Calling All Good Guys

The classic Justine (Misfortunes of Virtue) written by the Marquis de Sade has been nothing short of a controversial novel since its publication in the late 1700s.

It tells the story of a twelve-year-old girl who sets off on the road to virtue, but instead encounters individuals who are corrupted by vice. For example, when Justine enters a monastery for confession she is snatched by the monks who reside there. They force her to be their sex slave, and proceed to sexually assault her. 

I've found the moral of this tale, although marked by Sade's provocative and highly sexual style, to be an ugly truth even in today's society. I was once told that suffering is a result of "living justly in an unjust society," and I find this story to be an embodiment of that mantra. Coming to terms with such a realization is the start of the end with good guys, who are said "to finish last," as we all know. They opt to create tougher personas to protect themselves, and will often rebuke their kinder side... 

I don't believe this to be the true solution.

I believe a great majority of our being to be purely savage and that it is the side that we indulge (as Freud calls it, our id) whenever we do selfish things. To completely become one with such a malevolent force is just as foolish as fully assuming a blindly generous personality. If one is too fiery all at once, they’ll only burn bridges around them until they’re left alone as an island. Do the opposite, and end up like Justine. She continued on the same road to virtue blindly, and was continually victimized. After trying to help a man who has been robbed, he offers her a position as a caretaker for his wife. He plays with the kindness of her heart, and only ends up using it for his own ends; he confines her within a cave where he subjects her to much of the same abuse that she'd encountered at the monastery. Getting burned more than once is often the price to pay for the virtuous, sad but true.

Anything taken in gross excess is never good for anyone. As a consequent, one should learn the art of walking along the line of moderation. One should do as pop sensation Lady Gaga urges, and “Marry the Night.” There is some sense to the idea of engaging our nihilistic nature in times of need, while being a generally just person. Or you can end up like Justine.