The Unbearable Lightness of Being

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

by

Milan Kundera

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The Unbearable Lightness of Being: Part 3, Chapter 8 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
In Rome, Franz tells Sabina about confessing to Marie-Claude, and Sabina feels as if he has “pried open the doors of their privacy.” Now that their affair has been made public, it will “gain weight” and “become a burden,” Sabina says. She tells Franz that she isn’t angry, but she doesn’t share his joy in coming clean to Marie-Claude. 
Privacy is a big deal to Sabina because she had so little of it in Czechoslovakia. Tereza later says that the whole of Czechoslovakia is a concentration camp because they have no privacy, and Sabina definitely feels this here. Sabina’s comment that in their relationship will “gain weight” and “become a burden” again assumes that weight is a negative thing, but Kundera asserts this isn’t necessarily true. The fact that something “light” like their affair can transform into something “heavy” also indicates that these seeming opposites aren’t actually mutually exclusive.
Themes
Lightness, Weight, and Dichotomies  Theme Icon
Words and Language Theme Icon
Power, Politics, and Inequality Theme Icon