A Rooted Villain

Prying, tugging fingers pull roots from where they don’t belong. Weeds!

Let’s begin with the garden variety. And what a variety there is. Some are stubborn and deeply rooted, some are easy to pull but very plentiful, some are parasites that grow so closely to plants that you want that you can hardly distinguish the difference. It takes a little practice to recognize what will be a weed and what will not, especially in the spring. Sometimes you just have to guess and dig them out when they are young, because waiting can lead to spreading root bundles and a whole lot more work down the road.

We usually think of a weed as a plant that has decided to grow where we decidedly do not want it to grow. A weed to one person could be a beautiful flower to another. It is a matter of preference. I don’t prefer your seed-spewing, gangly, brownish stalk of flowers and would consider them a hazard, but that’s just me.

Then again, a weed can also be an idea. The same seeds sprout differently in various brain soils. Some idea weeds are washed away without a second thought, some are buried deep and will only sprout when properly fertilized, and some sprawl and transform into a fully grown personal philosophy before you know it.

We’ve all made the mistake of suggesting something to a child in the spur of the moment. You see the weed of the idea behind their eyes as it takes shape, and hope that they can be convinced to see reason and abort their naughty mission before blame can be placed on you for planting the seed of the idea in their head.

So who is to blame for the weeds? Those who plant them or those who tend to their growth?

Most garden weeds are plants that someone transplanted and have now become a menace. Dandelions were brought to North America by European immigrants, and they have spread to become tedious to many the lawn enthusiast. Then again they are edible, can be used to treat internal ailments, and the plant releases ethylene gas which helps fruit ripen. It depends if you need a cure for gout or a pristine lawn.

Weedy ideas are those that do not deserve a rightful place in the dialogue of humanity. They are obnoxious and they horn in on the territory of other ideas that deserve to be recognized. Why do we not pull these out at their roots before they can spread and multiply? As is the case with all weeds, it is a matter of preference. One man’s weed is another man’s mantra. Painful though it may be to see it growing there, we can’t cross the fence sneakily and spray with an organic spray in the dark of night. We might be able to flick a little verbal vinegar here and there to try to tame the wild growth, but for the most part we just have to accept it as a part of life. And continue to recognize those weeds in our own gardens.

Nature Leads to Villainy?

Perhaps a good next step is to explore the meaning behind this blog title. Other than going with the obvious reason that the name was available.

The more complete context is included as a subheader above, and lo and behold this is a quote from Mark Twain. It is from a short piece titled “The Mysterious Visit”. The yarn is quite a catchy little story that Twain wrote in response to the national income tax that was put into place on August 5, 1861.

It is not unusual that the person who thinks that he has a situation in the palm of his hand suddenly finds that events are not as they appear. Twain as the narrator describes how he uses his conversational prowess to find out about a new businessman in town. He steers the discussion to the topic of his own business and income to try to draw the gentleman into conversation about his monetary history so that Twain can deduce his pursuits. The plan backfires when the businessman turns out to be the tax assessor, but Twain uses his own wiles to come out on top in the end.

The quote appears at the beginning of the story, and is most easily interpreted as Twain sizing up his adversary. The statement seems to reflect the thought that all people are flawed, but there was nothing to suggest that this man was flawed more than the rest.

So the implication is that all people are villainous. It is not a point for discussion, it is an understandable fact. Twain after all wrote into Tom and Huck the natural urge to do those things that were not right. The battle came when they tried to conform to society and do the things that they thought they should, or if they disagreed with what society had laid down as the “correct” path. If it was natural to do the things that were bad, was it really so wrong? After all, one can’t go against nature!

If paying taxes was the right thing, then the initial impression that the tax assessor was an honest man would have been correct. But this is not an honest man, so taxes must be wrong too! Society said that taxes needed to be paid, but it was entirely unnatural to do so.

Now this is not a piece on how taxes are villainous, we can leave that to those who are against big government.

Is nature the problem because it causes humans to be naturally villainous? And why does nature so frequently go against social normality?

For today we will just call nature the villain. Nature brings out the innate villainy in humans.

Social norms or nurture could certainly take the prize next week, we’ll see.

A Villain of a Definition

There are so many villanous people, places, and things in this world, not to mention ideas, that a place to discuss the best among them seems appropriate. Some are obvious antagonists, and some may switch sides as frequently as you may bother to review their intentions.

What is a villain? Definitions may very nearly become our first villain discussed if this is where we must begin. Nevertheless, an attempt to narrow the discipline of this blog is slightly necessary. Merriam-Webster cannot be blamed for the murkiness that remains. They are as ever simply a source for the facts.

Villain (noun)

There are of course five differing definitions based on the context. First, we encounter the relation to villein, which is “a free common villager or village peasant of any of the feudal classes lower in rank than the thane”. So above all else, we must choose to define villainy as something that originates in the lower classes. Sounds like something that is assumably a convenient definition created by the upper classes to smear those beneath them. After all, who do we think wrote the history on villainy?

The second definition is listed as an uncouth person: boor. So, villains are those who are rude and brutish. It is notable that villains are so far not defined by their actions, but by their personalities. Perspective may change, the world may or may not change their point of view, but a villain is and always will be a villain.

Third, a deliberate scoundrel or criminal. Ahh, the unknowing cannot be villainous. The intention to fulfill villanous shoes is of course what makes one guilty. One has to make the choice to be a scoundrel. The actionable now comes in to play to add to the definition. One has the personality of a villain and takes steps to convey this to others. What a winner.

Fourth, a character in a story or play who opposes the hero. Here is where we get into the gray area. When we start to work with opposites, there has to be a black to contrast every white. However people, issues, ideas; what are “things that are never as pure as black and white”. As the hero changes from ideal to flawed, so does our villain change from pure evil to hopeless case. Open to interpretation, of course!

Last but not least, one blamed for a particular evil or difficulty. So, one could be called a villain because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. You don’t have to be guilty of the particular evil, you just have to have blood on your hands to be considered a villain.

So far these definitions have just provided us with content, nothing in the way of parameters. And so the conclusion must be that villains are hard to define. One man’s villain is another man’s last hope. We’ll just agree to disagree on who and what we call “villainous”.

I will say that among the synonyms for villain, my favorite by far, without question, is “baddie”. It certainly simplifies the issue, as baddie would most certainly play opposite to “goodie”. Unless you are speaking of a goodie-bag, in which case I most certainly do not want to explore the contents of a baddie-bag.

Until our next day of circuitous logic!