The Coexistence of Light and Dark

Mulisch juxtaposes light and darkness throughout the passage "In the poem, I wanted to compare love... so we become a little but unlike ourselves" (Mulisch 38). The woman in the cell with Anton constantly refers to the idea of light and darkness coexisting. "We hate them in the name of light... they hate only in the name of darkness" (38). The woman believed that Fascists hated for the sake of hate. However, Fascists believed that they were justified in their actions, similar to the concept of yin and yang. The Fascists were icons of evil, but they believed they were good; there was light within their darkness. Everyone else hated them in the name of light; their light contained the darkness of hate. Therefore, Mulisch seems to be saying that light and darkness, love and hate, need each other to exist, similar to the concept of shadows. There can't be a shadow without light and light will always cast shadows. The concepts of good and evil, light and dark, love and hate, are intertwined and cannot exist without their respective counterparts.