Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

can foster destructive behavior, even if the character believes his/her behavior is good. For narrative to
remain life-like, we have to acknowledge the destructive implications of virtues.
Narrative explores human nature and our existential problems, and at the core of our desire, in life,
for meaning, at the core of our existential problems, is death anxiety. Existential issues are inevitable for us
because of our death anxiety, and for characters in narrative, it is inevitable that they seek virtues because of
their existential crises. To deal with our death anxiety, and for characters to deal with their existential
questions, there is potential for destructive behavior. Our immortality strategies affect how we live and
respond to the world and the existential concerns of the characters influences what virtues they live by and
how they respond to the world. To deal with our death anxiety, we consciously or unconsciously, rely on
an immortality strategy to be heroic and special in our cultures. Characters, whether consciously or
unconsciously, feel the need to figure out how to live virtuously and can find themselves struggling within
their boundaries and the limitations of their culture. And there is an underside to the character’s, and our,
search for meaning; our virtuous intentions.
Our immortality strategies can be destructive just as the characters solutions from a virtue can be
destructive. Whether the virtue is courage, faith, or community, to which the character can find solutions,
that virtue can elicit far more complicated responses than its mere rejection or acceptance. Heroism is
inevitable in life, and it is dangerous. It does not mean human beings reject their immortality project if
their behavior turns destructive. Their destructive behavior is a reflection of their desire to be special and
to live the good life. A character’s destructive actions or the destructive consequences of their actions are a
reflection of that continuous desire to live by a virtue and live a meaningful life. The character, because
their behaviors turn destructive, has not rejected the virtue, but may be making these choices to live, in
fact, by the virtue.
Our need to live a secure and meaningful life is so great; our desire to feel we have atoned for the
guilt we feel is so strong, that we will legitimatize our destructive behavior by belittling and dehumanizing
193