My Argument with the Gestapo: Autobiographical novel

by Thomas Merton

Of the full-length prose works that Thomas Merton wrote before he entered the Cistercian Order in 1941, only My Argument with the Gestapo has survived––perhaps in part because it was a book that Merton never ceased wanting to see in print. 

Although it first appeared after his death in 1968, he had arranged for its publication, written a foreword for it, and was delighted with the prospect of its at last becoming a part of his published works. My Argument with the Gestapo tells of the adventures of a young man, clearly identified by the name Thomas Merton, who travels from America to Europe to report on the war with Germany from the viewpoint of a poet. He hates the war, yet is driven to come to terms with it. There is a pervading sense of dreamworld or hallucination, heightened by the device of passages written in a macaronic language, invented from multilingual roots, to satirize and parody political propaganda speeches dealing with the war. A work of imagination (Merton did not in fact return to England after the start of World War II in Europe), it nevertheless contains much that is autobiographical and revealing of the young Merton. Most clearly visible are the seeds of his never-forsaken concern with peace and nonviolence and his abhorrence of war. Indeed, his outspoken criticism of Britain at a time when all the emphasis was on ''the brave little island standing alone" foreshadows his devotion to truth as he saw it, no matter what the cost. And students of Merton will find scenes in the book that are straight autobiography, amplifying and perhaps filling in gaps in what later was to be the beginning of Merton's great literary success, The Seven Storey Mountain (1948).

Genres: Spirituality

255 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 17, 1975

About the author

Thomas Merton, religious name M. Louis, was an American Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social activist and scholar of comparative religion. In December 1941 he entered the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemani and in May 1949 he was ordained to priesthood. He was a member of the convent of the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, near Bardstown, Kentucky, living there from 1941 to his death.
Merton wrote more than 50 books in a period of 27 years, mostly on spirituality, social justice and a quiet pacifism, as well as scores of essays and reviews. Among Merton's most enduring works is his bestselling autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain (1948). His account of his spiritual journey inspired scores of World War II veterans, students, and teenagers to explore offerings of monasteries across the US. It is on National Review's list of the 100 best nonfiction books of the century.
Merton became a keen proponent of interfaith understanding, exploring Eastern religions through his study of mystic practice. His interfaith conversation, which preserved both Protestant and Catholic theological positions, helped to build mutual respect via their shared experiences at a period of heightened hostility. He is particularly known for having pioneered dialogue with prominent Asian spiritual figures, including the Dalai Lama XIV; Japanese writer D.T. Suzuki; Thai Buddhist monk Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, and Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh. He traveled extensively in the course of meeting with them and attending international conferences on religion. In addition, he wrote books on Zen Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, and how Christianity is related to them. This was highly unusual at the time in the United States, particularly within the religious orders.

Reviews

[Edward · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title is ironic as it suggests there is going to be a political debate of some kind with the ideas of Nazi Germany Merton’s “argument” has nothing to do with politics. It is essentially a poetic one against the abstractions of any war and the propaganda designed to motivate human beings to fight and kill other humans. Merton wrote this semi-autobiographical novel around 1940 when he was a young man in his 20’s, and it celebrates the freedom of ordinary human life, in both its routines and quirks , often emphasizing these qualities through surreal episodes.

As the novel opens, Merton, or his first person unnamed narrator, is in England during the blitz. He is there as a writer, not one sponsored by any news organization, but as an individual, simply to get a feel for the destruction of the bombs and how people react to the Nevertheless, he feels is is constantly being shadowed as a potential spy or saboteur. That is part of the absurdity of war; if you not caught up in nationalistic propaganda, then you are suspect.

He holds up as a model writer, James Joyce, commenting that he “smelled hell every day of his life, what with all he had to go through. All I pray is he shall come to the place of saints, for he was an honest writer.” In a sense you could say Merton smelled the hell of war, and against it lets his imagination take him where it will.

One place it takes him is to use macoronic journal entries where he mixes English, French, German, Spanish in barely comprehensible language. The point of this seems to underscore the confusion of language that war produces. War always produces unintended consequences and what better way to emphasize this than to use the absurdity of mangled bits of speech in multi-lingual mazes?

War always requires identity, especially in the use of passports. Merton’s narrator admits that we need laws and rules to live by, but at one point, he objects that passports have nothing to do with his real identity. He responds to one question in macoronic fashion about what state he belongs to, “Lo stato mi protegatz big bags of blunderbuss, mister,” and goes on to quote Christ’s advocacy of the birds of the air and lilies of the fields as a natural way of life.

He recalls the end of the movie, “All Quiet on the Western Front,” where the young German soldier is shot and killed by a French sniper as he reaches for a butterfly, “a miracle of life in the midst of death. I have brooded much about this scene.”

In the end, the narrator sees, again absurdly, that his journal, will end up being dismissed as nonsense, banned in the “hands of a maniac who believes he understands world affairs, polical rights and wrongs, and what is going to happen in the war.” But the real insanity and nonsense is in war, and to me that’s what the book projects.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

MERTON'S ONLY COMPLETE NOVEL---WRITTEN BEFORE HE BECAME A TRAPPIST

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) was a Trappist monk of the Abbey of Gethsemani, Kentucky, as well as a best-selling writer, poet, social activist, and student of comparative religion. He wrote many books, including 'The Seven Storey Mountain,' 'The Silent Life,' 'Mystics and Zen Masters,' etc. Tragically, he was accidentally electrocuted while in Thailand at a conference of Christian and non-Christian monks.

This is the only full-length book Merton wrote prior to entering the Trappist order, and although it was first published posthumously, he had worked to have it published at the time of his death. He wrote in his 1959 Preface, "The book was written in the summer of 1941, when I was teaching English at St. Bonaventure University. I wanted to enter the Trappists but had not yet managed to make up my mind about doing so. This novel is a kind of sardonic meditation on the world in which I then found myself: an attempt to define its predicament and my own place in it... Obviously, this fantasy cannot be considered an adequate statement about Nazism and the ward. The death camps were not yet in operation... its tone of divertissement marks it as a document of a past era."

[B]

I've been trying to obtain a readable version for 6 months.. I'm a strong fan of Thomas Merton. Now I hope to read a number of pages on his meeting with the Gestapo. Please.

[Deacon Bill]

An experience.

An excellent account of the trials one experienced during the trying times of WWII. An eye opening to Thomas Merton's pacifism.

[Mills College Library]

Fiction M5757m 1975