American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer

In early August the world commemorates the nuclear disaster of the atomic bombs and laments the inhumane destruction of Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki. At least I have always perceived these horrific events through the victims’ perspective, and naturally, for me the victims are all these civilians labelled as casualties. I have read many stories, emerging myself into all possible narratives first postmodernly and then multiculturally stemming from the grand historic narrative of the WW II. Nonetheless, I have to admit that the story of the one remaining in history as “the father of the atomic bomb” had never been of much interest to me. Until now.

The voluminous Pulitzer Prize winning biography called “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer” is a product of 25-year research in archives, historical evidence and hundreds of interviews conducted by the journalist Kai Bird and the historian Martin J. Sherwin. These guys definitely knew what they were doing in terms of keeping the reader’s attention because even though the book is thick and full of historical and scientific facts and references, it reads almost as quickly as a page-turner. It is a serious read though. Deadly serious (dark sense of humor is always necessary).  

The introduction muses on the significance of J. Robert Oppenheimer’s discovery and its importance to humankind is compared to the fire given to people by the rebellious Greek titan Prometheus. Therefore, the authors not only compare the physicist to the mythological hero drawing parallels between their unfortunate fate and harsh punishments from the Gods, but also call Oppenheimer The American Prometheus and use this phrase as a title.  At first such audacity astounded me as too cynical since in Greek mythology Prometheus is considered as the creator of mankind and a really humane persona. How can he be compared to the stereotype of a crazy scientist known to people as “the destroyer of worlds”? The book explores this question in multiple ways and thus answers it thoroughly.

Even though the narrative starts backwards – with Oppenheimer’s funeral – the story floats mostly chronologically afterwards. We are informed about Oppenheimer’s family of Jewish immigrants in New York and his childhood in the blissful world of material satisfaction. Many years later he would admit that the peaceful and well- off being of his childhood made his realization of the real world almost unbearable (a probable reason for his persistent depression). His teenage days were not that easy because he was constantly mocked by his peers and more often than not became victim of their practical jokes as punishment for him being a rich kid and a weirdo.

When he was accepted to Harvard, he majored in Chemistry but soon discovered that his real love was Physics and after graduating a year earlier he decided to go to England where he could really learn physics. By this time the young man had many issues mostly related to his lack of social skills resulting in inability to maintain relationships or even friendships. His progress in this respect impressed me because later he managed to become a real leader in Los Alamos where he was the glue sticking all these haughty scientists together as a team.

The biography delves deeper into the so called Manhattan Project and discusses the historical, the geopolitical and the scientific necessity of the nuclear bomb. Oppenheimer himself realized it was only a matter of time before another scientist made the discovery and for that reason reacted negatively to President Truman’s statement that the Russians would never have it. As a straightforward person the physicist really was a piece of work – he always spoke his mind and that brought him enough enemies to discredit him after the war. But the most shocking was that he actually never came to terms with the way the US government used his discovery and spent the rest of his life trying to oppose the making of hydrogen bomb.

When one finishes the book one realizes that the tragedy of Oppenheimer actually does repeat the tragedy of Prometheus not only as far as personal punishment is concerned. People are never ready to possess divine powers. The tragedy of August 6^th and 9^th makes us recall this truth every year.

Mara Belcheva – the teacher who taught us dignity

 There is a famous night club located in the centre of Sofia with the controversial name of Cabaret. When one enters it though, it does not feel like a cabaret, neither does it look like one: it mostly resembles a cultural salon like the ones which were very common in Europe during the first quarter of the 20^th century. After an in-depth look around it becomes apparent that this place actually used to be one. Moreover, it was a very significant venue in our cultural history.

The house that today hosts a night club and a restaurant used to belong to one of the most prominent and best-looking couples in post-liberated Bulgarian capital city: the family of the State secretary of Finance, Hristo Belchev, and his stunningly beautiful wife Mara, who was a lady-in-waiting for the Bulgarian Princess Clementine. Her exceptional personality is the reason for the extraordinary life that she had. Her refusal to comfort or be conventionally convenient made her a misfit in the city which used to adore her and envy her. How can such a dramatic shift in attitude be possible?

Mara Belcheva is one of these enchanting ladies born under what seemed to be a lucky star at first, but later turned into a curse. She was doomed to suffer for being too much: too beautiful to be smart, too smart to be happy, too loving to be well-off, too open-minded to be a regular housewife, too talented to be recognized. At the age of 22 she loses her husband whom she loves madly. The Secretary is assassinated on the street while strolling with the Prime-Minister (the real target of the attack). Mara is heartbroken and wears black until her death, 46 years later. Being an intellectual herself, she cannot remain in the Palace as a lady-in-waiting because she despises all the vanity there, not to mention the constant advances noblemen (including the Bulgarian tzar) were making towards her now that she did not have a husband anymore. So she scandalized the conservative Sofian society by giving up her status and financial support and going to study literature in Switzerland, having already studied it in Vienna. Choosing spiritual growth over material prosperity was a typical feature of hers which only proves how remarkable and genuine she was not only as a poet but as a human being.  

When she returned to Sofia in several years, Mara was no longer the vulnerable girl she used to be. The intellectual Mrs. Belcheva entered the world of Sofian Bohemians and was so well-accepted there that she started organizing their cultural meetings herself. Even though she was born into a wealthy family, married a Secretary of Finance, and had her own place in the Palace, she became a teacher dedicating her efforts to educate young girls, to show them they can learn more and become professionals, which for the time being was too progressive and frequently frowned upon, especially by the newly-formed upper class.

However, the most scandalous deed of hers was about to shake hypocrisy to its foundation. Ironically, today she is almost only known because of her second and more mature grand love, the Bulgarian poet and one of the most essential cultural figures, Pencho Slaveykov. She met him in 1903 and even though they never married (another demonstration of outrageous disregard of social conventions that she was about to pay dearly later) they referred to each other as spouses in literature. Mara was a poet herself and Slaveykov was the one to recognize her and encourage her to write. She even translated for him from German into Bulgarian Friedrich Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra – a grand work of philosophy. In the eyes of society, however, she was just Mr. Slaveykov’s mistress and no one took her seriously neither as a poet, nor as a translator, saying that she was trying to pass his work as hers.

Such attitude was not merely unfair and cruel, people could not forgive Mara’s freedom to make choices in what was pretty much still a patriarchal society, so discrediting her work and achievements was a great way for a revenge. During her entire relationship with Pencho Slaveykov they were both targets of contempt, gossip and criticism since neither of them really cared about public opinions and they were getting on like real soulmates. His best works which are taught at school today were written when he was with his muse. Moreover, she was also his partner, providing him with all the support he needed even when it meant suppressing her own quill. They were together for 9 years, until Slaveykov’s death, going through thick and thin but remaining strong together until their tragically forced parting.

Pencho literally died in Mara’s arms in Italy – a foreign land where he went after being treated very cruelly and disrespectfully by the Bulgarian new government. His literary wife had already mortgaged her house in the centre of the city so she could pay for the treatment he needed. When he passed away she was devastated begging the government and Pencho’s former friends for financial aid so she could transport his remains to his country. Receiving no response she had to bury him in Italy suffering not only his death but the inhumane attitude by the country whose greatest poet had just died unrecognized.

Mara had to live 20 more years after she lost her soulmate. This was the hardest time for her since she was not well-received in what was predominantly male Bulgarian literary society. She wrote and published Slaveykov’s biography to keep the memory of him alive, but the more acclaimed he became, the less people took any interest in her work. Her poetry was never recognized while she was still living, even though today many critics think that it has its unique voice and distinctive qualities. Life was not easy for Mara Belcheva but she managed to go through it with dignity, leaving the trace of independence and spiritual strength many women would be inspired by later. She deserves to be remembered for what she was: a remarkable poet, a culture figure, an educator and a rebel who always fought for justice.

Mara Belcheva, in some literary critics’ view, writes the brightest female poetic prayer in Bulgarian poetry. This is the prayer of every independent woman even today:

 

Oh, God, do give me strength

on my shoulders to carry the world

without begging for help

while being wretched and hurt

 

You gave us all much pain

but strength to just a few;

Don’t let me die in vain

for love and loss are through.

 

Sources: Zografova, K. Remarkable Bulgarian Ladies, 2022

Dafinov, Zdravko, Bulgarian literary scene