THE TRAITOR

(Az áruló, wr. 1954)

Lázló Németh

Arthur Görgey, the general who made the crucial decision to surrender and bring the Hungarian War of Independence to a close, lives in exile with his young wife. Kossuth, who led the country during the war, has fled to avoid capture, calling Görgey a traitor. A former officer of his army, drunk and wearing the uniform of the Hapsburgs, enters and demands his share of the gold Görgey allegedly received for betraying his country. He suggests suicide to the general, just as Görgey's own brother asks him to clear his name for the sake of the family. Görgey, however, decides to write his memoirs explaining the facts. He sees himself as a practical realist and views Kossuth, who is considered a hero, as a man imprisoned in an impractical, illusionary idealism.

Görgey explains that he joined the War of Independence for two reasons: to counterbalance the impossible dreams of Kossuth and to fight the Hapsburgs, not in the belief that victory was possible but in the hope that the Hungarians would be able to force the Emperor to agree to a compromise. The execution and incarceration of many of his former comrades-in-arms make him feel guilty for having survived, but he nonetheless refuses to escape into death; he thinks he can do more by staying alive and reminding his countrymen that putting the blame for losing the war on the shoulders of one man is an easy way out. He wants the Magyars to abandon escapist and self-deceiving idealism and assume their responsibilities as a nation realistically.