Good is what opens. Evil is what blocks.
Grip 1 · Excerpt from Step Through
Evil can behave impeccably. Napkin on lap. No grease stains. Silverware placed correctly on the plate. Evil kisses Madame’s hand. Good, for its part, can stumble. It trips over its own honesty, and reaching out, wrinkles the immaculate white shirt.
There is no pre-existing code inscribed in the order of the world. There are only moves. Forms. Decisions. Thresholds. And the question: does it open, or does it block?
Good is neither moral nor abstract. It is functional. It is measured only by the effect of an act on the possibility of crossing a real unknown. It is good if, and only if, it allows a living structuring of the world. Evil, likewise, is not tied to a fault, a prohibition, a sin. It is the name given to everything that prevents passage — everything that shuts, freezes, forbids the emergence of a habitable form.
A word can be good one day, bad the next. A silence can be an opening in one context, a betrayal in another. It concerns not intentions, but effects. What opens is good. What closes is bad.
At every moment, in every situation, the only question worth asking is this: does this word, this move, this decision — open a possibility of passage? Or does it lock things into sterile repetition? Does it allow a livable structuring of the unknown? Or does it add another layer of fat to the world?
[…]
A parent can do evil if they shut down a living path in their child. A therapist can produce evil if they impose their framework instead of opening a possible move.
[…]
Back to Miriam and Samuel. She no longer admires him. Every evening she dreads the moment he’ll walk through the door. He disgusts her now. The mere idea of sleeping in his bed repulses her.
She’s got earplugs in to block out the snoring, and an eye mask to help her imagine another life — but it’s not enough anymore.
She thinks of her children, Leslie and Alexis. It could really hurt them. She feels guilty: leaving would be selfish, given what it would do to them. It would make them unhappy — that’s certain. What to do?
For her, the living move is clear: leave. For them — who knows. Yes, the atmosphere at home is terrible. The daily screaming. Children learn by example, everyone knows that. What image of a couple is she giving them?
Making yourself a victim so they’ll be happy — that could mean more guilt to carry later. All of this is complicated. No easy answers. No one can say.
But she knows two things:
— If she leaves, it will be right for her.
— She has no idea, and no absolute control, over what will follow.
Obviously she can influence things for the best — speak well of their father, keep the relationship as decent as possible, handle the logistics smartly — but in the end, she doesn’t know in advance.
So is it wrong for her to separate? Probably not.
For the children? Maybe.
Read next: The Just.
