What do we do? -- Mimetic Theory and Literary Study

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Date Posted: 20:03:07 03/17/08 Mon
Author: Kiernan
Subject: What do we do?

On pg. 98 of "I See Satan Fall Like Lightening," Girard provides a model for reconciling the information we have gained from his thesis with real life in a violent universe. He discusse the origin of political power in the single victim mechanism. This would seem to lead to violent rebellion of some kind, or something of the sort. Why obey an authority which is based on a violent mechanism? Yet Girard points to the Apostle Paul's argument in response to this: we should obey authorities because they do provide a semblance of order in a violent community. Girard reminds us that the powers do not wish to be "diabolical"; they wish to throw Satan out. In doing so, however, they practice violence. The way out of the conundrum of knowledge, here, is to keep in mind the truth, not practice violence personally, yet continue to exist in our world.

This would seem to hold true for our knowledge of the system as a whole. We cannot completely eradicate mimetic rivalry and the scapegoat system from our lives; our pride still prevents us from becoming that conscious. In response to Girard's thesis, we should keep the truth of it in our mind and attempt to not participate in mimetic rivalry. Yet we must also remember that, in our world, we will, and thus just try to remain as conscious as we are able. We, paradoxically, must remain conscious while knowing we are still partially unconscious.

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