Personal Pronouns

The myth of the battle between good and evil is as old as myth itself. Likewise is the account of the personal struggle to overcome evil from within oneself so universal that it plays a central role not only in religion, but secular literature the world over. The former battle takes place during the day, for all to see; the latter in the private confines of the night. In the course of the day, evil enemies are identified and evaluated, and it is said that one must stand up against them, or be overun by them. The epic struggle will always be the personal one, however, because at the end of the day one is alone: This cannot be escaped. The beginning of the day is when the shurking of personal responsibility, and search for a scapegoat begin.

Good and evil don’t exist on two sides of a battlefield respectively, rather are seated introspectively, but unfortunately aren’t necessarily realized as such. Hate and hypocrisy exist; moral compromise and relativism exist; fear and desire exist. Trust and mistrust, pride and jealousy, preference and prejudice, and sympathy and callousness all manifest themselves in our collective, as well as personal lives. Some rally masses against one for the sake of the other, in modern times usually employing the use of the media, controlled or free, whatever that means. It’s ironic that so many ink-stained sheets have been referred to traditionally as a kind of Mirror. Perhaps this should remind one of the oft-forgotten, somtimes unsettling fact that at the end of the day — they are us.