Choosing Evil
25th August 2021
Severian continues his nlysis.
Even those putatively dedicated to Good aren’t often able to even perceive The Good, much less act on it. Same thing with Evil. The true Hero, capital-H, can both see it and embrace Good, despite his flaws; the true Villain, capital-V, also sees it, but can’t overcome himself enough to choose it, which means he ends up embracing — and, crucially, loving — Evil. Most people, being mere people, only dimly perceive Good and Evil. They muddle through. They often end up serving one or the other unwittingly (Good as often as Evil, though being mere people ourselves, we tend to notice the latter almost exclusively).