Popular Culture Review 30.1
cal ’ s Wager , what if one can prove that God does not exist ? Moreover , what happens when the one to prove it is the one for whom religious belief fundamentally structures one ’ s life ? In “ Division by Zero ,” math professor Renee and her husband , Carl metaphorically represent what happens when the devout seek and find unexpected answers to the questions surrounding religious belief .
Renee ’ s understanding of herself and the universe centers on her certainty of the consistency of mathematics . For Renee , mathematics “ is the sacred language of the high priests , the scientists and the technicians . As a sacred language , mathematics ... is all-inclusive , timeless , transcendent , and incapable of being misinterpreted .... To think and speak the sacred language of mathematics is to think and speak the truth ” ( Kreuziger 38 ). Math has always provided Renee with a “ sense of rightness ”; she discovers this “ rightness ,” when she is a child and the epiphany grounds her understanding of the universe ( 74 ). However , Renee ’ s research leads her to a theorem that proves mathematics is inconsistent and thus meaningless . She discovers “ a formalism that lets you equate any number with any other number ,” thus proving that any two numbers are equal ( 80 ). Her discovery , which disproves “ most of mathematics ,” engenders in her the same sense of rightness that has structured her world up to this point , but this sense of rightness leads to her realization that the language of mathematics is neither sacred nor true ( 81 ). Her encounter with apocalypse reveals that mathematics can no longer provide meaning or structure to her life and she attempts suicide .
Carl ’ s understanding of himself and the universe centers on his certainty that “ compassion [ is ] a basic part of his character ” ( 87 ). Carl ’ s suicide attempt 20 years earlier allows him to
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