Tolerance – A Rewriting

Abstract

Dealing with the issue of tolerance, the article sets out to prove that the concept of ‘tolerance' is always closely followed by its counterpart, thus the former remains an unattainable utopian model. Regardless of the countless evils with which intolerance has stained the fabric of human history, it appears that even the noblest individuals find themselves plagued by it at one point or another in their existence. Focusing on Stefan Zweig's Castellio (translated into Romanian as A Cry Against Death) and Julian Barnes's A History of the World in 10½ Chapters, the paper uses narrative logic (i.e. the logic intrinsic to written stories) to make a point about the manner in which tolerance and intolerance are interwoven within the very fabric of human nature.