Mad, then Sane OR Sane, then Mad?

I have to admit that upon initially finishing the book, I felt let down. There is an intense build up, the High Lama dies, things come to a head with Mallinson, and then . . . nothing. We are abruptly left with incomplete knowledge, even more questions, and no way of getting them answered. Is Mallinson right, is he even alive, if he is not right does he ever discover he is wrong, is Conway sane, even if he can go back to Shangri-La can he still be the leader, does he make it back to Shangri-La, and what the hell is the deal with Lo-Tsen?

But now I have given it some thought and concluded that it is all beautifully a part of Hilton’s genius writing. At the end of the book, I was left feeling how Conway must have felt climbing the mountain with Mallinson and pondering all his unanswered questions. Was he a fool to blindly believe the High Lama on his word alone? Is the hot-headed, close-minded, self-important, antagonistic Mallinson the only one who managed to retain his sanity in the midst of a confusing, but enchanting place? Early in the book, Conway contemplates over the “will of God or the lunacy of man” or alternatively “the will of man and the lunacy of God.” Ch. 2. He observes that “[i]t must be satisfying to be quite certain which way to look at it.” Ch. 2. Perhaps Conway’s problem is that he is too philosophical and broad-minded. He can always see both sides so clearly, he is never quite certain which is “right.” His even bigger problem is that he is never certain which way to look at things—that would drive anyone crazy. When the High Lama dies and his story is challenged by Mallinson, suddenly Conway isn’t sure whether Mallinson is sane and the High Lama is a crazy, manipulative liar, or whether Mallinson is merely close-minded and a slave to tangible objects of proof and Conway is just a believer of something he never had any reason to doubt. Thus, Conway was a “wanderer between two worlds and must ever wander. . . .” Ch. 11.

What should Conway believe? Has he been so disillusioned by war and the political world that he cannot accept something too good to be true or has his disillusionment left him in the border-line sanity position of being too willing to accept what is impossibly too good to be true? I love it!

I am convinced that both Rutherford and the doctor believe the whole story. Of course, they try to act like they maintain a reasonable amount of doubt but they don’t have me fooled for a minute. They believe it because “certum est, quia impossible”—“it is certain, because it is impossible.” As well as because they are romantics and consumed by the beauty of the story. However, that is not why Conway became a believer. He became a believer for the opposite reason—because he saw it was possible. The valley opened up to him a world of possibilities he had never considered and was a place where he could feel himself changing and where he could focus on more dormant aspects of his personality, talents, and dreams. Like most beliefs that require faith, there is no reasoned answer to the questions put forth by Mallinson. Conway believed it because he believed it and Mallinson, who had nothing in actual contradiction to Conway’s assertions, didn’t believe it because he didn’t believe it. That is all there is to it—“the truth is when it comes to believing things without actual evidence, we all incline to what we find most attractive.” Ch. 11.

As my comment to Tecia’s post indicates, I believe that we are supposed to believe the entire story is true (although I have a nagging question left by Chang’s assertion that Mallinson would be able to talk to the porters when he was never able to), but I would have liked confirmation and more details recounting what happened from the “escape” and on. Nonetheless, once I put aside that disappointment, I realize the more interesting part of the story and a proper place for focus is whether Conway was sane or mad, and which, when. I hope that Conway was able to achieve that which he lacked most—the ability to be certain which way to look at things. If he achieves that, the rest doesn’t matter. He can love and live in Shangri-La because he is certain it contains everything the High Lama claimed, or he can love and live in Shangri-La because while he is certain it is not a “magical” place, he is certain it is a place where he feels fulfilled, happiest, and at peace.