Plan general de auditoría

The three novels with which this chapter is mainly concerned - Les Animaux dénaturés (1952), Colères (1956), and Sylva (1961) - together occupy a distinct area of their own in Vercors's post-19^0 fiction. In them, Vercors explores further the theories about the nature of humankind that he had presented in 'La Sédition humaine'; but if they thus pursue a thread of enquiry that had been present in the author's mind since the War, the three novels are different in several ways from fictional works like Les Yeux et la Lumière and La Puissance du Jour which precede them, just as they are, in other ways, from those that follow. Man's relationship with animals lies at the heart of two of them; the plots of all three are pervaded by elements of fantasy or near-fantasy; and the themes of war, occupation and resistance have almost, if not entirely, receded into the background. Certainly, the change of tone and content in Les Animaux dénaturés provided such a contrast with Vercors's war-time and immediate post­ war writing that René Fallet for one, writing in Le Canard Enchaîné, greeted it with ironic reliefs

.... surprise: Les Animaux dénaturés n'ont rien de commun avec la résistance, le maquis, la gestapo, le Vercors, la Kommandatur et tout l'arsenal littérato - 'années sombres' que s'était quasiment annexé l'auteur du Silence de la Mer .... Interruption (sans doute momentanée) de l'exploitation

de la toujours fertile mine des grands sentiments.... 1

We have, too, Vercors's own account, in Les Nouveaux Jours, of his feeling of having reached a new threshold in his writing career, and the sense of fresh possibilities lying ahead:

-122-

Maussade et incertaine, l'année qui vient de s'achever (1951) ne l'a pas été pour moi personnellement. Et ce passage de l'une à l'autre, je l'ai au contraire franchi avec un sentiment confiant: ma vocation comme écrivain vient en effet de s'éclairer, de découvrir les larges, passionnantes perspectives qui s'ouvrent devant elle .... (NJ p 201).

As he goes on to explain, the writing of Les Animaux dénaturés stemmed from the essay 'La Sédition humaine' and from the ensuing debate with Francis Bendit.^ That debate had centred on the dividing-line between Man and the primates closest to him, the anthropoid apes. Bendit had argued that once that dividing-line is drawn across Man's evolutionary line of descent, then all behaviour, good or bad, for which human creatures are responsible must perforce qualify as human behaviour - and the 'rebellion against Nature' to which Vercors had attached such decisive importance is only one manifestation of human quality in creatures to whom the status of human being has been attributed on the basis of other criteria.

As an outcome of this debate, Vercors found his attention focussed more and more on the question of the 'dividing-line'. At what precise point in the evolutionary chain can Man, in the proper sense of the term, be said to have evolved from Ape? And if ever the 'missing link' were found, on which side of the line would he, or it, fall? To try to answer these questions would surely shed some light on the broader enquiry which Vercors now considered so vital for his contemporaries - the search for a basic definition of Man that could subsume all racial, ideological and religious differences within an incontrovertible and universal measure of human value.^

As speculation about the 'missing link' assumed more concrete form in his mind, Vercors saw its potential for a work of fiction. What if a race of creatures physically akin to apes but with rudimentary tools,

-123-

language and simple rituals, were discovered in a remote part of the world?

Qu'en ferez-vous? Du gibier ou des électeurs? Qui décidera? Et je me dis ... que ce dilemme ferait un roman bien amusant qui obligerait le lecteur à réfléchir; au moins sur la nécessité de définir ce qui fait, au plus bas de l'échelle, que l'homme est 'homme', peut-être sur cette définition elle-même. Je le sens si bien, ce roman, je sens si bien son importance que, presque aussitôt, je me suis mis à l'ouvrage.... (NJ p 202). Vercors thus seems to have approached his story in a spirit of mingled seriousness and amusement; and it is a corresponding combination of qualities in the novel that has led many reviewers and critics to liken it to the philosophical fiction of Voltaire or the satirical

fantasies of Swift or Aldous Huxley. Certainly the work blends

within a harmonious and entertaining whole (far more successfully so, by general agreement, than the similarly ambitious Colères) a relatively complex plot, a varied cast of characters and a substantial portion of the author's reflections and researches. One measure of its enduring success, perhaps, is that it is Vercors's only text, apart from Le Silence de la Mer, to appear in the 'Livre de Poche' series; while at the same time the theatrical version, Zoo, has proved to be a highly successful and critically-acclaimed play."’

At the heart of the novel is the discovery of a colony of half-human, half-animal creatures by a party of anthropologists exploring the innermost recesses of New Guinea.^ The young English hero of the story, Douglas Templemore, sends full and regular reports of the expedition's work to his fiancée, Frances, in London^; and, conveniently enough for the purposes of the narrative, Frances is both unversed in anthropology and as eager to learn as Douglas is to impart. Thus she, and we, read that the physical appearance of the 'tropis' ('une contraction d'anthrope et de pithèque', AD p 82) combines predominantly

-124-

ape-like features with elements of grace and delicacy:

Leur corps est couvert de poils, mais je dois dire que l'aspect en est troublant, surtout celui des femelles. Elles sont plus fines que les mâles, ont les bras moins longs, de vraies

hanches et une poitrine très féminine.(AD p 80) 8

And certain other human characteristics are evident: la tentation

est grande de parler d'eux en êtres humains - puisqu'ils taillent la pierre, font du feu, enterrent leurs morts, et même communiquent entre eux par une espèce de langage....' (AD p 81).

The 'tropis' thus constitute a delicately-poised balance between ape and man, and this balance is carefully maintained by the author as the scientists pursue their observations of the creatures. Then growing feelings of respect and liking for the 'tropis' as individuals lead to the first moral dilemma. The Irish priest Dillighan, a believer in orthogenesis and one of the highly diversified group of eccentrics who make up the expedition, agonizes over whether or not the 'tropis' have a soul and whether, unbaptised, they face eternal damnation or,

o

at best, limbo. If Vercors sees any irony in this theological problem, it is only gently hinted at in the text, perhaps as a tribute to the priest's benevolence; and in any case the moral complexity of the situation is soon intensified when the Papuan bearers, despite recent conversion by Dillighan, begin to indulge in ' tropophagie'. Even this misfortune for the 'tropis', however, seems a minor one compared with the threat from an unscrupulous Australian tycoon bent on exploiting this ready supply of slave labour in his textile mills. As the scientists, with Templemore taking the moral lead, rally to the creatures' defence, the capitalist conspiracy takes shape: even if there is an outcry over the proposed breeding and exploitation of the 'tropis', no arguments on their behalf are likely to prevail

-125-

once sufficient financial investments, particularly from major banks, have been committed to the business venture. The self-seeking motives of capitalist enterprise are here allowed to speak for themselves, and there is little of the obvious political axe-grinding by the author that intrudes into parts of Colères. Similarly unobtrusive, but no less effective, is the reference to the likely 'moral' outrage of British textile industrialists who will be faced with this formidable Antipodean competition. It is the tycoon, Vancruysen himself, who is the first to anticipate such protests, and he does so with appropriate Australian scepticism:

....vous croyez que les Anglais resteront tranquilles? - Vous pensez que ...

- Bien sûr. Ils nous mettront des bâtons dans les roues; ils soulèveront le droit moral d'exploiter ces animaux

ambigus, et toute le bataclan. (AD p 120) 10

The artificial insemination of some female 'tropis', with Templemore as donor, represents a pragmatic attempt to ascertain whether the 'tropis' belong to the human species, and the result, with the birth of several 'tropiots', seems positive. But the success of this experiment leads only to another, more momentous, ethical controversy: for the anthropologist Julius Drexler (the historical associations of whose name can hardly have been accidental)11 now throws open the whole question of human status. Should all those groups normally considered to belong to the human family in fact enjoy the same status as the most fully evolved? In other words:

L'apparition des tropis ... prouve l'inanité de la notion simpliste de l'unicité de l'espèce humaine. Il n'y a pas d'espèce humaine, il n'y a qu'une vaste famille d'hominidés, qui descend l'échelle des couleurs, au sommet de laquelle est le Blanc - l'homme véritable - pour aboutir, à l'autre bout, au tropi et au chimpanzé. (AD p 149)

-126-

The racial and social implications of Drexler's argument are therefore plain, as Templemore urgently reports:

Voici donc tout prêts à renaître, Frances, le fantôme grimaçant du racisme et ses infernales séquelles ... Un racisme au nom duquel des populations entières pourront demain être privées de leur appartenance à l'humanité et des droits qui s'y attachent, être vendues à leur tour comme cheptel ... Le Durban

’* ’ ' 'Les nègres sont-ils des

There is thus much more at stake than the fate of the 'tropis', and the only recourse, according to Templemore, is to establish a basic, clear and irrefutable definition of Man:

Il s'agit de faire en sorte que toute l'humanité soit enfin obligée de se définir une bonne fois elle-même ... De telle manière que ses droits et devoirs envers ses membres cessent d'être fondés confusément sur quelques traditions discutables, des sentiments transitoires, des commandements religieux ou des obligations sectaires, qu'on peut à chaque instant attaquer ou contredire; mais qu'ils le soient solidement sur la claire notion de ce qui, en vérité, distingue spécifiquement les

hommes du reste de la création. (AD p 150)

Here, then, is Vercors's essential thesis, presented with due seriousness and indeed dramatic urgency by the committed Templemore. Despite this, however, and despite the echoes of Nazism that briefly haunt the text^ , the remainder of the narrative preserves the lightness of touch which has characterized it hitherto. Templemore's action, after returning to England, of deliberately killing a new­ born 'tropiot' registered as his son, leads to a murder-trial in which the issue is not the identity of the killer but the status - human or otherwise - of the victim. The sensational nature of the trial, and the failure of the jury to reach a verdict through lack of any clear definition of human status, lead, as Templemore had hoped, to widespread public discussion and to a parliamentary Committee of Enquiry on the subject.

-127-

It is not altogether surprising that the most persuasive arguments presented to the Committee are those of the civilised and open-minded trial judge, who has reached conclusions very close to those of Vercors in La Sédition humaine'. The whole distinction between men and animals centres on the secession from Nature: 'L'animal fait un avec la nature. L'homme fait deux .... Des animaux dénaturés, voilà ce que nous sommes' (AD p 322) There remains, of course, the question of how 'cette dénature' can be recognised. After a full measure of the hesitations and compromises inherent in committees (and particularly so, Vercors seems to imply, in a British one), an answer is eventually agreed upon: the awareness of being separate from Nature is indicated by any manifestation of religious attitudes or behaviour. As a Minister of the Crown, anxious to resolve the legal tangle (and to reach a con­ clusion helpful to British commercial interests) explains:

Esprit religieux égale esprit métaphysique égale esprit de recherche, d'inquiétude, etc. Tout y rentre: non seulement la foi, mais la science, l'art, l'histoire et aussi la sorcellerie, la magie, tout ce que vous voudrez ... (AD p 327)

It is, in short, a serviceable working proposition, and a sufficient modicum of religious awe is finally seen to reside in the 'tropis''

14

ritual smoking of meat, '.... une très primitive adoration du feu,

un hommage rendu à son pouvoir magique de purification et d'exorcisme' (AD p 339), on which basis they are admitted to full membership of the human community. In a second trial, Templemore is acquitted of murder, since the human status of the victim was not established at the time of his death; and the Defence Counsel points, somewhat optimistically, to the value of the principle that has been established as a result of his client's altruism:

-128-

Ils (les tropis) participent aux droits de l'homme. Rien ne les menace plus. Rien non plus ne menace d'autres peuples arriérés ou sauvages, que l'absence de toute définition légale était seule à mettre en danger. (AD p 344)

While there is certainly more than a little wishful thinking in such a pronouncement, it does represent one of Vercors's aspirations in his efforts to achieve a definition of Man. After the euphoria of the trial, however, a more realistic analysis is made by the judge, and it is this more measured hope that Vercors seems to have invested in the novel as a whole:

Vous avez inquiété les gens. Vous leur avez mis le nez dans une inconcevable lacune, qui durait depuis des millénaires... on est allé au plus pressé, on a comblé cette lacune comme on a pu. Il faudra le faire mieux, et tout à fait. (AD p 355) However, while the author's pursuit of a definition of Man was now becoming recognized as a key and recurring theme of his writing, it was the frank discussion of racial differences that seems to have disconcerted some readers of the novel. Such reactions did not appear very markedly in the generally favourable reviews of French and other critics in the West; but Vercors himself was to record in P.P.C. the criticisms of some Soviet readers. Several statements and comments in the novel, exemplified by the following remarks to a lawyer by the expedition's leader, Cuthbert Greame, seem to have attracted this unfavourable attention:

.... entre le chimpanzé et le Plésianthrope, entre celui-ci et le Sinanthrope, entre le Sinanthrope et le tropi, entre le tropi et l'homme de Néanderthal, entre l'homme de Néanderthal et le négrito, enfin entre le négrito et vous, mon cher Maître .... la distance chaque fois est à peu près la même. Alors si vous pouvez nous dire où finit le singe, où commence l'homme, vous nous rendrez un fier service! (AD p 127) Other remarks in the novel which might also have left some readers uneasy are made, paradoxically enough, by two notably liberal-minded and well-intentioned ladies. There is, firstly, Frances's reference to

-129-

'une négresse è plateaux ... cent fois plus près, par son intelligence, d'un chimpanzé que d'Einstein' (AD p 196) (although her main point will be that Einstein and the negress share something, provisionally defined as 'une âme', which the chimpanzee lacks); and similarly there is the recollection by Lady Draper, as she points out the importance of a 'gri-gri' or sacred object to every human community, of 'ces pauvres nègres tellement sauvages, que nous avons vus à Ceylan, tellement arriérés, qui ne savent rien faire, même pas compter jusqu'à cinq, à peine parler...' (AD pp 235-6).

Now the 'négrito' in Greame's observation refers to a diminutive negroid race of people living in the Malayo-Polynesian islands, and it was to be to the question of skeletal size that Vercors mainly referred in discussing the criticisms he had received. In P.P.C., where he reproduces a preface written in 1955 for the Hungarian and Polish editions of Les Animaux dénaturés, he first recalls the terms in which certain Soviet critics and readers of the original edition had reproached him:

Vous montrez que du singe à 1 'anthropopithèque, de celui-ci au Nègre et du Nègre au Blanc il n'y pas de limite zoologique précise. Et c'est pourquoi il (le lecteur soviétique) pourrait être offusqué de vous voir effacer ici ou là cette limite entre le singe et le Nègre___ (PPC p 214)

Vercors's answer to these reproofs turns on the distinction between 'une graduation (quantitative)' and 'une hiérarchie (qualitative)' (PPC p 220). To make comparisons based on physical or biological factors is by no means to proffer a value judgement. The latter would depend on quite different criteria, as the novel seeks to demonstrate:

-130-

... si l'on est tout à fait antiraciste, si l'on a extirpé de soi le moindre relent de racisme, alors on peut comparer le squelette d'un Négrito à celui d'un Singe sans craindre de lui porter tort, au contraire, puisque si le Noir vaut le Blanc ce n'est pas à cause de son squelette c'est parce que son comportement est humain comme celui du Blanc ... Mais bien sûr, pour en arriver là il faut savoir exactement où il se trouve, le fait humain. Et pour le savoir, il faut d'abord se le demander ... (PPC pp 221-2)

In fact, leaving aside the vexed question of intelligence, just as Vercors himself does in this discussion, it seems that he may have been wrong in placing so much emphasis even on physical differences. There is, for example, the recent theory put forward by Drs. C. Stringer and P. Andrews of the Natural History Museum in London, which states unequivocally that all humans have a common African ancestor and that the genetic component mitochondrial DNA varies between humans anywhere in the world by no more than half of one per cent - in other words, 'the differences between races are clearly not profound and are indeed