The Evil Within

I have pretty strongly ingrained convictions about justice. Call it a belief in humanity, a sense of right and wrong, or living by a moral code that ultimately prizes honesty, fairness, and being kind to your fellow humans. A principle that gives marginalized groups a voice and a fair chance to prevail over the bad guys, whoever those thugs may be. A way of life that rewards the Ghandi’s, Nelson Mandela’s and Mother Teresa’s of this world – and not the Lindsay Lohan’s and George Bush’s – or for that matter, the entire cast of Jersey Shore.

Okay … so I might be a little naive.

I used to be adamant about my convictions, sometimes even to the point of rants and tantrums over justice falling short. But with each year that passes beyond my sheltered youth, I get a little more desensitized. Not uncaring, not faithless, just not as surprised – less dramatic. And my once-unwavering convictions soften little by little, dissolving into something that tries to make sense of the frequent contradictions I see happening all around me.

Obviously, justice and views on humanity are not objective concepts, but if you will, dear readers, indulge me for a few moments and allow that many of us are connected by a similar set of principles….

Injustice rears its hideous head all the time. Sometimes, it’s as minor as having your parking space hijacked; at other times, it’s completely maddening, as with escalating health care costs and unfair labor practices. On the largest and most terrifying scale, how is it even possible to ignore such monstrous crimes against humanity as genocide and human trafficking?

Now, my acknowledgment of injustice is not an unbelief in humanity. I do believe – I need to. But I have to admit, the way of this world and its not so point-blank gray matter has led me to question the origin and vulnerability of my own convictions.

Just how fleeting are the principles of justice and humanity? Do we inherently strive toward an altruistic human nature or does evil lurk within? Is it a primal impulse? Something instinctual? And, if so, can human instinct be construed as evil?

Social Upheaval Makes Me Hungry for Humans

Cormac McCarthy The Road

The Road, a 2006 novel written by Cormac McCarthy and adapted for the screen in 2009, offers a dismal glimpse into a post-apocalyptic world devoid of natural resources and brotherly love. A barren landscape of cold, dust, and darkness – it’s a dog-eat-dog world out there – and by that, I mean man-eat-man.

A father and his young son travel south toward the coastline in search of food, shelter, and others like them, “the good guys,” those who’ve managed to retain a sense of humanity. The road is full of gloom and intense hunger, and survival means escaping the detestable clutches of murderers, rapists, and cannibals.

In the absence of social structure, the lot of humankind seems to have re-calibrated rather quickly, turning a cheek against morality in favor of power and self-preservation. Not only that, but the extent of benevolent abandonment is pretty unsettling. It appears that absolute social upheaval brings out the most vicious primal instincts. There is a glimmer of hope at the end of the novel, but the reader is left on the fence to decide which way we swing.

I hate to admit, but I too would probably be famished enough to feast on my fellow man in the spirit of survival.

The Savagery of Imperialism and the Devil Inside

Joseph Conrad

It doesn’t have to be a post-apocalyptic setting to cause a complete breakdown of morality; seems like some of us can’t even keep our shit together when mingling with other cultures. Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is a turn-of-the-twentieth-century novella about the evils of imperialism and colonialism. Marlow, a riverboat captain employed by the Company, is commissioned to travel to Africa and up the Congo River to meet with Kurtz, the chief of the Inner Station. Throughout his journey to the Inner Station, the innermost part of the heart of the river and the figurative heart of darkness, Marlow’s narrative exposes the cruelty of imperialism and in particular, one man’s descent through an insatiable lust for power.

When Marlow reaches the Inner Station, he learns that Kurtz has established himself as a god among the people, indulging in his impulses to overpower the Congolese. Armed with manipulation, intimidation and force, a once “civilized” Kurtz represents the darkness that lies within each one of us.

The Road and Heart of Darkness are both hinged on a central theme: when the building blocks of life as we know it are shaken up and rearranged, when our social structure twists and turns upside down, whether through absolute mayhem or immersion in a different culture, nothing is certain – not even our own sense of morality, nor the impulses we channel to stay alive.

The vulnerability of our complex social structures, multifaceted moral codes, and spiritual sensibilities is pretty disturbing, as is our awareness of these facts. Being human puts us in quite the predicament; we’re only two chromosomes away from other primates, but our consciousness amplifies the separation from any other species on the planet. And yet, our existence is still somehow caught between the brutish and refined. We savage intellectuals walk a pretty sobering line. Perhaps self-awareness isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

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Posted by Keion Moradi on October 7 2010. Filed under Something Sinister. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry