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Under the Net
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Under the Net by Iris Murdoch - April BOTM
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2. Analyze the significance of the novel's title, "Under the Net," and its metaphorical implications throughout the story.
3. What role do the various female characters (Sadie, Anna, Hugo's aunt, etc.) play in shaping Jake's journey and perceptions in the novel?
4. Discuss the importance of language and communication in the novel, particularly in relation to Jake's profession as a translator and writer.
5. How does Murdoch use humor and irony to address serious philosophical questions and themes in "Under the Net"?
6. Explore the motif of coincidence and fate in the novel, particularly in Jake's encounters with various characters and situations.
7. Analyze the dynamics of friendship and loyalty between Jake and Finn, considering their contrasting personalities and life paths.
8. Discuss the role of philosophy in the novel, both in terms of the characters' discussions and its influence on the narrative structure.
9. What is the significance of the novel's setting, particularly in London, and how does it contribute to the atmosphere and themes of the story?
10. Reflect on the ending of "Under the Net" and its implications for Jake's character development and philosophical journey throughout the novel.
1. Jake Donaghue is a very self centered, conflicted man who is largely looking for a reason both to write and to not write. He perceives himself as a writer but he is lazy and unable to put himself in the shoes of others and goes through most of this book suffering from miscommunications and misunderstandings both between himself and others and simply internally. 2. We are all under the net of language and its limitations and unreliability.
3. I love the wise and insightful Mrs. Tinckham who is largely wise and insightful without using many words. Sadie and Anna are very nice sketches of two very different sisters but Jake's love and dislike of them is more important than their actual characterizations.
4. Jake learns from Hugo to distrust language and he also has a very big tendency to pick up pieces of conversation and project much more than what is there which leads to misunderstandings. His own emotions get in the way of communication.
5. The character really are a nice collection of types in post WWII London and Paris who may be spinning around the entertainment world. Murdoch is clever in giving them unique philosophical roles to play, especially Hugo who evidently is a disciple of Wittgenstein. The humor of Jake's self centered proceedings with little grounding gives the book a light feel even if the concepts could have been very heavily serious.
6. Jake believes in fate and quite often relies on it to direct his path. He believes he will encounter Anna while in Paris which he does and he believes Hugo has been delivered to him, which in a strange way he was. Further he often gets out of his self imposed moments of drama by fate stepping and helping him. It doesn't always work however. There are times when fate is just a set up.
7. Jake and Finn rely on each other but for selfish reasons. Jake needs someone to drink with and be with as he does not like being alone except when he is deeply depressed. Finn likewise needs someone to drink with but he also needs someone to motivate him and direct him. He has little internal self motivation other than to drink and eventually to drink in Ireland.
8. Really the philosophy is rather "light" but there are some nice discussions about the nature of language between Hugo and Jake. Ultimately, Murdoch uses philosophy as a way of playing with the characters as they romp through this novel.
9. Although most of the book is set in London and there is a real sense of place as Jake describes buildings and gardens, I thought the best descriptions were of Paris and all the reflections and emotional tones that Paris provides free of charge to all its visitors. To be lost and lonely in a Paris that is celebrating was quite well done I thought.
10. One is led to believe that Jake has started his real writing career at the end of the book as he comes to understand a bit better about why he has made some decisions regarding money and independence. Ironically, Murdoch's publication of this book started her "popular" writing career also.
1. Our anti-hero goes on his own personal journey and comes out better at the end of the book; less selfish, more interested in others and potentially going to hold down a job as opposed to living in the spare rooms of his friends. He also misunderstands the relationships between Anna and Hugo and Sadie and Hugo.2. The search for grand theory vs practically living it out, the limitations of language, even the escape from what you have made yourself out to be.
3. They highlight that we are supposed to like Jake even when he is being insufferable and using them for accommodation or other purposes. He misunderstands them constantly - apart from Mrs Tinckham who is well-drawn and his rock.
4. I agree with Gail.
9 and 10. London is so well portrayed. It seems almost unreal today that you could get a flat in the centre relatively cheaply! The book in some ways is a tour, his adventures take Jake over much of it; we even go on a pub crawl with him. Paris is also well portrayed and his adventure there highlights his lack of real communication and misunderstanding of women as he follows the wrong woman thinking she was Anna. Jake in some ways is an old-fashioned character (privileged, lazy, selfish, unwilling to work) but he changes to reflect the landscape around him, showing the scars of war. In his case he becomes less selfish, shows genuine emotion (even if it is for a dog) and achieves real purpose. It is hinted at that he is the "real" author of the novel.
I read Murdoch's The Bell just last month, which I liked a lot. I liked The Sea, The Sea even more. I'm not going to read this one at this time but I am an admirer and plan to read it probably in about a year, I will try to remember to re-read these notes then..
Jake Donahue translates French novels which he believes to be inferior and has written only one book in which he thinks he has plagiarised the ideas of his friend Hugo. Hugo’s ideas were influenced by the Austrian philosopher, Wittgenstein, who thought that language was incapable of expressing one’s most important thoughts. It turns out that Hugo admired Jake’s book and the writer Jake translated wins the Prix Goncourt. Jake begins to value his own identity, and the novel ends optimistically. Jake is beginning to develop his own identity.
Under the net is a quote from Wittgenstein, referring to a web of generalisation and abstract theory which inadequately describe the human condition. There is a passage in the book which quotes Jake’s book, The Silencer, about the impossibility of description. “Indeed, it is something to which we can never get close enough, however hard we may try as it were to crawl under the net”.
Jake misunderstands Madge, Anna, and Sadie by jumping to conclusions about them which complicate his life. It is only the laconic Mrs Tinckham whom he relies upon for good advice whom he understands. But Jake is mistaken about the men in his life, too. Both Hugh and Finn are people he only thinks he knows.
Jake’s misinterpretations underly the gap between appearance and reality.
The novel is very funny. Jake sitting on the fire escape to overhear a conversation while neighbours wonder about whether he is a lunatic, for example, or Jake requiring Mr Mars to play dead while he escapes from a police cordon after a political rally causes the destruction of a film set of Ancient Rome are quite farcical. But Jake’s monologues are witty, he is invariably ironic, and the whole novel is a delight. I listened to an Audible version read by Samual West, who was able to milk the humour uproariously.
So the absurdity of many of the episodes emphasise the complexity of the human condition and how difficult it is to describe philosophical ideas.
1. How does Iris Murdoch use the character of Jake Donaghue to explore the themes of identity and existentialism in Under the Net?Jake doesn’t have a purpose in life when we first meet him. He is not motivated by any of those things that typically give a person’s life meaning: love, politics, work, religion, etc. He wants to keep relationships to a minimum and avoid paying rent. But after he turns down Madge’s offer, he realizes, “the business of my life lay elsewhere. There was a path which awaited me and which if I failed to take it would untrodden forever… This was the substance and all other things were shadows…” At first he looks for meaning in his “love” for Anna, then his friendship Hugo, and he gradually realizes that all of this is an illusion.
2. Analyze the significance of the novel's title, Under the Net, and its metaphorical implications throughout the story.
The phrase “under the net” comes from Jake’s book The Silencer: “All theorizing is flight. We must be ruled by the situation itself and this is unutterably particular. Indeed it is something to which we can never get close enough, however hard we may try as it were to crawl under the net.”
I took this to mean that individuals respond to people and events instantly and uniquely; no one instinctively reacts in reference to a political theory or philosophy or religion. So, “The Net” refers to the “big ideas” that “capture” most people, and to escape from the net means to reject those and find your own meaning by reacting to what matters to you (not to others, not to society).
I did not realize this originates with Wittgenstein, so thanks Pip and Gail :)
3. What role do the various female characters (Sadie, Anna, Hugo's aunt, etc.) play in shaping Jake's journey and perceptions in the novel?
Madge makes him realize that he needs meaning in his life beyond money. He is not willing to accept her offer to get paid to do nothing. Anna seems to be the symbol of true romance/love, which he is also misled about, believing they had some special relationship when she was really in love with Hugo. And perhaps Sadie is related to that as well: he never realized that Sadie was the one who was truly in love with him.
Is Mrs. Tinckham Hugo’s aunt? I missed that. I guess she almost plays the role of the wise matriarch; she keeps Jake’s manuscripts safe, provides a haven for him to return to, and acts as a kind of sounding board.
4. Discuss the importance of language and communication in the novel, particularly in relation to Jake's profession as a translator and writer.
On p. 53 Murdoch writes, “…my acquaintance with Hugo is the central theme of this book…” Hugo is the one who believes that “language is a machine for making falsehoods.” In other words, the minute you start to describe something (a feeling, emotion) you alter it. Jake’s book basically proves this point: he can’t write accurately about his friendship with Hugo but creates a “travesty and falsification” of their conversations. The failure of this book and the influence of Hugo make him abandon his writing career. Jake seems to think, why bother with writing when you can’t capture ideas or reality and when your work will not be appreciated even if you could.
5. How does Murdoch use humor and irony to address serious philosophical questions and themes in Under the Net?
There is a lot of irony: Jake sells out his friendship with Hugo to publish the book of their conversations only to have it become a critical and commercial flop. Jake is offered his dream “job” – the opportunity to do nothing and get paid for it – and turns it down. The writer whose work he translates and who he believes to be a hack wins a huge literary prize.
I found the scene in the movie studio to be especially funny – he mistakes Lefty for a Roman general in a historical epic and the (fake) city of Rome tumbles down upon them during the police raid. This seems to be an encapsulation of what happens throughout the book: Jake misunderstands people/events and they turn out to be something they are not.
6. Explore the motif of coincidence and fate in the novel, particularly in Jake's encounters with various characters and situations.
Speaking of irony, Jake DOES believe in fate, even though that is another “grand idea.” As noted above, when he rejects Madge, it is in part because he believes he is destined for another “path.” Later, when he finds meaning in his work as a hospital orderly, he notes that his sense of “destiny” has returned. However, he mistakenly believes that the meaning in his life (his destiny) is to be found in his friendship with Hugo: “I felt sure that whatever god had arranged for me and Hugo to have deeply to do with one another would not leave his work unfinished.” By a huge coincidence, Hugo is delivered to this very same hospital. But (irony again), their final conversation reveals that Jake was mistaken about many things, including Hugo himself.
7. Analyze the dynamics of friendship and loyalty between Jake and Finn, considering their contrasting personalities and life paths.
We only know what Jake tells us of Finn and Jake misdescribes or misunderstands him (as with many events/people in the novel). There is more irony here, as Jake treats Finn less like a person and more like a loyal pet with adorable quirks. Finn turns out to have his own needs and desires (albeit simple ones) and leaves Jake to pursue them. Jake ends up with an actual loyal pet with adorable quirks.
9. What is the significance of the novel's setting, particularly in London, and how does it contribute to the atmosphere and themes of the story?
In the course of the story, Jake travels from the grungiest of pubs and shops to the swankiest flats and hotels. You get a real sense of the variety and scope of the city, from the gross river bank where they go for a drunken swim, to Hugo’s bizarre bird-infested penthouse.
10. Reflect on the ending of Under the Net and its implications for Jake's character development and philosophical journey throughout the novel.
At first, Jake prides himself on remaining free of all the things that “should” matter: he hasn’t committed to any woman or to his writing or even to his friendship with Finn. But he realizes he needs some meaning in his life, or else he would have accepted Madge’s offer. Jake finds meaning in very unexpected places: the manual work of the hospital orderly, the intellectual work of writing, and of course, Mister Mars. So, in a way, existentialists are correct: you can’t find meaning in what society tells you is important. But in a way, they are wrong: life has a purpose, but you have to find it yourself.
This passage from the final chapter seems to me to sum it up: “Events stream past us like these crowds and the face of each is seen only for a minute. What is urgent is not urgent for ever but only ephemerally. All work and all love, the search for wealth and fame, the search for truth, like itself, are made up of moments which pass and become nothing. Yet through this shaft of nothings we drive onward with that miraculous vitality that creates our precarious habitations in the past and the future. So we live; a spirit that broods and hovers over the continual death of time, the lost meaning, the unrecaptured moment, the unremembered face, until the final chop that ends all our moments and plunges that spirit back into the void from which it came.”
Mod
2. Analyze the significance of the novel's title, "Under the Net," and its metaphorical implications throughout the story. "Under the Net, which is a metaphor used by the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, in his famous work, “Tractatus”, of 1921. Wittgenstein believed that the deepest truths can never be fully verbalised." Or our emotions are trapped.
3. What role do the various female characters (Sadie, Anna, Hugo's aunt, etc.) play in shaping Jake's journey and perceptions in the novel?
Sadie - a friend, but Sadie loves him
Anna - a friend, but he loves her
Aunt - ??? not sure who this is
Mrs Tinckham - a safe place where he is always welcome . Cat lady.
4. Discuss the importance of language and communication in the novel, particularly in relation to Jake's profession as a translator and writer.
There is a part of the story when Hugo tells Jake that as soon as a person tries to put something in words it becomes a falsehood.
5. How does Murdoch use humor and irony to address serious philosophical questions and themes in "Under the Net"?
6. Explore the motif of coincidence and fate in the novel, particularly in Jake's encounters with various characters and situations. Jake wanders and bumps into various characters, thus the novel is referred to as "picaresque".
7. Analyze the dynamics of friendship and loyalty between Jake and Finn, considering their contrasting personalities and life paths. Jake takes Finn for granted and never thinks about Finn's needs. Only how Finn can be useful to Jake.
8. Discuss the role of philosophy in the novel, both in terms of the characters' discussions and its influence on the narrative structure. Murdock is a philosopher and there is a fair amount here but yet this is one of her more simple novels.
9. What is the significance of the novel's setting, particularly in London, and how does it contribute to the atmosphere and themes of the story? This is the most London novels of the authors and Jake's journeys take us through various places in London; pubs, past cathedrals, the river, bird infested apartment, hospitals. There is also a visit to Paris.
10. Reflect on the ending of "Under the Net" and its implications for Jake's character development and philosophical journey throughout the novel. Jake has come to realize that Anna has not loved him, that Sadie has loved him, that Finn has returned to him roots, and he also has decided that he is done with translating and he is going to work on his own writing and he will also find a job to work part time.
