Life is just a joke. These words have been echoed through the past and into the present by the Nihilist. Life has no purpose. From here came the Joker, Nietzche, and thousands of other Nihilists who believe Life has no ultimate meaning, and it can just burn. However, I have come to you tell you that life does matter; and I will demonstrate this through heroes and villains. By carving out their own path, they prove this very point in the deepest sense of the word. I call for you to join the ranks of a hero and carve your purpose into life and fight back against the void, utter emptiness of purpose.
Heroes and villains, pursue their goals despite insurmountable odds in the attempt to find meaning. These are not villains like the Joker, but villains like Thanos with relentless drive.
These are not heroes like Nietzche’s Superman who rejects all that came before and asserts his dominance, but rather, the gentle power of Superman who acts with restraint and a moral compass of an alien race.
This struggle is called the act of Divergence. It is struggling against the status quo to find a better purpose than what can be drawn from the norm in society. It is a call to fix what is broken in society, what is unjust. Brandon Sanderson has provided in his series the Stormlight Archives two divergent men, Kaladin and Taravangian. We will take a look as these two characters who are perfect for studying what makes divergence respected and rightfully feared.
For me to be precise, I must define what I mean by divergence and social norms.Divergence can be described physically as if a once unified river split into two different streams at a specific point. This can be drastic sending them to utterly different places or end up being parallel to each other causing a divergence.
Now, Social norms are a bit different from what are considered mainstream ideas.Mainstream ideas are popular often among the young, however, they are not deeply held by communities as old ideas that bind nations together.
Social norms are things such as a sense of national pride no matter what your country is doing. Often social norms are positive, but they can easily hide within them a problem. An example of this is slavery. It was totally normal in society to have a slave even when logically there was no argument that could defend the institution of slavery.
Now, let us shift to discussing what heroes and villains have in common and how we can distinguish them. As stated earlier, they are divergent from society's morals to varying levels. Often what determines what we consider heroic or villainous is how close they adhere to morality aligned with the norms of society. Heroes more often run parallel to the norms of society, while villains often diverge radically from society.
Remember while morality is linked to what is normal, it can be separated from certain parts of society to avoid conflict. Generally, both antagonists and protagonists of society see where morality and the norms conflict. Their reaction to this contradiction is often what determines if they are a hero or villain.
A villain throws aside the moral code of society. Heroes go above and beyond the moral code of society. This way we create a paradigm, a way, for determining who is a hero or villain. Now that we have laid our foundation, let us attempt to understand how Kaladin and Taravangian typify what it means to be divergent, or heroes and villains.
Kaladin is a man despised by society visually represented by the brands on his forehead marking his offenses. Tried for a crime, he did not commit, branded for his offense, sold into slavery, endlessly tormented by his failure to protect others. Through all this, fate designed to keep him alive. Each time he was struck down, he rose.My favorite lines from the code he adheres to are "Journey before Destination." Okay, now I have glorified one of my favorite characters, lets us talk a bit more about who Kaladin is and what makes him a hero.
Everyone makes mistakes, and often Kaladin is clearly in the wrong when you look back.
He does not have a code against killing people like Batman or Superman rather he kills to protect. His goal is to protect everyone that he can defend and blames himself when he cannot protect someone. When wrong, he will admit it even when it crushes him for Kal is human. Why is he a hero? He lives by the code of his Order, the Immortal Words. "Life before Death. Strength before Weakness. Journey before Destination." Labeled as a divergent, He follows a moral code higher than that of society earning him respect of the wise.
On the other side of the coin, King Taravangian is a cursed man. One day he is the smartest man alive; others he can’t even feed himself. Through this curse, he was able to create a diagram to predict the future in a day of exceeding brilliance.This started him down the path of manipulation of the world. Doing this for the survival of the people he deemed fit, he betrayed humanity and set himself to serve Odium, the god who wishes for the destruction of man. Although his end goal is the survival of his chosen people, he throws away the moral system and betrays the whole of humanity. His philosophy is that the end justifies the means in his ruthlessly logical system — a utilitarian or practical approach, but cruel.
What makes these two men heros or villains? One appeals to the emotions driven by feeling and pursuit of what is right over what is convenient; the other a search for continued existence through the sacrifice of others. Kaladin would not bend his moral codes, while Taravangian gave up his morals in the pursuit of salvation.
Both of these men diverged from their societies yet did not succumb to Nihilism. Kaladin Stormblessed bears the iconic hero code rejecting subjectivity and heroically champions justice rejecting Nihilism while facing near constant challenges. On the other side, Taravangian goes against the whole of humanity and makes his own form of justice while still rejecting Nihilism in the face of approaching doom. The protagonist and antagonist drive back against a sense of hopelessness created by Nihilism, proving there is more than just nothing in their own ways.