Two Twins January 13, 2007
Posted by admin in : Discourse, Irrelevant, Psycho/Spirit , trackbackTwo Twins. Men. Joel and Jesse or something. Identical. Finish each other’s sentences, folks can’t tell ‘em apart. They’re bright, likable, from a well-bred upper class East Coast family. Excelled in English and art. Both marry similar women, have similar kids. They work, succeed, make contributions,etc.
Then one of them tragically dies — auto accident. His loss is felt, he is grieved, mourned, eulogized, judged affectionately by all who knew him. He dies at, say, 33. Let’s say it was Joel who died.
Now Jesse is wreck. His grief is powerful — it destroys his marriage. He begins to change. He begins to say and do things people would never expect, not least himself. He fails at his marriage, his family, his career. He is estranged from his former life. He wanders, forms new attachments, abandons those. He is not evil, exactly, or criminal. But neither is he easy to like or care for. He’s bitter, distant, slightly mean but never cruel. He lives 30 more years this way, then he dies of a stroke, heart attack, something health-related and sudden.
Anyone in a position to judge would not judge him kindly. He has left countless relationships in a sour, unresolved condition. A few people even take pleasure in Jesse’s demise, for all the pain and disappointment he has caused.
How is a man to be judged? Had Jesse not been as good a man as Joel, until the age of 33? Is a man to be judged by what he has become at the end of his life rather than by who he once was? Who is to be judged more harshly: the man who started off good and finished bad or the man who started off bad and finished good? Is it fair for the standard of judgement to be higher for those who live longer? Is it possible to live more than one life in a lifetime?
Does Jesse’s disgrace in any way taint Joel’s memory? For if Jesse is capable of such pain and misery, was Joel not also destined for such a fate?
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