'To know how to free oneself is nothing; the arduous thing is to know what to do
with one's freedom' - Andre Gide. Michel had been a blindfold scholar until, ne
wly married, he contracted tuberculosis. His will to recover brings self-discove
ry and the growing desire to rebel against his background of culture, decency an
d morality.
But the freedom from constraints that Michel finds on his restles
s travels is won at great cost. And freedom itself, he finds, can be a burden. G
ide's novel examines the inevitable conflicts that arise when a pleasure seeker
challenges conventional society and, without moralizing, it raises complex issue
s involving the extent of personal responsibility.
