A blinding light floods the hallway
as I open the ceiling length doors. The handles are a polished copper with
sapphire cut outs, the oaken frames ringed with age creaked as I opened the
door. I am taken with how heavy the panel feels in my grasp, though not
entirely surprised in lieu of the marathon corridor I had just walked through.
Thorough reverence is built into this monastic entry, perhaps to cultivate a
humbling attitude as one entered the church. Behind the doors, a cathedral
ceiling filled with pictures of saints and biblical stories greet me. Though it
is not the Sistine Chapel, the ceiling’s artwork nods clearly towards the
Sistine’s likeness and message. Looking forward to the front of the cathedral I
see my new acquaintance accompanied by a friar. Abbot Mendel stands at the end
of my walk and greets me tall and somber, a presence of calm thoughtfulness,
the definition of a man of the cloth and Austrian pride. “Thank you for meeting
with me alongside the friar. I hope you understand our protocols, fräulein, I’m
sure you do, come and sit with us”. The abbot explains his need to meet at this
monastic hour of prayer telling of the few opportunities he had to meet, as
well as the template practice of not meeting with women reporters without
escort. I immediately sense a strong presence of eager energy masked by a
solemn and resolute commitment to presenting a strong front.
“It’s been a year of unwinding”, as
the abbot describes the process of publishing his work [1]. With a panned expression and slightly
raised brow the abbot smiles. Mendel sits down on one of the pews and invites
me to sit in the pew across the aisle from him. There is but an outstretched
arms length between us. “I’ve found a new quiet in a humble place”, Mendel
shares as he explains how while his work was received and considered it did not
have the impact he had hoped for [1]. After
having taken exams to be a high school teacher Mendel has returned to the abbey
in study to pursue further preparation for yet another examination. It will be
his second round of breaking through a testing barrier to be in a scholastic
environment centered around his teaching, specifically to teach high school [2]. After having settled into our pews I pose the
question of what he enjoys most about his studies, what brought him to the
pursuit of heredity?
“I naturally lean towards a
methodical and unsurprisingly mathematical [1] approaches regarding how things become as they are. And
while it is such knowledge that fascinates me, it is at times the greatest
contribution I can give to my family. It is true that my mentors such as Father
Napp [1] and my
professors encourage my studies, but it is my family that sacrificed much of
their life’s earnings to help me know the depth of education [2], the depth of myself within
my natural inclinations. I can’t begin to know where I would be if not for
them. Probably working the same farm my family always has [2]. Perhaps it was the
unlikeliness that I should be their son in a rural town that inspired them to
see to it that I had the chance to live a life different from theirs. Was there
a difference in what I had inherited? If my parentage according to current belief had been equally divided between my parents and therefore destined to
till the soil, why am I here in this position? Seeing me excel where they hadn’t the
opportunity before was an underlying motivator that I hadn’t thought of until
this moment. My last presentation to the scientific counsel is done. The
greatest piece of work is finished and I can’t hope to know what I will happen to
my research. Perhaps it is not for me to know”.
I hadn’t anticipated his mention of
family or whether he would have hopes for the future of his work. He is right
however, the likeliness of his interest in such a specific study let alone
being born to such an unlikely parentage piques my interest. I ask what he had
anticipated the counsel would say when he had presented his work on garden peas
[3]. “In truth, I had high hopes they
would see that the window to understanding how we inherit our unique being. Beginning to understand the inheritance of botany by
understanding how those pea plants received their own heredity was monumental for me. I had such high
hopes that perhaps new light would be shed on how we understand what makes us
human and how it comes about. There’s no shortage of mythology surrounding it.
I had simply hoped that perhaps there was a more methodical and non-fanciful
approach to what brings us to who we are. Where does it come from? How does
it manifest? I sought to answer those questions with my findings."
Before being indoctrinated into the
monastic abbey at Brünn [3],
it was Johann Mendel, the son of a farmer in the rural town of Heinzendorf bei Odrau , Austria
During our talk, I notice Mendel is
full of eagerness, full of vigor for truth. He calmly and resolutely brims with
enthusiasm as we talk about his study of garden peas. The time, effort, and
care he bestowed on so many plants and their part in uncovering hereditary
patterns that didn’t garner the extensive review he had hoped for. Though it is
a professionalism that lingers about Mendel, there floats a twinge of underpinning
disappointment that so much of his work was not being appreciated. Though his
work was poignant, the trend of information delegated by his peers and the
powers that be didn’t allow room for his data to take seed. They simply did not see his findings relevant enough. Praised for his
steadfast, thorough, and well documented work [1], it was no more than a passing acknowledgement in
Mendel’s direction.
Mendel’s parish has been tutoring
men in the ways of the cloth and Mendel himself turns his attention to the
details of their lives. When I ask if there was ever a turning point in his
love for learning, especially in lieu of his work having received such light
recognition, Mendel looks away. “That’s an inquiry I don’t know if I can answer.
I work to discover. The studies I conducted and curated over the years…I don’t
know if I can answer your question.” While Mendel doesn’t say it aloud, I feel
that there is a silence in his eyes, a mild hurt from the lack of impact his
work attained. There’s a cloud that looms over Mendel as he thinks.
It is any wonder to whether Mendel will
have continued work in this field. It is clear though, that while what looks
unremarkable in immediate results, it is clear that his fervor for the truth in
science, for the furthering of what is considered noteworthy, pains him deeply.
If there is an optimism shedding any type of light on the situation it is that
whatever Mendel has researched will in hope come to light. A man with such
certainty in himself met with such disappointment begs the question of what
could possibly become of him, of his work. He sacrifices his time to the abbey and to
his parish hoping to not only minister to his men but to spend what time he
has left with them.
“Heredity within the plants I
studied is never exactly what I intended, I just happened upon it and found
that I actually had much invested into it. The way in which they express
themselves through flowers, shape, and frequency [1] begged me to understand in greater detail the
exact and probable occurrences that appeared. I still believe that what I’ve
discovered is lucrative for the understanding of what makes humanity so unique
and specific. Just the fact that I studied botany instead of human bodies
themselves. I understand that being human is much more complex than being a
garden pea but I don’t believe that we cannot learn and apply new concepts from
these findings. Perhaps they simply are not ready and for that type of finding.
I must make peace with it. A daily peace”.
We part ways. Mendel’s specific
talents and quick work of our conversation conveyed a strategic and concise
personality. He graciously bids me farewell and ushers himself and the friar
out of the main hallway. I wondered that he had been shy despite his strong presence
and hope that while his need to achieve was extensive that it was also a
greater need to know his contribution was conciliatory to his family. Between
the lines is where I could perceive and sense his intention. It must be
unspeakably difficult to journey through this specific disappointment and
uncertainty. Perhaps though, his research, while seemingly a drop in the
bucket, is actually just the drop needed to reverberate and begin the work we
don’t even know needs to be fulfilled.
*This has been a fictional depiction of an interview
with Gregor Johann Mendel. Today he is known as the Father of Genetics and
having contributed groundbreaking and significant work to our understanding of
genetics and heredity. This interview is based on an imagining of what could
have transpired had he been interviewed during the time of his work and life.*
Works Cited:
[1] Stewart, Doug. Gregor Mendel. www.famousscientists.org/gregor-mendel/. Famous Scientists. 19 Jul. 2014.
[2] Olby, Robert. Gregor Mendel: Botanist. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gregor-Mendel Encyclopedia Britannica. 5 July, 2019
[3] Scoville, Heather. Biography of Gregor Mendel. https://www.thoughtco.com/about-gregor-mendel-1224841 Thought Co. 7 Jan. 2019
[4] Biography.com Editors. Gregor Mendel Biography. https://www.biography.com/scientist/gregor-mendel. Biography. 15 July, 2019
