Villain within us
Note: In the course of this article some of you might be led to believe that I am justifying some of the heinous acts committed by the people whom I have mentioned in the article. But let me be very clear right at the beginning I do not endorse their views rather my concern is, why do they become? What they became.
Life is harsh, but according to me we as humans go that extra mile to make others' lives even more miserable at times, and then the unexpected happens; a person becomes tired of being victimized, and a monster is born. Perhaps how many times we don’t even realise our small actions solely done with the intention of fun might completely transform a person. People become criminals because of their greed, lust, psychological issues etc. Today am not writing about them.
My concern is for those monsters which we create and I sincerely hope that we stop creating them. We as people should not merely be robots controlled by our analytical mind, but think like humans with hearts and realise everyone has needs and when they are not fulfilled, they tend to become something very different.
History speaks about great people and their good acts specifically their acts of valour which led them to triumph over evil, but at times does this society which we claim to be good does it create its own evil?
I guess people knew right from the beginning of time that they created their own evil, but our self-righteous ego simply refused to accept it. However, some of the authors have always known it and they have expressed the same through their writings. That is why they have always felt the need to create a dark background story for each villain. Who better than J.K. Rowling knows this perhaps that is the reason while creating the character of Voldemort she felt the need to describe the horrific past of Tom Riddle; who was tormented and ill-treated by his father and later in the orphanage. Even when the righteous hero "Harry" does some pretty nasty things to his cousin and their aunt when they insult or bully him. Paulo Cohello in his book Devil and Miss Prym; A story of a man who searches for the answer to whether the man is basically evil or good? has described the antagonist as having a violent background. Perhaps the earliest author who understood the pain of being wronged and justified revenge was Alexander Dumas in his book The Count of Monte Cristo. Then Hollywood and Bollywood caught up with the idea and for every act of violence committed by the hero there is a previous count of injustice done towards him and thus his act is justified but what about the villain? He too is born out of injustice; shouldn’t he too get justice? Or is it that we live in a society where the victor is the hero and the loser is the villain? The Hollywood movie John Wick Chapter I showed the hero killing a person who killed his dog. John Wick got his revenge by killing that person who killed his dog but don’t you think even he committed a murder and should have had a bad end? Instead, John Wick killed both the father and the son he is the hero and the movie is named after his character.
I firmly believe in this quote from the book of Maccabees in the Old Testament “Those who take the sword shall die by the sword.” Death does not forgive the Maccabees brothers though their cause was just, two of the three brothers were killed.
We need to build our society on; where there is no justification for a wrong act. There has always been a debate whether the means justify the end or the end justifies the means. Based on whatever I have analysed from the above-mentioned literature I stand by the conviction that “the means justify the end” and not vice versa, as the end only exists in stories and movies in reality there is no end, and the animosity continues for eternity.
The Criminologist Cesare Lombroso in his theory of atavistic-born criminals identified certain people as criminals or would-be criminals if they possessed certain characteristics from the list of 16 characteristics that he had published. Lombroso’s theory of identifying criminals is no longer relevant It must however be noted that most of the 16 characteristics mentioned by Lombroso were deformities or features which usually a person would not possess. How do we treat a person with deformities or unusual features? Then what do you think will be the reaction of a person who has been treated as an outcast, jeered at and treated differently for the entirety of his life. He will definitely hate this kind of society and thus as an aftermath, a selfish, criminal whose hatred is directed towards society will be born. This goes on to say that Lombroso was right up to a certain extent as he identified the symptoms and not the cause of how criminals are born. Some may say that we sympathise with such differently-abled people and show compassion towards them but perhaps that’s not what they need. What they actually need is acceptance and love. Now here are some questions I would like to pose for a modern global citizen and if you can honestly answer them with a yes then you have not only saved a person’s soul but have rid the society of a criminal even before he was born. These questions may also change your definition of people with unusual features.
- Would
you fall in love with a person with a squint or who is a pygmy and marry
him?
- Would you introduce that fattest person in your class
as your best friend to your friend of the other sex?
- Would you take a seat beside an effeminate person while
travelling?
- Have you ever chatted with that leper about his life or
your life while you dropped that big note in his vessel?
- You might have helped many people with crutches to
cross the road but have you ever walked along with them at the same speed
with which they walk, not helping them but just chatting and making them
feel normal? Have you ever done this when the person with crutches and you
were going in the same direction?
- Have you ever invited that aloof studious person
in your class to your birthday bash?
A drop of kindness can transform a devil into an angel but we as people tend to forget that a drop of hatred can change a person into a devil too. When a priest loved, cared and trusted a considerable amount of money to be delivered to a monastery, to a person despite that person being a habitual gambler and a vagabond; he was transformed and became a caretaker of the sick and in turn formed an organisation entirely dedicated to the service of sick, he became a saint and is known as Saint Camillus de Lellis. At the same time when a small girl was subjected to rape and was not supported by her maternal family and when her own cousin got her falsely arrested with a charge of dacoity. She was transformed and the innocent Phoolan Devi became the Bandit Queen. If Phoolan Devi’s family and villagers had shown love and care to that innocent girl, would she have become a dacoit?
Within us resides both good and evil. We as members of this society by our acts influence the acts of other members of the society. I feel seriously hurt when I see ourselves creating our own enemies and tyrants. I believe that each communal clash does not propagate any religion but creates more hardliners among the victims who will again initiate a new clash this process is endless so better not to start it at all; do not let a new villain awake in an innocent heart by an act of yours because when a villain is born he makes no difference between the innocent and the guilty, he just seeks destruction and will continue it till the time he is brought down. In the meantime, a new villain will be born from his victims.
