Mixed Emotions

Throughout Walter Bernstein’s Inside Out: A Memoir of the Blacklist I’ve been rather critical of his lack of reflection, but I must admit I’m rather satisfied by his emotional introspection at the works conclusion. Bernstein comparing the demise of the blacklist to the strange emptiness he felt at the end of World War II speaks volumes to how sometimes the worst things that happen to us play the biggest role in shaping our lives. Although Bernstein suffered, he would not be the same without these experiences. Further, although he does not state it, I would assert that Bernstein may very well feel he experienced the idealism which draws many to communism more so than most who actually lived it in the Soviet Union, and certainly without experiencing the same dire consequences.

I feel that although Bernstein was marginalized via the blacklist, this marginalization, coupled by with the inherently shared sentiments of those affected by it, created a small community exhibiting the benefits that communism in practice could potentially bestow upon its constituents, which failed to materialize throughout Europe. In working with other blacklisted writers, Bernstein and his colleagues, although at the mercy of McCarthyism, were still able to achieve and admirable quality of life through their mutual reliance upon each other. While undoubtedly such writers could have lived more luxurious lives had they not been marginalized via the blacklist, these talented wordsmiths were certainly far from indigent.

Given these observations, I feel one can reasonably assert that Bernstein was able to experience the ideals he espoused much fruitfully through being blacklisted than he would have if he lived in the Soviet Union. While Bernstein may have admired the Soviet Union, he certainly ceased this admiration once he became aware of the travesties and anti-Semitism that accompanied this. However, through the blacklist drawing Bernstein and his colleagues together, he was able to experience the true camaraderie, social equality, and mutual dependence he longed for.

As for further reflection, I find it interesting to ponder what would have happened if those blacklisted shared capitalist rather than communist sentiments. Throughout Bernstein’s memoir, it is the practice of these communist sentiments that allow these individuals to make it through this era. However, if these individuals valued capitalism, and therefore independent struggle throughout the blacklist, I feel their experience would have been quite more troublesome.