The Beast Within
I recently read of a man from an obscure village in India who was so possessive of his wife that he locked her in a room for sixteen years ( and an unventilated one at that!!!). My initial reaction was the usual- ohhhh, what a goddamn loser!!! But, now that I think of it, this heinous case is another in a list of quite bizarrely cruel incidents I have heard of. And most make me wonder if these are odd cases of psychotic individuals doubling for humans or are they merely people on edge who were led to unleash the beast that lies dormant within all of us.
Maybe we are the most evolved creatures because we have the mightiest and beastliest monster within us. And because we have the cunning to keep it hidden from view until the need to unleash it arises.
A book I read a while ago also echoed these sentiments. It talked of man having the most gruesome beast within him, whose anger and wrath was unparalleled in all the animal kingdom.
We are often warned by psychiatrists of the numbing effects of watching violence and gore. For instance the appalling behaviour of the American troops against Iraqi prisoners in Abu Gharib prison was attributed to the ill-effects of frequent wars. It seems that repeated arousal of the beast makes it sit up and take over the show, shoving the "human" in a distant corner.
How then do we usurp the beast and bring back the human to the fore? Moreover, can we permanently rid ourselves of this beast? More importantly, is it as desirable as we are led to believe? Isn't this extra barbarianism the reason for our evolved status or is this just a myth perpetrated by crazy scientists that are hell bent on selling us Darwin and his theories?
To add to this cauldron of questions, is contrition suffice to erase the sin and its stench that must have penetrated the lives of many people? Besides, it it possible bearing in mind the fact that the past can't be retraced and redone? Does every beastly act get atoned for by a single good deed or thought? Is the equation between sin and redemption so apallingly simple? Or is that another man-made notion to help him ease the guilt of thwarting others for his own good?
This post seems to have become a questionnaire. What was meant to provide some insight into the nature of man, has turned into a knotty rhetoric. But, being the optimist that I am, I feel that confusion paves the way for future clarity. Much like the lull signals an imminent storm, so do these questions that promise to rattle most of us from our complcent existence.
Maybe we are the most evolved creatures because we have the mightiest and beastliest monster within us. And because we have the cunning to keep it hidden from view until the need to unleash it arises.
A book I read a while ago also echoed these sentiments. It talked of man having the most gruesome beast within him, whose anger and wrath was unparalleled in all the animal kingdom.
We are often warned by psychiatrists of the numbing effects of watching violence and gore. For instance the appalling behaviour of the American troops against Iraqi prisoners in Abu Gharib prison was attributed to the ill-effects of frequent wars. It seems that repeated arousal of the beast makes it sit up and take over the show, shoving the "human" in a distant corner.
How then do we usurp the beast and bring back the human to the fore? Moreover, can we permanently rid ourselves of this beast? More importantly, is it as desirable as we are led to believe? Isn't this extra barbarianism the reason for our evolved status or is this just a myth perpetrated by crazy scientists that are hell bent on selling us Darwin and his theories?
To add to this cauldron of questions, is contrition suffice to erase the sin and its stench that must have penetrated the lives of many people? Besides, it it possible bearing in mind the fact that the past can't be retraced and redone? Does every beastly act get atoned for by a single good deed or thought? Is the equation between sin and redemption so apallingly simple? Or is that another man-made notion to help him ease the guilt of thwarting others for his own good?
This post seems to have become a questionnaire. What was meant to provide some insight into the nature of man, has turned into a knotty rhetoric. But, being the optimist that I am, I feel that confusion paves the way for future clarity. Much like the lull signals an imminent storm, so do these questions that promise to rattle most of us from our complcent existence.
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