Power in book series
Superpowers have always been integral to my life. Ever since I watched my first superhero movie as a child or read my first comic book, I have dreamed of having superpowers. I'm pretty sure if we all had the opportunity to choose a superpower, we would take the offer without much thought. If you asked a group of 1,000 children what superpower they would choose, I think each would come up with something. I'm pretty sure that flying would be one of the top choices, or maybe super strength, or even a combination. Yet, out of the 1,000 children, it would not be easy to find more than a handful of individuals who, without superpowers, would stand up for the multitude. So why would it change with having a superpower?
In our lives, we may witness acts of altruism, which are generally seen as heroic behavior. However, with a closer look, we find that this is exclusive to certain aspects of life or those who are seemingly altruistic only act that way for certain people. Most of what I've seen has been for recognition or self-appeasing emotions. A sort of pseudo-altruism, the sacrificial giving of goods or services in one area of life, with either an ultimate goal or limited to certain people. Even seemingly altruistic groups can devolve into conflict. Friendships often fracture, with individuals pushing each other until tensions erupt, leading to fights and the formation of new alliances. This concept, though not the exact thought, led me to ask the question that began my first book series and began the book Around the World, Heaven to Hell. What would it be like if someone was born fully grown but mentally empty and had the power to cause incredible destruction if they so chose? This question then led to a long series of other questions, and each answer I came up with led to even more questions, which played out until the end of the fifth book.
The few characters in the book series with something akin to superpowers also have incredible costs that must be paid to use them. Whether physical, emotional, or psychological, each must endure the pain that no one ever has. Instead, no one can. Nuda can survive the most harrowing situations but still has his body broken, but his flesh was never torn or punctured, feeling every ounce of pain in the meantime. The others, who I will not disclose here, have other consequences unique to their abilities. This is why I called their abilities "afflictions." I didn't want any reader to desire to have their abilities.
Talking with those who've read Around the World, Heaven to Hell, I've asked whether or not they would want Nuda's ability. Some said yes but for sinister reasons, such as, but not limited to, Bank robbery, revenge, domination, etc. Some even believe that they would just become accustomed to the pain that Nuda experiences, not realizing that when his innards are repaired, they are made anew. He never physically becomes accustomed to pain the way we can. If we toughen our knuckles, they no longer hurt when punching; if we toughen our shins, we can kick without consequence. He can never experience this. Even with his insane ability, which was named by Rithsanis, Cutting, Nuda still would experience pain that could never be comforted.
If you asked that same group of children again, but with each answer, you added an outlandishly painful consequence, the answers would undoubtedly change, save for those who are either accustomed to pain or ignorantly prideful regarding their pain tolerance.
I'm not sure why I made Nuda the way he is. Other than that, I turned my brain off and began writing based on the images I saw. I'm not sure why he experienced the pains that he did, physical, emotional, psychological, and environmental. But one day, while writing, I realized I didn't know why any pain had ever occurred, whether it was my own or others. We attempt to make sense of things and justify pain, but the reality is that nothing makes sense. Outside of the pain, we feel for our bodies to no longer attempt stupid acts, such as touching fire, smashing our heads against a hard surface, and so on.
Asking the same question to the same group of 1,000 children but being more specific and asking, "How would you help people with your power?" They may answer, but follow up with, "Why don't you help everyone now? You don't need a superpower to be a decent human. Or at the very least, not hindering others with how you act and treat others." This is not an innate attitude in humans, or at least I have never seen it, and when I've heard of it, it appears to be within such a small minority of people that those who act decent, not even good, get remembered and honored. But even then, there are cracks and broken segments of character, hidden aspects that we either never discover or discover after the legend of that person was made. Serving the public while neglecting family, standing up for friends, but ignoring those who suffer without the badge of friendship—risking our bodies for others while manipulating to get our way in relationships. There is no scale; Anubis does not stand, weighing a feather to our hearts. Doing good is good, and doing evil is evil. One does not cancel out the other. If we do evil and desire not to, we must stop and begin doing good. But if we continue to do evil while doing good simultaneously, we have no place to claim to be good.
Hurting at the hands of someone else never makes sense. The terrifying reality is that we attempt to make sense of it without realizing that by doing so, we open up for the making sense of us hurting others. I write the way that I do, one, because I write what I see in my head; two, I write so that others can see that pain at the hands of others makes no sense; three, getting back at someone is a euphemism for revenge and four, the only way to stop hurting others is to sacrifice the will and want to attain revenge. We must sacrifice our painful desires.
In the end, no human is good. Goodness is a moral standing that is, in reality, unachievable due to human limitations. We cannot exist without taking from others, and in order to be good, we must not take anything from anyone, and we must help everyone we can. While oftentimes we claim to do all we can, we are unwilling to sacrifice all we have to do good. We are not able to be genuinely altruistic. For the most part, a base desire for decency gets thrown away when we become disgruntled. Even when followers of someone who stood up for justice and died in the pursuit, they do not follow his or her lead. Look at Nuda; within the first moments of his life, he saw terrible things occurring more often than we realize. Yes, he is a strange fictional addition, but all of the things that he sees and experiences, others have seen and experienced.
Having said all this, I wonder if we can do good or even strive to be decent without knowing, seeing, or experiencing the evil in this world. Can we be a light in the world if we have never seen the darkness we are supposed to overpower? It's one thing to be told or read about, but to experience it firsthand without desiring evil upon others is the actual task. I wonder if we could be genuinely decent while knowing the horrors of this world.
