complicity, fairness, bowling, and the rape of africa

i'm thinking the rape is an asset to travis's story, for a couple reasons. (i think; there might be one or two others as i try to explain this). first is that if character has not enough sense to see what he's doing, then perhaps that is human frailty that is interesting to reader, particularly as we've sort of been able to relate to him right up until it happens. so we're sort of complicit, as rick points out.



further, our fascination with the horror of act itself makes us complicit. this worth noting on individual level (shame on us, as individuals), as well as on political level, (shame on The West), and on a larger level (shame on humanity). but also maybe there is some compassion for this guy? like, i wasn't really thinking, at the end, "what an asshole." i wasn't thinking "go cowboy," by any means, but i was thinking he was horribly misguided, or way off track, and just wrong on so many levels that it was mind-blowing, yet i'd been more or less sympathizing with him right up along, so it seemed a nicely done bit of business. though i thought it could have been done better, more self aware, in the ways i mentioned in class. what i'm imagining here is if you could produce an experience for the reader that was like maybe your son or your best friend or your brother got arrested for rape or murder. what would that feel like? i mean, you'd still love them, right? but you'd sort of hate them, too, and maybe - this being the key to what makes it interesting for the story - you'd feel weird about yourself, because you'd be thinking, "geez, i hope they don't give him the death penalty or lock him up for life. we were supposed to go bowling thursday night."

so that in effect, this IS the "fairness" that we're going for. which i think is a much richer and more interesting experience for the reader - or at least a much more challenging one - than looking at the painting of the sunset on the motel room wall. i'm thinking it makes the whole notion of PURE EVIL (in red letters) sort of suspect, which is in itself a certain kind of moral gesture, in that it's compassionate (we pity rather than hate or fear the devil).

i guess i'm thinking that fiction must be "good/fair," but that means being fair with people my mother would perhaps not want me to be fair with.