The Everlasting Battle of Loyalty and Enticement
Author's Note: This was my District Assessment response to "The Hundredth Dove", and I don't like this response very much. I wrote this in a short amount of time, so I don't believe that this conveys my writing style as well as it could.
We all have that person we would do anything for, no matter what. If they ask, we shall do, yet over the course of these relationships temptations pop up along the way, acting as a road block in a relationship abundant with love and trust. Whether we turn a blind eye to the temptations or follow the devilish ways of the enticement define the relationship. One mistake and enemies we have become. After a few mistakes, with a few people, we will be all on our own, struggling in a world of affiliations. If we were loyal in the first place, everything would have been fine, rather than the polar opposite. In the short story, The Hundredth Dove by Jane Yolen, Hugh the fowler is faced with a tough decision, temptation against loyalty. Luckily, Hugh chooses the right path, loyalty. In Life, we find that when tempted by emotions, such as lust, one can betray everything they have ever stood for, yet when they can overcome their desires and prevail in the face of adversity, loyalty is always the correct option.
In the well-known archetype, Dante’s Inferno, Dante Alighieri explains the different levels, or “circles” as he calls them, of Hell. With each circle the levels of evil increase. It starts out with Agnostics and eventually in the Ninth Circle, Satan dwells there. Dante explains how Satan is chewing, clawing, and torturing Brutus and Judas Iscariot in his right and left head, respectively. The significance of this is that Judas Iscariot and Brutus are perhaps the biggest traitors in the history of man. Brutus’ act of betrayal was when he took part in the assassination of his dear friend, Julius Caesar. Judas Iscariot is known for the betrayal of Jesus to the chief priests of Rome. This whole situation signifies how betrayal is the worst act anyone could ever commit, enough to put you in the realm of Satan.
As you see, the fowler did not make a mistake in killing the dove for his king. Thus is why this story caused me agitation. Jane Yolen portrayed the murdering of the dove as a terrible wrong when it was actually the opposite. If Hugh didn’t kill the dove, then he should be distraught, for he would have been in the ranks of the worst men ever, but he stayed true to his upbringing and stomped out the lure of lust. Simply, a clear conscious is what he should have rather than a crazed one.
Jane Yolen messed this story up with great magnitude and I was angered at her. When you betray who you are loyal to, you betray all you stand for. Once you lose all your views, you are nothing. All you will be is an empty space in a cluttered world fighting to change the decision you once made. Hugh made the everlasting commitment to the King. He even embedded the patch that read “Servo” onto his heart, meaning that the King is always there, and he needed to remember after the fact that he did the right thing, because we as humans need to stay true to what we believe and who we believe, not letting ourselves bite the menacing bait of temptation.
