LIT21C

A Marxist Criticism of the Story ”The Bus Driver Who Wanted To Be God”
Etgar Keret
by Franz Jero Mae C. Duldulao

All of us have beliefs and codes that we apply in our life. With these, we carry on with

our daily life taking these principles with us. We continue with our ideology and consistently

apply it to what we are doing without realizing how it affects the people around us. In the

story "The Bus Driver Who Wanted To Be God," the character's false consciousness puts

them in their situation in the narrative.

Etgar Keret's story "The Bus Driver Who Wanted To Be God" is a discourse on

humanity's morality and the desire to adhere continually to the particular principles we

derive. The story follows the lives of two men. First is the bus driver who has given up on his

dream of becoming God. The other is a lazy man who found his happiness and discovered his

only chance at true love, as he thought.

The story depicts the bus driver's ideology that he would only open the door to people

who are on time. He developed a moral code wherein he will not stop for stragglers who do

not make it onto the bus in time. The driver consistently applied that practice as he

controlled what he was doing; he was not mean, only wanting to be fair to society. He has

embraced society's criticism of his practice because he believes it is the best option available,

and as a consequence, he is okay with other people's discomfort.

 While the bus driver controls and owns the means of production, a man named Eddie

always suffers the most from the driver's ideology. The man is perpetually lazy. He has grown

so engrained in his habit that he is consistently late for all occasions, no matter how

important they are.

Furthermore, it can be seen that society is powerless with the practice of the bus

driver as they cannot do anything when the bus starts to go. It is because of the driver's

principles that people suffer. Moreover, the bus driver pushed and influenced Eddie and

others to do what he believed due to their false consciousness. This implies that people are

often unaware and powerless as they are being dominated.

Furthermore, here we see a clash, the bus driver's moral standards against the man's

recognized fault. The man, desperate to get to the bus, runs and almost clings to its door as

it pulls away. As he was running to be on time to where he would meet his “Happiness,” the

bus was already going. However, it stopped as the traffic lights turned red. When the driver

sees Eddie, contrary to his policy, he opens the door with the reasoning that he sees himself

in the man, and all of his hopes and aspirations are relieved.

So here comes the strange moral posturing of the whole thing, the bus driver is only

willing to abandon his code when he sees himself as he is reminded of his past when he

wanted to become God. Being able to live vicariously through this man, he causes

inconveniences to many for this individual and breaks his entire moral code. Although

sympathetic, it is an intriguing notion that puts an unusual perspective on morality.

 In some ways, what the bus driver does appears to be selfish. There might have been

more significant individuals turned away throughout the years, but that does not matter;

only the man who could be a younger version of the bus driver does. The driver is even

pleased with himself for his conduct; he has regarded this proper in his code and heart. The

abandoning of a previously established code purely for self-pleasure appears cruel; the net

amount that was so important in the past has been abandoned for self-fulfillment.

While self-actualization is an important component of every human existence, it is a

one-time occurrence that will not be repeated in the future. Consequently, the bus driver has

not changed his heart; instead, he wants to improve better for himself vicariously. Hence, in

our life, there will be an individual who is exceptional for us to break our code and principles

in life.