On 03-May-99, Ranma Al'Thor wrote:

On Tue, 4 May 1999, David Johnston wrote:

she'll toast them.  People who write these 'humanity loses by losing its
dark nature' rarely actually GIVE a dark nature to the defenders of the
right to be evil.  Where's all the corporate leaders who got to the top

on

a figurative trail of bodies and don't give a damn who suffers, but can't
stand the thought of Serenity forcing them to act humanely? 

Didn't you do that with Nabiki, almost?  

Yeah.  Nabiki, jr. was uncomfortable with the whole idea because she
didn't know what the new world would be like, other than unlike the old
world where she had had to be hard and tough to survive.  

   There's one other reason those like myself use somewhat noble people
(not good, mind, noble) in stories such as this.  The obvious one is to
get the reader's sympathy, after all, if the protagonist acted as a 
ratass bastard, you wouldn't be interested in his reasoning or character,
but waiting for him to get his just desserts, right?

   Also, the story is fundimentally a tragedy, so by necessity the
protagonists
have a noble spirit at core.  There are very few protagonists in literature 
who are truely evil and base from the start, the major example I can recall
being Shakespeare's Richard the Third.  By contrast, the bloody minded 
Macbeth starts out as a noble and loyal soldier to Duncan before being temped
with power, which makes his descent all the more effective.  And Brutus in
"Julius Ceasar" is a noble character throughout, commiting his crime to 
preserve the Roman Republic from the final injury of appointing Ceasar 
emperor.

   (You'll notice, I hope, the similarity of Dumont with Brutus' at the
end: both head a hopeless battle for a lost cause.)

   Finally, there is one practical reason the protagonist of this kind
of tale is a noble soul.  Self sacrifice is usually considered a virtue.
The ratass bastard would more than likely choose Purification thinking 
he can go on about his beastly business the next morning.

The cynic in me also observes that these rebels are all military men, men
who will lose their jobs and their reasons for existing if Serenity
triumphs, and that one of their fundamental motives is likely their

desire

to prevent the loss of their jobs and their purpose in life; what use

does

a peaceful land have for soldiers?  

   Political Leaders, heads of industry, valued workers and craftmen.  Many an
age has successfully incorporated former soldiers into their ranks, and found
that the discipline and loyalty the soldier gains makes them especially
valued.
Of course, in a society with no need for anything other than content sheep, 
even this factor becomes irrelevent.
   

They believe this to be the case, though, that the age of wars and work
for soldiers is over (The author states this in the story).

   You'll also remember that Dumond sees the surviving mercenaries accepting
Purification.  I stated that in the story as well.

I'd like to hope that Serenity doesn't take that attitude; while the
existence of a Black Moon may be predestined, that doesn't mean that
Dumond himself necessarily becomes one of its founders.

   Such an atitude also negates the whole point of making "the Choice".  If
Dumond is predestined to become a founder of the Black Moon, why not just
bring down the sceptre and make him disappear directly?

John Walter Biles :  MA-History, Ph.D Wannabe at U. Kansas         
ranma@falcon.cc.ukans.edu       
rhea@tass.org              http://www.tass.org/~rhea/falcon.html
rhea@maison-otaku.net      http://www.maison-otaku.net/~rhea/

"The candy beneath you is disgraceful."
--Don't ask.