Three places where Hannah Arendt escaped - Graphical Novel 《The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt》

Kyung-Suk Jo

I have pledged to read the book a few times while putting a lot of books such as philosophy, politics, and sociology into place. However, when one work was done, a book wagon with tens of books arrived which eventually made the title of the books cleared in my head. After repeating the same cycle over and over, one day, I did not put back a book in place which I thought I really wanted to read. It was Hannah Arendt's《 Eichmann in Jerusalem》. I was well aware of Hannah Arendt and her "Banality of Evil", but I never really read it, so I wanted to try it for once. I have been reading the book for months while I was on a part-time job (I read it in front of the bookshelf in case someone looks for it, but surprisingly no one ever did). I only read about half of it at the most, and I eventually quit my job without finishing the book. 

Through the commentary, Hannah Arendt was able to understand the reason for the very bean, half of the bean. But unexpected questions were heard. On what occasion did Hannah Arendt build up knowledge across such diverse boundaries? This answer was surprisingly found in cartoons. It was in the recently announced new book 《The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt》

 

《The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt》 is a graphical novel dealing with the life and philosophy of the political philosopher Hannah Arendt from childhood to her later years. People usually associate Arendt as Heidegger's lover or Banality of Evil, but this book handles very carefully with such materials that could be considered as gossips in a very appropriate manner. In addition, the book thoughtfully arranged so that Arendt's life and philosophy can be understood on the same line as a whole. When you read this book, you can follow the path of what book Arendt is reading, whom she is meeting and talking, and how she’s building own philosophy.

As known, Hannah Arendt is not only a Jew who had experienced World War II but also was imprisoned in a concentration camp. After persistently fighting through the turbulent times, Arendt brought the Origins of Totalitarianism. The cartoon does not elaborate on what life was going on in the camps in details, but Arendt is expressed of someone who tells the others who are held together to not lose human dignity.

 

The old theories were silent and I went back into my bush. Benyamin tried to trace the source of the abyss, recalling how he "jumped in to dig up the pearl" by focusing on small details. It wasn't enough to explain what I thought had happened in this ashes. He had to thoroughly concentrate on what actually happened and present a road map and game strategy showing what kind of hell it was in Stalin's Russia as well as in Nazi Germany. Naturally, there was no word to describe it as it was a completely new phenomenon. The name of this new force occurred on Earth was... Totalitarianism. (Page 173)

 

As well known, Arendt has made two escapes. One is from Germany and the other is from Paris (which includes escaping from a camp). But this book deals with 'three escapes'. Then where was her last escape? 

At the beginning of this book, Arendt enters into the philosophy believing that there is "a single truth to understand the world.” However, in 《The Human Condition》 published after the Totalitarianism research, Hannah Arendt says that the world is not composed of a single truth and that one of the human conditions is ‘plurality.’ Here is where the third escape takes place, the 'desire to find a single truth'. This cartoon gives readers a good understanding of the process of Arendt's "third escape" through the journey until the second escape of Arendt's life. In addition to this, the last epilogue reaches the very finishing touch. 

In other words, there is no such thing as the only way to guide us in the world or the only way to understand it. There is nothing but a glorious and never-ending mess. The endless chaos for true human freedom.

In fact, there are many other values and the strong points of this book. It was also impressive that Hannah Arendt's hair was drawn with a line similar to the smokes of the cigarettes she been smoking all the time, and that it focused mainly on Walter Benjamin and Hannah Arendt’s conversation. However, personally, the most favorite scene in this book was the story that she read《Philosophy of History》, which Benjamin gave it to her, over and over again all day long with Blücher. Benjamin’s 《Philosophy of History》was the text not easy to read even to Arendt.