätta sig för att bli korsfäst med de kristna … drivs av något djupare—sugs till martyrskap … slut på hans liv ingår ett mystiskt element—jag är ännu inte klar över det och vet ännu för lite om hans utveckling och förändring under bokens lopp” (p. 136). On another occasion when trying to decide on alternative motivations behind Barabbas's action he writes “Vilket av detta som är riktigt, det måste jag noga känna efter” (p. 128).

A further example of how he fashions his material: Chapter IV deals with Barabbas and the hare-lipped woman witnessing the resurrection. On p. 96 we read “Först Den Harmynta i sin eländiga miljö och (antagligen) föraktad av sin omgivning. Kväll. Sen natt—hon kan ej sova av spänning och längtan etc. Ger sig iväg till graven … Beskriva hur Barabbas också går dit eller ligger bakom busken. Han ser eller ser ej ljusblixten. Hon ser den men inte han? Eller inget ljusfenomen alls? I varje fall? för Barabbas blott bedrägeri men för henne en uppenbarelse, avgörande för hennes liv … De får sällskap mot staden? … Talar om vad de upplevt … Eller talar ej om det? … Skeptikern bakom sin buske och den troende på knä inför undret.” We can see Lagerkvist here constructing in contrasts, envisaging a picture, but waiting until he has actually written the passage before deciding whether it is right for Barabbas to see a light or not.

Lagerkvist also submits his draft to a thorough scrutiny from time to time. On p. 61 we have the heading “Genomläsning” and then “Tyckte mycket om I. Där är allt riktigt, det dubbelbottnade och meningsfulla finns där och det kommer så tydligt fram att är personligt: mitt (och många andras) förhållande till Jesus och kristendomen … Sedan i II bragts stilen efterhand. Barabbas blir en helt annan än i I och bl a. alldeles för öppen—han är en underligt ensam man utan gemenskap. Han bör dolskt och försiktigt fråga om mörkret etc. (utan att låta det märks att han dricker och utan gemensamhet med de andra) för att döva sina tankar … III absolut ingen religionshistoria! Ej bygga på att B. nyfiken på om Jesus var Messias, säkerligen slopa detta.”

This leads to “II Omarbetningar” on p. 65. There is another “Genomläsning” on p. 97. “Tyckte mycket om II. En skärande motsats med ‘denna världen’ och det andliga och offrets värld. III kunde jag ej riktigt bedöma, senare hälften måste nog omarbetas. Början på IV tyckte jag om.”

This process is continued and the whole MS ends with a rereading of the whole MS (p. 375) and then “Nya ant” (p. 377).

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The overriding characteristic of the novel is the person of Barabbas; we should perhaps at this stage look a little more closely at his development, the motivation behind the character and how other characters are used in a carefully constructed system of parallels and contrasts to bring out the essentials.

As already mentioned, Lagerkvist prefixes his MS with “B. = den skuldbelastade människan: ej syndmedvetande och utan gemenskap.” We read on numerous occasions that B. is “den frikände” as opposed to Christ “den korsfäste.” There from the outset is the contrast, the link and the cause for guilt. As if to emphasise the guilt there is in the notes a reference to Luke 23, vs. 40,41. The robber on the cross who repented says to the other robber “Fruktar icke heller du Gud? … Oss vederfares detta med all rätt, ty vi lida vad våra gärningar äro värda, men denne man har intet ont gjort.”

The parallels and contrasts between Jesus and Barabbas already so clear from the published text are emphasised even more in the MS. There it says, for example, that the hare-lipped woman had continued to love Barabbas despite everything until she learnt to love the Master. “Jesus och Barabbas blir på så sätt rivaler.” Barabbas's scar is meant to correspond to Christ's wound in his side. “Ärret. Liksom Jesus sitt sidosår … likhet och grotesk olikhet” (p. 144).

On Barabbas's parentage Lagerkvist writes “Förhållande mellan Barabbas och hans far ska vara en parallell till Kristus och Gud-Fader, men en grov, förvriden parallell, såsom Barabbas är en förvriden bild av Kristus” (p. 204).

The notes emphasise too that both Christ and Barabbas were rebels and agitators. Jesus, “den verkliga oskulden” produces “en gnista som sätter världen i brand”, however. Barabbas “den skuldbelastade” sets fire to Rome but it leads to nothing.

Although Lagerkvist writes frequently both in his note book and in this MS that Barabbas cannot become a Christian, there are places in the MS where he seems to vacillate. He contemplates for instance a scene between Barabbas and the newly-risen Christ on Easter Day in a note headed “Quo Vadis?” The note reads “Jesus talar till (med) Barabbas där vid graven eller medan de går på vägen, pratar helt naturligt och enkelt med honom. Säger att han känner igen honom … och även såg honom på Golgata och att han inte är ond på honom—att ej Barabbas' skuld att det måste ske så.” But then Lagerkvist decides this won't do. “Kan Jesus omöjligen vilja säga och föregriper ju slutet och hela boken” (p. 28). So this encounter never materialises in the final version.

In the notes Lagerkvist goes on to say, “Quo vadis. B. tror där att Jesus uppmanar honom att gå och låta sig korsfästas. Just honom” (p. 28). This notion is not subsequently contradicted and it fits into the pattern that is completed in Rome with Barabbas's crucifixion.

Jesus is described as “det goda”; he is also “kärleken” and he is “Den rena oskulden.” “Det godas problem handlar boken om, dess obegripligas under. Detta bländar B. i I och sedan varje gång han möter Jesus (och den harmynta etc.)” (p. 64). Having drawn up the pattern of contrasts between Jesus and Barabbas, Lagerkvist then does the same thing with those other two representatives of goodness, the hare-lipped woman and Sahak. Immediately after Christ's crucifixion, the hare-lipped woman crosses his path. She too represents “det goda,” she too dies a martyr. Barabbas is affected by her martyrdom and at that point in the notes Lagerkvist wonders if Barabbas should give up his criminal life (p. 17). He decides that he should for he has “en dragning åt kristendomen” at this stage, but then he will return to his life as a robber.

After the hare-lipped woman comes the next representative of “det goda,” Sahak. In the notes Lagerkvist writes that “Sahak blir den som påverkar Barabbas starkt i kristlig riktning, … Sahak, Mästarens, den korsfästes redskap” (p. 144). “Och hans martyrdöd griper Barabbas ändå mer än den harmyntas—för Barabbas nu närmare sitt eget ödes fullbordan och sin egen ‘martyrdöd’” (p. 204).

With Sahak's death, Barabbas accelerates towards his own crucifixion, driven on again by guilt. A further note says, “Barabbas sviker Sahak i det viktiga ögonblicket då han behövde honom. Detta är karaktäristiskt för Barabbas … Samtidigt lider han av att han är sådan, att han gör så. Lider förfärligt av det.”

In this frame of mind Barabbas reaches Rome. He is a rebel, a man capable of intense hatred, especially of the ruling classes according to the MS, so Romans would be a natural target for his animosity. He also felt he had betrayed Christ, the hare-lipped woman, and Sahak. In addition he is completely isolated. He has never felt so strongly the need to break through his spiritual isolation and establish contact with the Christians. This mood is heightened by his traumatic wandering in the catacombs.

When at this point he sees that Rome is burning and hears that the Christians are to blame, his reaction is what presumably would be religious ecstasy in a saintly figure—Sahak for instance. In an earlier note Lagerkvist wrote that Barabbas wasn't “det onda men är irreligiös, och det godas ljusvärld kan han aldrig träda in i, inte ens när han försöker genom att bli korsfäst.” Jesus, goodness, and what Lagerkvist calls “religionens under” are things Barabbas “ej kan fatta, i vars ljuskrets han aldrig kan träda in i” (p. 64) and so his “ecstasy” leads only to conflagration and destruction.

There are inner contrasts between subsidiary characters too. The hare-lipped woman and the fat woman are opposite poles, for instance. A note tells us concerning the fat woman that “hennes feta kropp = livet” (p. 43). She is also contrasted with Lazarus: “den feta = livets banala land = mot det ställs Lazarus's upplevelse av dödsriket” (p. 23). But these characters are always grouped with Barabbas as the focal point.

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One of the most significant developments in this MS is a simplification and concentration of character. Lagerkvist wanted “en kvinna som meningsfull parallell till Barabbas” (p. 18) and the hare-lipped woman could fill this role. She was at first envisaged as a prostitute and was to be one of several women in Barabbas's life. She would perhaps commit suicide and Barabbas would be responsible for her death; or else she would turn up in Rome and become a real Christian. In the first drafts of Chapter II she is almost indistinguishable from the fat woman: there is also a suggestion that she comes from the same district as Barabbas. She will be called Ester or Rakel or Silla. In fact, there are many details about her, but at first the picture is diffuse. According to another note she is to be one of those who “skildrar religionens väldiga makt” (p. 60) and a representative of religious ecstasy. By Chapter IV she begins to come properly into focus and what we see of her in the final version is always related directly either to Barabbas showing his guilt or to providing a complete counterpoint to Barabbas's scepticism. Her life as a prostitute is no longer mentioned and she is a conscious counterpart to the fat woman.

Lagerkvist intended including Paul among the disciples to appear in the book, and indeed he appears almost as frequently as Peter in the early stages of the MS and is even present in prison with Barabbas and the Christians in Rome in the final chapter (p. 353). As Lagerkvist delineates his character, Barabbas makes a perfect foil to Peter. “Paulus medveten om sig själv (i motsats till Petrus, den primitiva) såsom den genomreflekterande kulturmänniskan är det … En skuldbelastad kulturmänniska. Hans benhårda ortodoxi bottnar i hans nödvändiga stränghet mot sig själv …” (p. 52). He doesn't emerge as a very sympathetic figure, but could have been intellectually a fascinating one. He too is peripheral in the portrayal of Barabbas and is phased out, however. Peter remains as a counterpart to Barabbas. Several details concerning him are omitted; again, it is the essential aspects that are retained: the big simple man who had, like Barabbas, denied Christ thrice but who now has complete faith and is fully prepared to die a Christian martyr.

Sahak's role increases in significance as the manuscript progresses. On p. 60, when Lagerkvist mentions the great power of religion found in characters like Peter and the hare-lipped woman, he includes Sahak's name but it is obvious that the name had been added later. By p. 80 he writes “B. en djupgående mänskoskildring—detta utan jämförelse det väsentligaste i boken. Allt annat (relativt) staffage. Petrus och Paulus bland bipersoner … En gammal slav som pinats ett långt liv (den lidande utnyttjade människan) och som blivit kristen: är raka motsatsen till B., god mild offrande. Detta en viktig utförd gestalt.” By p. 282 in the MS when Lagerkvist was preparing Chapter XI, Sahak has become an important symbolic figure: “Sahaks martyrdöd språngbräda fram till B:s egen ‘martyrdöd’.” By p. 316 in the chapter on Sahak's crucifixion we read that “Det viktigaste i kapitlet: hans (Barabbas') gripenhet, hur mycket detta ska komma att betyda för honom i framtiden.” On p. 319 in the penultimate chapter “Minns alltid Sahaks blick, anklagande—förföljer honom.”

At an earlier stage Lagerkvist also planned to include a woman called Marianne whom Barabbas genuinely loved. (He couldn't decide whether to let her have cancer or leprosy!) She was to appear in Rome, become a Christian martyr, and after her death Barabbas, alone again, “söker i sitt elände och brist på gemenskap sitt martyrskap” (p. 216). This character is also phased out and instead it is “Sahak och upplevelsen av hans död som inverkar på Barabbas i Rom.” Here again there is a simplification but a strengthening of both the motivation and the emotional effect—and a clear line from Jesus to the hare-lipped woman through Sahak back to Barabbas and his crucifixion.

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The note book mentioned above dates from towards the end of the 1940s. The MS has one “Genomläsning” on May 7, and the next on June 17; no year is given but the final re-reading has the date 6 January 1950. This must have occurred after he had started work on the typescript (L120:37:2) where each chapter is corrected and dated. Chapter I bears the date 2 March 1949, the rest at about the rate of one chapter a month until we come to the final chapter, that bears the date 1 January 1950.

Lagerkvist scribbled a large number of alternative phrases in the margin when correcting this typescript, but surprisingly few of these pencil notes are taken up in the published book.

The final typescript is dated “8.2.1950” in Lagerkvist's own hand; on 3 March 1950 G. Bonnier wrote to him “sänder härmed kontrakt gällande Barabbas” and the very next day Lagerkvist replied “sänder härmed kontraktet i undertecknat skick.”2

As even this brief account of the Barabbas manuscript will have shown Lagerkvist devoted much time and energy to the presentation of a character at once stark and ambivalent. The manuscript also shows how he could write and re-write a paragraph or a sentence or even a single phrase until he had achieved the effect for which he was striving. The note books and the manuscript taken together offer a fascinating insight into the creative writing of one of Sweden's most impressive authors.

Notes

  1. References are to the Lagerkvist collection at the Royal Library in Stockholm.

  2. Letter preserved in Bonnier's archives, Stockholm.

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Terms of Divergence: The Vocabularies of Pär Lagerkvist's Ångest and Artur Lundkvist's Glöd