A person can simultaneously feel mortal fear and detached, buoyant calm

Evidence

He felt a sudden revulsion at the pit of his stomach, as if he had run into the sea across a cold beach: he recognized the fear of being killed; but a part of himself stood aside, floating on the current of the buoyant night: he felt something of what the passengers in the ark must have felt when the waters first lifted it off the ground. — Julien Gracq, Balcony in the Forest, 436

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Julien Gracq, Balcony in the Forest, 436
• XREF: connects to: Fear under bombardment can transform into a strangely pleasurable, childlike terror — Julien Gracq, Balcony in the Forest, 420; Wartime disorientation can dissolve into a feeling of self-sufficient freedom rather than fear — Julien Gracq, Balcony in the Forest, 423; Extreme fear can shrink a person’s presence to something almost weightless — Julien Gracq, Balcony in the Forest, 427 (+16 more)

Library Connections

• Anticipatory dread of loss can coexist with intense present happiness #corroborates (0.85) — Julien Gracq, Balcony in the Forest, 268
• People can simultaneously dread and desire the catastrophic events they anticipate #corroborates (0.82) — Julien Gracq, Balcony in the Forest, 509

Broader Connections

• Passive drift toward disaster can feel seductive rather than frightening #exemplifies (0.78) — Julien Gracq, Balcony in the Forest, 293
• Extreme physical silence can produce deep restfulness rather than only distress #exemplifies (0.77) — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 496
• Total sensory absence can feel generative rather than merely frightening #exemplifies (0.76) — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 496
• Extreme bodily shock can produce relief resembling closure rather than terror #exemplifies (0.75) — Julien Gracq, Balcony in the Forest, 482
• Total abandonment and isolation can register as pleasure rather than dread #exemplifies (0.73) — Julien Gracq, Balcony in the Forest, 506
• Extreme fear can shrink a person’s presence to something almost weightless #exemplifies (0.72) — Julien Gracq, Balcony in the Forest, 427