So, as I toil away here in the very early planning stages of my new novel, it's occurred to me that one of my characters - the guy doesn't even have a name yet - feels that his success in life is simply part of the natural order of things. He's supposed to have money, respect and prestige because of the social class he's been born into. Or so he thinks. Without going into too much detail, my novel will deal with a society spiraling towards a violent collapse. Which means my character will feel exceedingly threatened.
The more I think about it, though, the more I realize we're all at least somewhat like this character I've yet to fully create. We live in bubbles, real or imagined, and are uncomfortable when someone arrives who we think might disrupt what we feel is the right and natural order of things. We don't have to live in the upper echelon of society to feel this way, though being a part of an elite circle certainly can give us the power to battle what we feel threatened by.
For example, in my novel American Socialite (as well as in the historical record) French Emperor Napoleon muscles his brother Jerome into divorcing Betsy Bonaparte. Napoleon is of royal blood, while Betsy is an American commoner, one from a wealthy family to be sure, but a commoner nonetheless. She is, in other words, a threat to the world Napoleon wishes to maintain and expand. What makes the whole thing so ironic is that Betsy essentially sees the world the same way Napoleon does. She believes there is a natural order to things, which is why she goes on to want the son she had with Jerome to only marry a member of royalty. After all, she reasons, Jerome is of royal blood. Therefore, it's only natural that Jerome's son would marry accordingly.
This line of thinking rightfully strikes the contemporary reader as idiotic in the extreme. One is not superior or inferior to anyone else by virtue of birth. Yet it's worth wondering how we ourselves are like Betsy in our own unique ways. A reader of American Socialite informed me that he felt Betsy was a hypocrite. That was a valid argument. For Betsy bitterly reacts to Napoleon's defense of his bubble when he causes Jerome to abandon her, but she also eventually expects her own son to adhere to the same worldview that drove Napoleon.
Aren't each of us, though, often guilty of such hypocrisy, albeit not on such a grand scale? How many times have we felt the pain of rejection from a group while also being guilty of wanting others excluded from groups we ourselves belong to? Human nature can be an inconsistent thing, be it in the world of Betsy Bonaparte or the less glamorous world we ourselves live in every day.
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This makes me think about the "bubble" in a sort of reverse: your character is privileged and able to think himself deserving great things, but negative self-thought can also create a bubble that makes people feel deserving of tragedy. Self-reinforcing cycles.
ReplyDeleteSo true! Interesting point.
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