Another short story marvel. Here goes.
Can you be honest about a dishonesty? To be perfectly transparent, I did register a hint of disappointment at the end of this tale when I realised the truth.
The man was to me, a fraud. He was honest about a dishonesty. This dishonesty was his whole life. It informed others of him. Can one thing make a man? Can one thing break a man? Yes, it does and it did. It broke and hollowed him out to the core.
He never wanted to fast. It was forced upon him and yet often he adopted a "holier than thou" attitude which was best brought out by comparison with the guards who doubted him and yet they couldn't have lasted the night and executed their duties if they had not been nourished.
Yet again, was it a true blue dishonesty? Or did he choose this fate because he was simply too choosy by nature.
Yet the paradox continues for he is honest about it. He is honest about the rules and formalities. He sticks to his craft/ art lawfully and is even ambitious about it. Is this akin to Kant's conception of "A truly virtuous act" whereby it is born out of duty (which he sees his art as) and not personal inclination.
The last point that struck me is how we are all innately attracted to the gory. We all seek and obtain some form of perverse pleasure from experiencing rationed-out and controlled fear. He is the embodiment of what would be. He is the gory spectacular which would have no meaning if we did not feel this particular inclination.
He is still an enigma to me. I hope one day, I will gather the full picture.
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