About Monks and Busting Balls

Post 279:

            Sometimes, one has to state the obvious: Humans are an argumentative bunch.

            I know, roll out the red carpet, send me to the stage, hand me the Captain Obvious award.

            Okay, let me drill down a bit. I’ve just been sifting through Umberto Eco’s Name of the Rose, and it’s got me thinking about human nature in deeper ways than, let’s say, a Hardy Boys mystery might.

            That’s not to tread on the good name of the Hardy Boys. I read hundreds of those things when I was a tyke.

            What is that, three disparate lines of thought, and I’ve yet to make any sort of point.

            Solid.

            Okay, so let’s get back to The Name of the Rose. It’s a really long novel about a bunch of monks, Papal representatives, abbots, friars—those type dudes—in an Italian abbey in the 1400’s. If your hair is not blown back by this premise, I don’t blame you. If someone asked me how not to sell a book, I’d tell them to write one about a bunch of monks, Papal representatives, abbots, and friar type dudes. Then I would say to set the story in the 1400’s. Instant loser of the year.

            Wrong. This frigging book came out the year I was born, and it sold millions worldwide. What the hell?

            I’ll tell you what the hell. First, it’s a great book, if you’re willing to dive in. Second, it’s at heart a murder mystery, and everyone loves one of those. Unless you hate puppies. People that hate puppies also hate a good mystery.

            More than the mystery part, though, the novel demonstrates what drives all good drama: conflict.

            But this conflict is sort of unique. One doesn’t imagine a bunch of holy men sitting around busting each other’s balls about every conceivable thing under the sun, but that’s exactly what they do. The entire book is just one argument after another.

            It’s really hilarious.

            And instructive. Because today we have a world where people believe completely different things. We sit across from someone on the bus and that person has a different religion, value set, outlook, disposition, worldview—the whole nine.

            And we wonder why the internet is just one giant forum for disagreement, why the world doesn’t just get along.

            That’s not how we roll, in general. We argue. About everything. Keep in mind to keep your cool next time you disagree with someone; you’re supposed to. It’s part of what we are and who we are. A perfect demonstration is The Name of the Rose. The characters believe in the same God, live in the same place, have the same routines, same worldview, and yet, they’d argue what shade of blue the sky was until Armageddon.

            One might counter me by saying that these guys were stupid and fundamentalist and all the rest, but I disagree. The fact that they’re able to argue means they have a little bend, at least.

            So embrace the times when you can get along, embrace the times you can’t. And read this damn book when you’re not reading one of mine.

            Cheers. See you after.