The Meditation of C.S. Lewis...in tights?

Is there really such a thing as a rebel without a cause? In Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, the central action (or reason everything goes “wrong”) is set about by a character, who doesn’t seem to have any reason to create chaos. Looking at him, as C.S. Lewis calls an outside perspective in his essay, Meditation in a Tool Shed, does not show any reason for his action, and thus makes him seemingly cause-less.

Don Jon, as he is so named, is a prince. Though the illegitimate son of the king, he has all the luxury of his brother the legitimate heir, and none of the responsibilities of state. He lacks for nothing. And yet he purposely ruins reputations and lives wherever he goes. But in only looking at Don Jon, to sit down and have coffee with him let's say, you would never see the pain he has caused others. You would see a sweet, quiet, man who humbly serves his brother and country.

Only when one looks along Don Jon, evaluates the internal, does the true evil in his character become realized. His sole motivation is jealousy and hatred. Jealousy of his brother, jealousy of others' happiness, and hatred of all things. His cause is to make everyone as miserable and hate filled as he is. This evil only comes to light in scenes where he is alone plotting with his followers the demise of his brother.

But C.S Lewis raises a shrewd point in his Mediation. “One must look both along and at everything”. So too is it with Don Jon. Though internally he is vile, if we were only to look along that, we would say, “Oh, he is detestable”, but the emotional investment would not be there. Without seeing on the stage before us the results of the plotting; the emotional upheavals of the people around him and the pain he has caused, we would not have a full understanding of just how vile he is as a character. Vile would not truly be vile.

Likewise, if the audience never looked along his character, was never entreated inside the mind of Don Jon, and only looked at him as the other members of the cast do, we would only see a quiet, disenfranchised man, who, though anti-social, still follows the will of his brother like his duty requires of him, without trouble. And even when it comes to light he is the “perpetrator of all”, only looking at him causes confusion in the minds of the cast, and us, as it is that he has no reason to cause evil.

Thus in order to understand Don Jon, one must both look along and at him. C.S. Lewis, though not at all talking about Shakespeare, provides the key to understanding in his Mediation. A criterion of understanding. One could almost see it written out on some ancient cracked scroll: “When has looked at and along an issue, only then does one understand.” And the criterion holds true. Though I apply his criterion to literature, it can be applied in other aspects of life as well.

For instance, I look at someone publicly speaking out on the importance of cancer research. While I can see that they are adamant about their cause, I have never known anyone with cancer and have never had it myself. But if I were to look along them, feel the pain of seeing their loved one die slowly minute by minute, see them caring for and finally laying that person to rest after years of physical and mental pain, only then would I truly understand how important cancer research is.

Without evaluating the inside and the outside perspective, internal and external, looking at and looking along an issue, we cannot truly say we understand something. With one of the two, only knowledge or empathy can exist, but not understanding. Sometimes, all we can hope for is knowledge or empathy. I can know that cancer is a painful and horrible disease, but without having had it I can only empathize with that pain, linking it with things in my own life that were painful. I cannot presume to understand it, as the pains are different. The pain of a bloody knee and the pain of cancer are very different.

C.S. Lewis lays down the groundwork for humility in this way. Only looking at or looking along does not understanding make. In fact, to think that one is enough is quite foolish and is often the subject of much comic relief in fiction. C.S. Lewis thus urges us to be humble, to understand when we do not understand, and to seek the truth. I believe that too often this is forgotten when assessing issues in our world.

Therefore it is important that within all aspects of life we keep in mind "looking at and looking along", situations, issues, etc. and when we cannot have or do both, to understand the truth of that knowledge and walk humbly and with empathy.