Abishai100
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- Sep 22, 2013
- 4,957
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Modernism makes us very pensive about temperance and values (e.g., The Social Network, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps) and arguably makes us think about very basic/primal virtues (e.g., Ruthless People, King of New York).
This is a modernism-meditation vignette I cooked up about cannibalism (though it does not specifically reference a modern/urban/technological landscape --- it's merely an allegory).
Signing off,
====
Alixe was studying to become a great samurai warrior and trained in the snowy mountains of the Himalayas of Nepal. He carried a journal with him in which he wrote about his perspectives on imagination and intelligence as they pertained to the development of skill and wisdom (regarding combat and defense and honor). Alixe was interested in the shape of strength and the value of courage, but he never shunned the humanity of bureaucracy or 'normal civilization' while meditating in the mountains.
One day, while Alixe was writing in his journal about the feeling of loneliness in the mountains, a strange and large man-like figure approached him. He had a bald head and large eyes and was rather brutish in stature and height (but not too much taller than Alixe). He was carrying a 'necklace' of skulls(!), so Alixe jumped up and grabbed his sword. The figure looked at Alixe and then smiled and introduced himself as Balthazar and explained to Alixe he was a cannibal!
ALIXE: Who are you? What do you want?
BALTHAZAR: I'm a friend, I'm a cannibal...
ALIXE: Well, whatever you are, I'm not a cannibal!
BALTHAZAR: Are you sure? You're up here alone...meditating.
ALIXE: I have shunned civilization; I'm simply training to be a warrior.
BALTHAZAR: Then you won't mind engaging me as...an adversary.
ALIXE: Why do you claim to be cannibal, and why do you wear skulls?
BALTHAZAR: I am indeed a cannibal; cannibalism is a way to purge filth.
ALIXE: I don't understand what you mean; I think you should depart.
BALTHAZAR: I won't depart until we have a solid exchange.
Alixe realized Balthazar meant business and would most likely kill him (and eat him!) if he did not 'engage' him properly(!). Alixe showed Balthazar his sword, and the brutish man-like 'invader' likewise showed Alixe his own spear and club. Alixe told Balthazar he did not want to fight him, but Balthazar explained that if Alixe could not convince him that cannibalism was 'foolish,' then the two would have to fight to the death! Alixe simply told the man that cannibalism represented carnal gluttony and therefore signified vice and vanity. Balthazar liked Alixe's response and departed.
Two days later, Balthazar returned but this time demanded to fight Alixe. Alixe jumped up and began squaring off against Balthazar. It was a sword-and-spear engagement, since Alixe quickly disposed of Balthazar's club with a clever swing of his sword which resulted in Balthazar dropping his large club. Alixe then cut of Balthazar's arm with his sword (Alixe realized he had become a very skilled warrior-swordsman and was therefore defeating Balthazar with great relief). Balthazar conceded defeat and began to depart into the snowy mountains, but before he left, he riddled Alixe with the civility question, "You have defeated me, but I ask you this now --- if you're confident cannibalism is somehow ugly, why then are you meditating about beauty alone?" Alixe realized Balthazar was a real 'Devil's Advocate' regarding 'civilization psychology.'
====
This is a modernism-meditation vignette I cooked up about cannibalism (though it does not specifically reference a modern/urban/technological landscape --- it's merely an allegory).
Signing off,
====
Alixe was studying to become a great samurai warrior and trained in the snowy mountains of the Himalayas of Nepal. He carried a journal with him in which he wrote about his perspectives on imagination and intelligence as they pertained to the development of skill and wisdom (regarding combat and defense and honor). Alixe was interested in the shape of strength and the value of courage, but he never shunned the humanity of bureaucracy or 'normal civilization' while meditating in the mountains.
One day, while Alixe was writing in his journal about the feeling of loneliness in the mountains, a strange and large man-like figure approached him. He had a bald head and large eyes and was rather brutish in stature and height (but not too much taller than Alixe). He was carrying a 'necklace' of skulls(!), so Alixe jumped up and grabbed his sword. The figure looked at Alixe and then smiled and introduced himself as Balthazar and explained to Alixe he was a cannibal!
ALIXE: Who are you? What do you want?
BALTHAZAR: I'm a friend, I'm a cannibal...
ALIXE: Well, whatever you are, I'm not a cannibal!
BALTHAZAR: Are you sure? You're up here alone...meditating.
ALIXE: I have shunned civilization; I'm simply training to be a warrior.
BALTHAZAR: Then you won't mind engaging me as...an adversary.
ALIXE: Why do you claim to be cannibal, and why do you wear skulls?
BALTHAZAR: I am indeed a cannibal; cannibalism is a way to purge filth.
ALIXE: I don't understand what you mean; I think you should depart.
BALTHAZAR: I won't depart until we have a solid exchange.
Alixe realized Balthazar meant business and would most likely kill him (and eat him!) if he did not 'engage' him properly(!). Alixe showed Balthazar his sword, and the brutish man-like 'invader' likewise showed Alixe his own spear and club. Alixe told Balthazar he did not want to fight him, but Balthazar explained that if Alixe could not convince him that cannibalism was 'foolish,' then the two would have to fight to the death! Alixe simply told the man that cannibalism represented carnal gluttony and therefore signified vice and vanity. Balthazar liked Alixe's response and departed.
Two days later, Balthazar returned but this time demanded to fight Alixe. Alixe jumped up and began squaring off against Balthazar. It was a sword-and-spear engagement, since Alixe quickly disposed of Balthazar's club with a clever swing of his sword which resulted in Balthazar dropping his large club. Alixe then cut of Balthazar's arm with his sword (Alixe realized he had become a very skilled warrior-swordsman and was therefore defeating Balthazar with great relief). Balthazar conceded defeat and began to depart into the snowy mountains, but before he left, he riddled Alixe with the civility question, "You have defeated me, but I ask you this now --- if you're confident cannibalism is somehow ugly, why then are you meditating about beauty alone?" Alixe realized Balthazar was a real 'Devil's Advocate' regarding 'civilization psychology.'
====
