A Brief Side Note

So I just finished reading Stephen King's short story "Morality" now available at the back of the short novella Blockade Billy. It's a good story; almost all Stephen King's stories are. But it's a sad story, too. And for all of that, tragic and troubling at the same time.

If you haven't read the story, don't worry. I'll do my best not to spoil it, in case you want to read it later. But the blurb on the book jacket says the tale is "chilling." I'm probably splitting hairs but I didn't find it particularly chilling, per se. I just found it very disheartening.

Truth is, Steve might as well have called it "The Really Stupid Shit Some People Will Do For Money...At The Risk Of Their Morality And, Ultimately, Their Soul." That would have been way more unwieldy, though, probably.

If you have ever read any short stories by Richard Matheson, you will likely come to the same conclusion about Stephen's story "Morality:" it owes a great debt to Richard's very short story, written some years ago (back in the days when $50,000 was considered a lot of money), called Button Button, the basis for the recent movie "The Box" starring Cameron Diaz and Frank Langella . Steve's is a longer version but a very similar story.

Without spoiling either story too much, basically, each concerns a couple (usually married) in dire financial straits who get presented what at first glance seems a quick easy solution to their grim financial circumstances. As long as "they" agree to do just one small thing. Once they do whatever it is, their financial woes will vanish almost instantly. Of course, as is so often the case, that "one small thing" is of questionable morality at best and very wrong/morally repugnant at worst.

In both stories, one of the two main characters (sadly it's usually the wife...because as in real life, so often the wife is portrayed as the person in the relationship who is always over-worried and often even panic-stricken about their horrible financial situation and the fact as a couple they always seem to be broke or be on the verge of having no money) agrees to do the small thing...because, for them, the lure of "easy" money is too strong to resist. Actually, it's usually a little more complicated than that. The wife usually decides that, whatever they have to do, they can justify it because, no matter how wrong a thing it is, the end result justifies the means. They will have their financial future secured...and that makes what has to be done ultimately "okay" in her mind. Kind of "I'm doing a very bad thing but for a really good reason."

Then she gets her financial reward only to have both her own and her husband's lives irrevocably changed. Never for the better as originally thought. Always for the worse. Through no one else's fault but their own. And in truth, the husband in both stories is ultimately complicit. He isn't strong enough in his own morality to hold fast to what he knows is wrong and to talk her out of making such a god-awful sacrifice.

And, of course, it's then a very slippery slope from that point to going to hell for selling your soul to the devil, which is truly what these stories are ultimately about: when/if you sell your soul to the devil, you can't really be surprised when he comes to collect, because he always does...and, usually much earlier than you imagined. And always for a far greater price than you originally believed.

Both stories also bring to mind a movie with a variation of the very same theme: Indecent Proposal with Robert Redford, Demi Moore and Woody Harrelson. If you've seen it you probably get it and have undoubtedly had lengthy, lively discussions about it.

But for me, at the end of the day, all these stories say to me, in fact prove to me, is that giving up your moral standards for ANY reason, but most especially money, comes at too high a cost: your mortal soul.

They also ask and sadly answer: will you when put to the test, really do anything for money, even if it goes against your moral code? Does the lure of money win every time? And if you gave it serious thought, what would you do for that money and at what cost.

And once you go down that dark path can you ever return or is there really no turning back. And...what exactly are you worth to you? It is often said everyone has a price...and these stories sadly seem to show that.

Originally, I didn't think this would fit this blog, but now I see that it actually does. Dovetails nicely, in fact.

Because as far as I see it, *if* you don't believe in you, you become vulnerable to the temptation to do something morally repugnant and repellent. And possibly just stupid And that makes it appear, to others around you observing you, like you don't feel you're worth very much to you let alone anyone else.

I wish I believed that doing anything for money no matter how morally wrong it is wouldn't be appealing to people. And yet, shows like Survivor and stories like these, continue to prove me wrong. And it just sets a bad precedent. It proves almost daily there are far too many people who cannot resist temptation no matter how bad and given the chance literally will do anything for money. Damn the cost. Damn the result. Damn themselves.