Revulsion, curiosity and revulsion. It is safe to say that after purchasing this book for class, now extensively acknowledging and (somewhat) understanding its graphic and inhuman contents, I can say that I regret that decision. Marquis de Sade’s 120 Days of Sodom is complex, appearing at first to me as a surface level read about human depravity and sexual deviance, it revealed itself during further research and discussion amongst my peers to be a very unique and abrasive approach to confronting the corruption of the powerful man. The novel has proved to be timeless, parallels aligning with a lot of the popular, and often financially enriched, figures of the modern time. However, these parallels and complex thesis are hidden beneath 799 unfinished pages of sex, sadism, murder, cruelty, all the forms of human immorality one can possibly imagine and above all, arses.
Sade opens his groundbreaking and most definitely forbidden text with a lengthy and descriptive introduction, producing a new character almost every paragraph and delving into the utmost specific and careful physical detail one can possibly write without seeing the person themselves for inspiration. Sade elaborates backgrounds, nobility, financial, marital and age statuses as much as he possibly can, also indulging in intricate conversation involving the physical traits of each character, the shapes, widths and lengths of majority of their limbs but not the same ones for all of them, however, a consistency of mentioned genitalia can be noted. I began to feel disturbed, sick even, just from reading the introduction as Sade described the filth and depravity of some characters, and the impending destruction of others’ innocence and beauty.
Now, before I go any further I find it important, at least to me, as this is my blog, to mention I did not finish the book, I did not find much importance in the book itself and feel as though I had already acquired the little knowledge the book had to offer me, and that I definitely could’ve reviewed such information in a completely different manner. However, this is a forbidden text class and if we were grading this book on relevancy it would surely get a perfect score. I was considering discussing De Sade and his personal, wretched, life but felt as though he wasn’t necessarily worth my commentary, nor is the book itself but perhaps less so because of the message it does offer.
Okay, De Sade, if he did anything, made one particular point that stood out to me. I’m not going to describe plot, if you want to know the plot you can read it, but he created four creatures, four barely human characters who identified as Libertines, or more specifically a Judge, Bishop, Banker, and Duke. These men are the four tangible (although subjective) powers of the world. Finances, Church, Law, and Government hold a firm reign over the functionality of the entire planet. Humans cannot exist in the manner in which we do without these things, they are an integral part of humanity. That was circular and repetitive, but it is a point that cannot be exaggerated enough. There is such a lack of coincidence and overflow of relevancy surrounding the inclusion of these titles with the events of the novel that I can’t help but coin De Sade as (on some freakishly screwed up level) genius. This wasn’t;t something I had noticed while reading the novel, but as we discussed it in class and I made connections, whether it be the enormous amounts of wealth these four men had somehow procured, or the initial kidnappings of the victims, or the way that they were not pursued and were fully able to take the victims to an isolated island, rape torture and maim them with little to no consequence, De Sade is very clearly and vibrantly stating that money, power, and corruption create invincible invincibility. That is all I feel like is worth mentioning, and look forward to never thinking about this book again.