Lenz

In Lenz, George Buchner creates a character going through an existential crisis. I'll be honest, I struggle reading novels, zoning in and out often. What I got from Lenz was that Lenz, believing in the good of everything has to come to terms with the darkness of the world as he goes on his adventures through life. After seeing the body f a dead girl, he curses God, saying that he wished to spit in his face.

Lenz's relationship with God had me thinking about my own experiences with Christianity. Raised agnostic, I often wondered about the existence of God and wanted to believe in Him. I wanted to believe that a higher power was living and operating in the world, helping others. Having been to church on many occasions, I have seen people who claim to know God operates in their lives, giving testimonies to His existence, giving Him the credit for all the good fortune in their lives.

Would they react the way Lenz reacted in the event that darkness was brought upon their lives? They say God has a plan for all of us, and that if something were to go wrong, it would only be a part of a larger plan to bring about happiness. Lenz curses his misfortune, blaming boredom. The theme of the class, is, of course, boredom, and in the context of Lenz, Lenz says of his own suicide, that he couldn't do it because "it would just be too boring!" This line I thought was particularly hilarious.

Overall, Lenz didn't stand out to me as being any particularly special kind of work. Having a lush reading history, I wasn't entirely impressed by the story itself or any of the ideas expressed in it. Lenz was just kind of normal, nothing special. Just my opinion.