The Relationship Between Love and Hate

In analyzing a passage in The Assault, it becomes apparent that the author, Harry Mulisch, tries to convey the similarity of love and hate by juxtaposing them. Love and hate cannot function as an idea without its counterpart, which is described as so through the character who shares a jail cell with Anton. “It’s because we hate them in the name of the light, I guess, whereas they hate only in the name of the darkness” (Mulisch 38). Society views hate groups so negatively that society unintentionally creates a hate group of their own. Society, however, does not typically see it that way. This can also be the reason why a country will go to war to fight for peace, and more often that not the country while fighting forgets the reason why they went in the first place. Hate is an aspect of the human condition that can motivate more than love, especially if the hate is out of love. Hate is what drives someone to fight, love is what is worth fighting for. 

Mulisch explores hate and love with the idea of lightness and darkness within this passage and as well as throughout the book. "That's the kind of light people have inside them when they're in love with someone. Hate is the darkness, that's no good" (Mulisch 38). The dark is very powerful as it encompasses the light overall. Darkness can exist within the light through shadows and the light can be present within the dark, such as a bright moonlight during the night. This exemplifies their complicated relationship in how they are separate ideas that exist within each other. In analyzing a passage in The Assault, it becomes clear that Harry Mulisch attempts to tackle the complicated idea of an intertwined relationship between hatred and love by juxtaposing the motifs, lightness and darkness.