An UpsideDown Cake Defense of My Favorite Ethos
May 18, 2009 | Contributed by Gabrielle Vaughn
The curtain goes up. The lights are dim. A small figure paces…and speaks.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I’m here to speak with you about a real problem in today’s world. It causes orphans to starve to death. It causes pretty girls to cry in front of crowds. It causes pretty guys to buy loose shorts because they are afraid to show off the proof of God that is evident in that subtle curve where backbone and pelvis fuse.
It causes those who write well to try and tone it down so they won’t annoy others. It causes those who speak well to speak quietly. It causes those gifted with good ears to shout before they listen. It causes guys who shower with the bathroom window flung wide to throw rocks at girls in frosted glass skirts.
It causes throwing rocks.”
At this point the figure stops and stares intensely at the audience. The voice is low.
“It created rocks.
In such a world, as a far greater questioner than I postulated, was there not possibly a need, somewhere, sometime, then, for rocks to be thrown?
Perhaps.”
At this point the figure stops. The audience realizes that their eyes have adjusted. The speaker is female.
“And yet I cannot help but disagree.
For I remember being innocent. I remember when rocks were fossils. I remember when sticks were something to carry and not something to stab other people with. I remember crying and getting over it as soon as I was apologized to. I remember not understanding the concept of grudges.
Sadly, all good things much come to an end, in this world. Mustn’t they? For the Age of Reason began, for me, then: a time dominated by Logos.
And I excelled. And I ignored my Ethos.
For in the age of Reason, Ethos is not only discounted, she is mocked. And thus is born her sister.
Pathos.
The logistician’s least favorite way of arguing, and the dramatist’s least favorite way of pulling strings.
And yet I am afraid it is to Her that I must appeal.”
The audience realizes that the small figure can see them, then – but they do not know what gives them this impression. It is unnerving. She paces. She paces with the haunting determination of something dead.
“Forum Community, I cannot and I shall not stand for the kind of ignorance that I have heard expressed here and elsewhere.
Good for you, Whitworth. You went shoeless to raise awareness. You sold cacti to raise awareness. And T-shirts. You sold so many things this year it was dizzying.
But there were rocks thrown, too.
I shan’t bring up the most obvious one, nor make the victim a bloody shirt to base my revolution on. No, my people, les Miserables, tried that a time ago. We learned. Never again.
Instead I have another.
As Jack S. Lewis asked, why are there rocks? Perhaps The Great I AM saw in His infinite wisdom that there would be need of things hard enough to smash skulls with.
And then Cain acted against his brother. And the world shuddered. And the course of history changed. And the coming of The Christos was delayed.
How long, my sisters and brothers?
How long before we put down our rocks…and pick up our crosses?”
The lights rise abruptly. It is a girl with wild hair and a cap pulled down over her eyes. She wears large sunglasses and keeps her head pointed at the floor. Still she paces. She paces. She trips. She falls.
The audience hears the sharp intake of breath and a cry. Barely discernable.
She waits.
They do not move.
She rises. She paces. She turns her back on them. She laughs to herself.
“It’s not like I honestly expected you to come and help me up. After all, you are just an audience.”
Whitworth Community.
This stone is on your doorstep. Will you let it in? Or will it have to pick the locks and enter by force?
The world was not meant to be so broken.
And it will not remain so within the reach of my arm.
Will you join me?”
Lights out. Curtain falls. Lights up. Audience exits.
Silence.
Comments
10 Responses to “An UpsideDown Cake Defense of My Favorite Ethos”
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Yes?
Pathos can work. But not every pathos is a good pathos. It must be in the shadow of a good ethos to move the audience to exit on your side.
And what would you say, Grady, is the ethos of this piece?
Quick postscript: I did not create that postcard.
It was created for the Postsecret event.
The author showed it to me while sadly explaining that this year’s student postcards were not publicly displayed.
Why, I wonder?
Hmm, I wonder too. Maybe it’s jarring for the school to allow others to see that not everything is ok. Maybe even anonymous secrets are too brazen for the unrocked boat.
And the ethos is you. In all your manifestations.
Never attribute to fear that which can be adequately explained by laziness.
Daniel:
No. Those who allow themselves to be silenced are cowards. Lazy cowards, no less.
If someone throws rocks at me, I do not allow them to cripple me.
But I will scream as they break bones.
Grady:
Very good, Padawan.
The Postsecrets were put up on boards in Lied Square for several days. Including the one you posted here.
And though I can’t speak for him, I think Daniel may have been talking not so much about those who allow themselves to be silenced, but those who simply let themselves remain silent(being audiences rather than actors). It’s not that Whitworth people are always afraid of taking action about issues x and y. It may be that they just don’t feel like acting on anything.
Well, I was saying that if the PostSecret wasn’t posted (and I do seem to remember it being posted this year) the reason was likely flakiness and laziness, not fear.
But you’re right about the larger point. Many people don’t fail speak their mind because they’re *afraid*. They fail to speak their mind because they have things they care about more than starting a ruckus.
That isn’t something to be ashamed of. It’s just a difference of values.
Ah, gotcha.
Daniel & Charles:
I only make a ruckus when my values are hurt, or when I see one of my friends hurt.
When people are crying, it’s not right to withhold the Kleenex and Haagen-Daz….so to speak.