Page "The Joke (novel)" Paragraph 3

Despite the interruption in his career, Ludvik has become a successful scientist.

However, his treatment at the hands of his former friends has left him bitter and angry.

An opportunity arises when he meets Helena, who is married to Pavel Zemanek, the friend who led the efforts to purge Ludvik from the party.

Ludvik decides to seduce Helena as a means of exacting his revenge.

In essence this is the second ` joke ' of the novel.

Although the seduction is successful, things do not quite play out the way Ludvik expects ( this is the novel's third joke ), and he is left once more to sit and think bitter thoughts.

Ultimately he decides that these sorts of jokes and their repercussions are not the fault of the humans who set them in motion, but are really just a matter of historic inevitability.

Ultimately, then, one cannot blame forces that cannot be changed or altered.