54 pages 1 hour read

Milan Kundera

The Joke

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1967

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Important Quotes

Quotation Mark Icon

“Why is your freedom so important to you?”


(Part 1, Page 6)

When he returns to his hometown, Ludvik is a changed man. He has been away for 15 years, and his personal idea of freedom has been altered due to the punishment he received for his misconstrued joke. Ludvik has learned to live without freedom, so his ironic comment to Kostka reflects the changed perspective of a man whose previous jokes have shown him the importance of freedom in a literal and figurative sense.

Quotation Mark Icon

“She goes under a different name now, but that’s who she is.”


(Part 1, Page 11)

Characters can change their names, but they cannot change the fundamental aspects of themselves. When Lucie shaves Ludvik in the barbershop, he recognizes something familiar in her. She looks different, acts different, and has a different name, but there is an immutable quality to her character that cannot be denied. The passage of time and the imposition of suffering cannot fundamentally alter a person’s character, even if they hope that it might.

Quotation Mark Icon

“Men desire most what they consider inaccessible.”


(Part 2, Page 24)

Helena is keenly aware of her appeal to a man like Ludvik. Earlier in her narration, she confesses that she is not as slim or as attractive as she once was. Her unavailability rather than her aesthetic beauty is what makes her appealing to men.

Related Titles

By Milan Kundera

Plot Summary

logo

Life is Elsewhere

Milan Kundera

Life is Elsewhere

Milan Kundera

Plot Summary

logo

The Book of Laughter and Forgetting

Milan Kundera

The Book of Laughter and Forgetting

Milan Kundera

Plot Summary

logo

The Festival of Insignificance

Milan Kundera

The Festival of Insignificance

Milan Kundera

Study Guide

logo

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Milan Kundera

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Milan Kundera