One of my current favorite quotes comes from Steven Erikson. In his 9th book of his 10 book series, A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen, he has a passage about evil. Here it is:
"Does evil exist? Is it a force, some deadly possession that slips into the unwary? Is it a thing separate and thus subject to accusation and blame, distinct from the one it has used? Does it flit from soul to soul, weaving its diabolical scheme in all the unseen places, snarling into knots tremulous fears and appalling opportunity, stark terrors and brutal self-interest?
Or is the dread word nothing more than a quaint and oh so convenient encapsulation of all those traits distinctly lacking moral context, a sweeping generalization embracing all things depraved and breathtakingly cruel, a word to define that peculiar glint in the eye -- the voyeur to one's own delivery of horror, of pain and anguish and impossible grief?
But really. Evil is nothing but a word, an objectification where no objectification is necessary. Cast aside this notion of some external agency as the source of inconceivable inhumanity -- the sad part is our possession of an innate proclivity towards indifference, towards deliberate denial of mercy, towards disengaging all that is moral within us.
But if that is too dire, let's call it evil. And paint it with fire and venom."
I tend to find it is a convenient encapsulation that can be dropped on any person whose actions cannot be explained or one does not want to understand- therefore, I do agree with Erikson. What are your thoughts??
On a more light heartened topic, today is finally Friday! I've been expecting a rejection letter from an interview I had last week- haven't gotten it yet, don't want to get my hopes up. And, I have a phone interview set up for next week. That's a good place to start a weekend! Now I want to go kick it and just have fun!
Song for the day: Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons- Born Again [my friend Colin suggested this local WI band to me, and I really dig this song. The band is from the Appleton area]
Born Again- Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons
Wow. Your extracurricular reading is very deep. I think the YA fiction on my bookshelf just wilted a bit. Erikson makes a good point here..I think we often like to paint our faults in a different light...or rather just disassociating our responsibility to these more heinous (had to use this word outside of Law & Order..it just needed to be done. Don't judge.) acts.
ReplyDeleteI can't get past the image of painting in fire in venom. What an intriguing visual. Wow.
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