Close to my heart is the theme of redemption. The road of any life with any purpose seems to be laden with the ubiquitous motif of (initially-perceived) weakness and bad judgment.
I was struck with the poignancy of the fact that through bad choices we realize our inner resolve. I think of Jacque de Molay and his initial inability to resist the torture of the Inquisition, only to find through his disgust with himself and his apparent failure the truth behind his mettle. Losing his attachment to this world, he traded it for the higher ideal in the end.
I think of Biblical story of Jonah, enduring his trials after rejecting God’s command that he visit Nineveh only to, finally, find his resolve. (One could take any number of Biblical characters for this example; take Saul of Tarsus...)
Even in popular culture we have Anakin Skywalker's return from the Dark Side. I remember as a boy watching the James Bond movie Moonraker and being struck by the turning of the "Jaws" character to the apparent forces of good. (Obscure reference, I know, but a valid one).
Even in popular culture we have Anakin Skywalker's return from the Dark Side. I remember as a boy watching the James Bond movie Moonraker and being struck by the turning of the "Jaws" character to the apparent forces of good. (Obscure reference, I know, but a valid one).
These are a few examples, but our sphere of reality in art, literature, history, is replete with the same archetype in one form or another. The Sophoclean tragedy centers around the inherent nature of the character-the “character of the character”. We would have no irony in literature-or in life-without the possibility for paradox and the opposites of Polarity.
It is the final act of the Hero that defines him to posterity.
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