Dave's Anatomy: My History As A Writer, #37: Relationships and Hero-Worship

After a spate with werewolves and vampires, I began to once again focus on my ongoing character of Sossity Chandler. I had written two stories about her in the last eighteen written and published, so my inclination bent back her way. Ian Fleming had James Bond and W. Somerset Maugham Ashtendon; Laura Ingles Wilder had her Laura, a character based on her own self. There is something attractive about exploring a character through several stories or books. And there is something attractive about the character that makes us want to write about them more than once. With Sossity it was her career as a musician and the things she encounters in her travels and concertizing. Soon the story "Come Together" began to form. Based on a song by John Lennon, it had the refrain "Come together right now over me." This title and that line opened up something that had been a philosophical concern of mine for some time.

That concern was what we might be call hero-worship, though that is not exactly the right phrase to express what I have often wondered about. It is not merely heroes—sports heroes or war heroes—that I see people following, emulating, praising, and venerating. It is also philosophers, writers, critics, religious leaders. And people do not always simply "worship" these people because, as with my original two examples, the person they cherish hit a lot of home runs, three-point shots, or  displayed valor on the battlefield. In the case of religious leaders, they sometime have so many followers who consider them venerable that they become cult leaders like Jim Jones. But there are lot of way one might become infatuated. "Come Together" explores those directions.

Pamela Revard is an old friend of Sossity's. They knew each other in high school and ran track together. Sossity remembers, with amusement, that Pamela always sang the lyrics of songs incorrectly. But she also knew Pamela as a cynic. She always made sarcastic remarks and maintained a rather nihilistic view on life. To quote from the story, to this woman " …everything was absurd, good did not exist, hypocrites governed in every sphere, and everything claiming moral or ethical value amounted to a false hope that only naive, gullible people believed. In Pamela’s view, all ethics were a sham. She maintained, like Nietzsche, that claims of truth were in fact plays to gain power. The world was a jungle, she often remarked, and she was merely one dog intent on eating the others dogs before they effectively devoured her."  Her view is so unrelentingly negative and cynical that Sossity avoids her.

She sees Pamela again and is surprised that she has jettisoned a lot of her cynicism. This is because she has become a follower of the philosopher Wendell Berry.

Wendell Berry is not so much a philosopher as a social critic (and also a poet and novelist) who emphases localism, the idea of that people should not be so nomadic but rather rooted to a given place, that our society should not be such a "throw-away" society, that people should be close to nature, the land, and a locale. These are good ideas, but I've noticed that the followers of Berry (I know a few) do not follow him. They practically worship him. They adore him and his ideas. They never critique his ideas, which, brilliant as they are, have some major flaws, and they generally don't like anyone pointing out his flaws. They venerate him. Their veneration often borders on worship.

Sossity notices that Pamela's cynicism seems to have disappeared, but she also notices that she has become a rather fanatical follower of Berry. When Sossity critiques some of the statements he has made, she gets angry. Sossity has also found out she is having an affair that threatens to break up a family and confronts her about this and about her cynicism. They depart angrily. Soon after, Pamela overdoses and ends up in the hospital. She realizes the truth of what Sossity told her and the two of them are reconciled. Sossity says she will help Pamela to get her life back on track and they reaffirm their friendship.

Sir Jaques, Cynic from As You Like It

I've found that cynics--those of who see life as absurd, or nihilists, who think there are no real values--will venerate someone—one figure they think is a true, genuine soul in a world of hypocrisy. Thus they all but worship this person and will tolerate no criticism of the figure they venerate. Such quasi-religion, however, is a dead-end street, as Pamela finds out. People are flawed. At best, one ends up disappointed at a philosophy; at worst, as in the case with someone like Jim Jones, people end up dead. A healthy skepticism (not the same as cynicism) is necessary to navigate a world where charlatans and hucksters—or well-meaning people who are just wrong—abound.

The story appeared in a now-defunct journal called The Smoking Poet. It does not have an archive, so you can't read the story. This is another one I may have to look for a journal that takes reprints.

For more titles, see my Writer's Page.

For a fascinating story and a great read, get a copy of Mother Hulda, a science fiction tale based on a story by the Brothers Grimm. Lakshmi Parvati is fleeing her powerful, domineering mother, who has wrecked her life and favors her younger sister. When she arrives on Planet Hulda, things begin to drastically change.