Devotion, Duty, and Deception | Themes (Part 4.5)

Feb 6

This is part 4 of the series “The Place Where Conviction and Insecurity Collide”. See original post here.

COLLISION: Themes

Devotion, Duty, and Deception

Although I teased it during the initial books, I’d really been reserving this theme for the third. Boreal presented the perfect, most poignant setting as it credits itself the purveyor of truth. When, as already discussed, it’s ofttimes in those settings where people twist truth into a well-passing counterfeit.

The irony was too pregnant. Thus from the dedication onward, I centered the entire book around this subject.

Organized falsehood—that of institutions or associations—is neither the most insidious nor prevalent form of deception in modern society. Blatant lies infect people’s thinking less than their own perversions of conscience; those little, incremental compromises made under the guise of a greater good. Deception is all around. Deception vies for our attention at nauseum. Still, more often than not, deception derives from within.

This is Boreal’s snake in the garden, coiling about our characters’ feet amid the events of Book 3, not to mention the series as a whole. While multiple plot and world-oriented revelations are undressed throughout this installment, the paramount speak to lies voiced within one’s soul. To those small rationalizations Luscia makes in order to stiffen her shoulder against her king’s Quadren and tolerate her aunt’s corrupted guidance. She makes these in the name of duty. Duty to her people, to her House, but most of all, to her High One.

Conversely, Zaethan serves as a walking counterpoint—an opposite swing of the pendulum. Devotions brewing in his chest cause him to push boundaries that exist for the betterment of others. He struggles against systems, authorities, and Orynthian law. Were he to follow it, he wouldn’t obtain what—or who—he yearns for most. He disregards his responsibility to an extent. For responsibility may place him second; it might withhold the object of his devotion. He doesn’t know how to marry duty with his conflicting loves. He doesn’t know who he will be if he lessens his grip on the things for which he painfully aches.

There is a scene in the latter pages where this comes to a head. In it, Luscia yells her case to Zaethan, demanding, “What good is love without duty?”. To which Zaethan passionately responds, “What is duty without love?”

Neither, however, provide the answer to this very human debate. Instead, the parable of the figure answers it for them. His history portrays what happens when the pendulum is granted enough freedom to swing all the way to one side. The figure is the fruit that blooms in that toxic place.

How did he get there? He forewent duty completely in the name of his devotion. How did he justify it?

He told himself the lie he needed to hear.

We’re not so different. We deceive ourselves into believing that devotion outweighs everything else. But that only applies when devotion encompasses all the qualities of love—of which we are rarely capable. Love is patient and kind. Love protects and endures. Love always hopes. Love is not jealous. It is not self seeking.

Love is perfect. If not, it isn’t really love… it’s actually something else. It’s something deceived.

Unlike love, devotion doesn’t have an inherent morality. It is an amoral, active noun. It isn’t defined by its object. Devotion can be productive. Though given enough obsession, devotion can also destroy.

Devotion - Duty = Self Deception

Healthy devotion (love) requires duty to keep its properties pure. To test and refine its motivations. One cannot love if one is all one sees in the equation.

Whereas Luscia swings dangerously toward the other direction. In attempt to fulfill duty, she hardens herself. She prevents her heart from feeling as fully as it ought. As that happens, she struggles to be honest. She can’t explain why certain dynamics must stay as they are. She is no longer sure whose secrets should be shared. This is because duty is also amoral. In the same manner, duty’s goodness isn’t defined by its object. Duty to anything can become a blunt-force weapon. Devotion to others, loving them as we ought, questions the decency of our duty. Is it just? Is it honorable? Whom does it save?

Zaethan is to the figure as Luscia is to Alora. Through the flashbacks, Alora gives us a glimpse of another end result: a woman convinced that her duty requires harming those she loves.

Duty - Devotion = Self Deception

We don’t catch self-deception on our own. Usually the harsh reality of life smacks us across the face and forces us to wake up, too late for the damage to be undone. This is why duty and devotion must operate hand-in-hand. Zaethan needs that balance. Luscia perhaps even more. Lest they be fools calling themselves wise while everyone else suffers the price of their folly.

Characters lie to themselves too. And we must let them, no matter how painful that can be. Otherwise we’ll never believe it when they finally discover the truth.