The Trials of a Young Male Poet

The author often compares Jaromil's trials and tribulations to other young male poets that are known historically. By writing about the young poet Jaromil, the author gets a reason to write about the conditions of the young poet. Other poets have been near the outbreak of revolution. The English poet Percy Shelley goes to Ireland to seek out the Irish revolution. The French poet Rimbaud is geographically close to the Paris Commune in 1870. There is a revolution there, but Rimbaud is stuck in another town and separated from the revolution by enemy troops. There are also political factions affecting the poets Pushkin and Lermontov, both of whom are killed in duels.

For Jaromil, the Communist revolution in his country is an opportunity. Though Jaromil loves talking to his artist-teacher, he has difficulty understanding the obscure theories of surrealist art. Jaromil has some...