Walking the Wall

Joseph Campbell discusses compassion quite a bit in his writing, and I
know I have returned to this discussion on more than one occasion, but
I think it is an important human issue–in fact I would go so far as to
say that I think compassion to be the single most important human
emotion. In his book, The Power of Myth, he writes, “Life is pain, but
compassion is what gives it the possibility of continuing” (139).
Further, he writes, “Compassion is the awakening of the heart from
bestial self-interest to humanity. The word ‘compassion’ means
literally ’suffering with’ (201). My children and I had a long
discussion this morning on the subject of literary “monsters” and their
lessons of compassion. We were getting ready to watch the new movie
version of The Phantom of the Opera and discussed it in terms of its
connections with the Hunchback of Notre Dame, the black and white
version of the Werewolf, and the book Frankenstein. At the end of the
play/movie, Raul demands of the Phantom, “Show some compassion!” He
yells back in obvious pain, “The world showed no compassion to me.” And
that, I believe, is the main thrust of this work, that without
compassion we condemn ourselves and others to the bestial monsters we
create in order to not have to show compassion. Who then is the
monster? The creator, or the created? There is no more painful scene
than that of the monster Dr. Frankenstein created–alone in the arctic
screaming out his pain at the death of his “father,” having been given
no compassion, he still sought connection, love, empathy from the human
race.

If we can look on people who are different, who are other, and set
them apart from us in our minds, then we can
marginalize them, and in severe cases we can make them into monsters in
order to justify our lack of compassion. Africans and Native American’s
were denied their souls so others could treat them monstrously, Jews
were condemned generation after generation for killing Christ so that
they could be justifiably eradicated, Iraqis can be viewed as an entire
people of terrorists so we do not lay awake and think of innocent
people killed and children living in the horrors of war. Beyond bigger
versions of creating monsters, we do it on small, individual levels,
like me looking at a homeless man and thinking “drug addict, derelict”
therefore setting that
man apart from me so that I could drive by and not have to have my
compassion engaged and challenged–there are many large and small
choices we make towards compassion or away from it. I cannot change
many large issues
of the lack of compassion and empathy in the world, but I can try to
make small acts of compassion, and I can teach my children the
importance
of compassion in a world that often seems obsessed with self-interests.