Deal With the Devil

            Is it worth it to trade your soul for something material?  Should you give up your soul for power, money, longevity, or even a superpower?  These questions are made on a daily basis, but on a much smaller scale.  Every day, you choose to do good or bad, be selfless or selfish.  People are bad and selfish to meet personal ends; in essence, bad things are done to achieve personal gains.  So it is quite true to say that humans make pacts with the devil every day. 

In actuality, it could be proven that good things are done for personal gain, too.  It may be going too far to suggest that making yourself feel better by doing good things is actually selfish, but if someone does good things with a selfish manner, it is virtually the same thing as doing a bad act for the same end. 

            So where is the line drawn?  What is considered a Faustian bargain in today's world?  Granted no one (okay maybe some people might try to) go into the woods to find Satan or otherwise summon Lucifer with the idea in mind that you will give him your soul in order to succeed in some respect, but if you do something such as steal for your own benefit (not pulling a Robin Hood of course), then society may deem that as making a Faustian bargain.  If kids (toddlers or around that age; not too old to know what they're doing) do something like steal, is that still a Faustian bargain?  Society creates standards to which they attribute actions, good and bad.  By abiding by this, little kids and those who don't (or can't) know what they're doing will not suffer overly-huge consequences that a fully-capable person would suffer for doing the same thing.  This raises the question, is the Faustian bargain dictated by the bargainer?  This is a likely conclusion.

            The Faustian bargain from the myths, like Dr. Faustus, may not exist, but society has given the idea its own meaning and application in the real world.  The Faustian bargain has thus changed drastically from Marlowe's 16th century understanding of it.  The more modern and civilized the society, the bigger the change to meanings.  In a civilized society, a Faustian bargain could not possibly apply to the innocent, and the devil could not possibly be hiding in wait for the next person to call to him with the intentions of selling his soul. 

The real point is that the Faustian bargain, however changed from the original meaning, still exists.  The risks and consequences of doing something that society has deemed bad, evil, or unnatural for personal gain are what constitutes a Faustian bargain.  While the consequence of making a Faustian bargain in today's world is not being pulled to Hell by demons, it still can be harsh and everlasting. 

            People can try to avoid doing things that are wicked, and not do things solely for personal gain, but it is human nature to provide for oneself.  This can be taken pretty far by doing nothing but selfish acts, but the person that does that already made a different deal with Satan.  Society has taught us to not be selfish, so maybe it was for something more than just manners and what's expected in humankind.  Deals are not always done physically, but can be done mentally due to an innate tendency to be a certain way.  You get what you want and deserve from the deals you make (or virtually make).  This deal is not sealed in blood, but it is still sealed with the "selling of your soul".

Cruel Cruel World

A Cruel Cruel World

The world we live in can be a horrible place.  There are problems left, right, and center.  An object of the world's horrific acts is, at many times, women.  People in the world (at least in some places in the world) have improved their views, however.  Despite this fact, some places are still under the influence that women are to be belittled and oppressed.  A Thousand Splendid Suns shows this to a T.  The idea that two women were treated so terribly, and whose lives were disrupted and destroyed is disgusting.  As shown in The Yellow Wallpaper, though, it has happened in "developed" and "better" countries in the not-so-distant past, like the United States of America.  The world that we live in is very flawed, but, as it seems, is becoming a better place.

In the past, the world was almost completely, if not completely, dominated by men.  As described in The Yellow Wallpaper, women were treated as less than humans.  They weren't treated equally to men, even though that notion was senseless.  It is disturbing that women couldn't express themselves much, if at all, as see in The Yellow Wallpaper.  Women being sent to places that were virtually prisons or asylums was plain wrong, but in that society, it was deemed fine and actually the right thing to do.  That world was cruel. The one we currently live in is still cruel, but in a different way.

Treatment of women is becoming better.  While far from being perfected, there is considerably more equality between men and women today, especially when compared to fifty years ago.  The plot of The Yellow Wallpaper may be outdated for America, but still has some truth in other parts of the world.  Countries in other parts of the world still believe that men are superior to women, and some may even go as far to say that women are barely human beings.  This is the plot of A Thousand Splendid Suns.  Mariam and Laila were treated as less than humans; neither woman married for love, but either out of necessity or because they were forced.  Once married, they were abused and belittled.  They were forced to hide themselves by their husband and their government.  What kind of world does this to its own people?  A cruel, cruel world.

Something is either innate in humans to make them act this way, or they were taught to be this way for some reason.  Whatever it is, it is very wrong.  It could be that power over other people is so appealing, or it could be an interpretation of a religion or belief system, or it could be a (however incorrect) notion that men were born "better".  There are many possibilities for these old-fashioned, out-dated, obsolete and demeaning ways of life.  The real problem is having to cope with it.  Change on a large-scale is extremely difficult and a long process.  The only way to completely change this world is through law, but that can only happen when the public opinion changes (or a tyrant or other dictator-type leader comes to power and changes it him-/herself, which seems to be unlikely).  To change the opinions and tendencies of people, sometimes the government steps in, but also requires popular support to do so.  This is a vicious and endless cycle, seemingly without end.

Humans were made with faults and flaws, some being much larger and of more importance and relevance than others.  The mistreatment of women was far-reaching enough to be considered a human flaw.  Humans are not likely to mention or acknowledge flaws about themselves, which makes correcting these flaws even more difficult.   The subject of equality for women has been a long-enduring one, and seems to be an oddly-difficult one to embrace for humans.  One day it will be settled, and hopefully soon. One day we can finally say "farewell cruel world."