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Anales galdosianos [Publicaciones periódicas]. Año XII, 1977 has been sparked into action by the power of oratory. This organism has grown to many times its original size. While smaller when first formed and possessing a brain composed of « tres o cuatro » men, on this day the creature, whose body has grown but whose brain has decreased to « dos o tres personas » (p. 63), is wallowing in confusion. At this moment, Lázaro struggles with his determination to go straight to his uncle's house and with the opposing force of the group which exerts a tremendous attraction upon him: « Allí estaba reunido un pueblo, dispuesto a una gran manifestación » (p. 64). His struggle to maintain his individuality in the face of the attraction of the larger organism may be seen especially in the skillful portrayal of his mental state in the words: « Lázaro quiso dominarse rechazando la tentación. Se alejó del pueblo y volvió a acercarse a él » ( ibid. ). The protagonist's fluctuation between independence and surrender is further described: « La masa, en tanto, se arremolinaba y se extendía por la plazuela del Ángel. Lázaro la siguió como fascinado; después se apartó con miedo de ella y de sí mismo. Pero no podía resolverse a retirarse » ( ibid. ). He hovers on the border between self-possession and absorption by the group-organism. While attracted by it, he also feels « miedo » toward it, presumably because of its potential for destroying his personal will; he feels this same emotion toward himself (« de sí mismo ») because of the half-realization that something within him wishes to be absorbed by the mob. This suggests the same duality in Lázaro which was made explicit by the narrator when, the previous night, Lázaro was described as being both « orador, propiamente dicho, y el hombre » (p. 55). Up to this moment, the organism has reached physical proportions too great to be directed by its small and apparently inefficient brain. The fact that it wallows about in confusion as well as the insistence that it is one single creature, one unified entity, is clearly indicated by Galdós: « Había llegado aquel momento supremo de las agitaciones populares en que las turbas se paran silenciosas, alterados los miles de corazones por un solo y profundo temor, trastornadas las mil cabezas con una sola duda » (p. 64). While the creature is the possessor of thousands of hearts and a thousand heads, those hearts and heads all share « un solo y profundo temor » and « una sola duda ». The emotions are single rather than multiple, thus, demonstrative of integration. This moment in the formation of a group- organism will be described by Le Bon: Dans certaines circonstances données, et seulement dans ces circonstances, une agglomération d'hommes possède des caractères nouveaux fort différents de ceux de chaque individu qui la compose. La personnalité consciente s'évanouit, les sentiments et les idées de toutes les unités sont orientés dans une même direction. Il se forme une âme collective, transitoire sans doute, mais présentant des caractères très nets. La collectivité devient alors ce que, faute d'une expression meilleure, j'appellerai 18
Anales galdosianos [Publicaciones periódicas]. Año XII, 1977 une foule organisée, ou, si l'on préfère, une foule psychologique. Elle forme un seul être et se trouve soumise à la loi de l'unité mentale des foules. 20 ( Le Bon's emphasis. ) This statement should be compared with Galdós' description, through La Zarza, a personage in El audaz (1871), of the Parisian mob: « Ninguno era dueño de sí mismo; todos habían abdicado su persona ante la colectividad, y cada cual dejó de ser un individuo para no ser más que muchedumbre » (P. 255). Something is still lacking to set this creature in motion: « Falta que una voz sola diga lo que todos sienten » (p. 64). The emotions felt by the organism must be expressed; this expression cannot be multiple if it is to represent one single creature. The « voz » which is needed must be « una » and « sola ». Furthermore: « esa voz dice lo que una multitud no puede decir; porque la multitud, que obra como un solo cuerpo con decisión y seguridad, no tiene otra voz que el rumor salvaje, compuesto de infinitos y desiguales sonidos » ( ibid. , my emphasis). Lázaro asks himself: « ¿Sería el verbo revelador de aquel cuerpo ciego e inconsciente? ¿Hablaría o no hablaría? » ( ibid. ). Finally, his resistance disappears entirely and he is drawn into the organism as the necessary « verbo ». The description of his absorption is extremely vivid: « Lázaro se mezcló en el torbellino. Sus ojos brillaban con extraordinario resplandor; su inquietud era una convulsión; su agitación, una fiebre; su mirada, un rayo » ( ibid. ). This is not the description of a man simply joining with his fellows: Lázaro is undergoing a metamorphosis which Galdós felt important enough to portray in a searching «close-up» of the protagonist at a crucial moment. There is, in the vocabulary depicting Lázaro's incorporation in the organism (« convulsión », « agitación », « fiebre ») and the appearance of his eyes, the suggestion, quite possibly unconscious on Galdós' part, of sexual union; this latter type of union may result, as does incorporation in a group-organism, in the creation of a new being. Furthermore, in both cases the creation of the new entity is accompanied by the temporary surrender of the personality on the part of the individuals who unite in this endeavor. The elements of attraction, resistence, surrender, pleasure within that surrender, and temporary abandonment of the self in the creation of another being, are factors common on one hand, to the process under scrutiny in which individuals form the group-organism and, on the other, to sexual reproduction. Perhaps one might suggest some analogy between the distinction orador-hombre and a dichotomy representing procreation and self-preservation. 20 Ibid. , p. 9. 19
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