The Non-Zero Sum Character
We’ve been positing in our series on Villains in film and fiction that the Bad Guy as a general rule believes in a world of scarce resources, a cosmos in which all men and women are born selfish/evil … and that this condition—“the state of nature,” as Thomas Hobbes phrased it—produces inevitably a “war of all against all.”
Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch in Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird”
The villain in other words sees the universe as a zero-sum proposition, i.e. a world in which, if he is to gain, he must take away from you and me.
In this post let’s examine the opposite proposition.
Let’s consider the world and world-view of the villain’s antithesis—the Hero.
The hero, by my definition, is the character who is capable (though he may have to change radically through the course of our story to reach this position) of acting in a non-zero sum manner. In other words, acting not for herself alone, but out of love for another.
Here, in no particular order, is a sampling of real-life non-zero-sum characters.
Jesus of Nazareth
The 300 Spartans at Thermopylae
Joan of Arc
Abraham Lincoln
Mahatma Gandhi
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
John F. Kennedy
Malcolm X
Robert Kennedy
John Lennon
Yitzhak Rabin
And a few from legend, fiction and motion pictures:
Odysseus
Beowulf
Atticus Finch
Huckleberry Finn
Celie in “The Color Purple”
Rick Blaine in “Casablanca”
Pike, Dutch, and the Gortch Brothers in “The Wild Bunch”
Captain Miller in “Saving Private Ryan”
Shane
Princess Leia
Luke Skywalker
If the Villain believes in a zero-sum world, the Hero believes in its opposite.
If the Villain believes in a universe of scarcity, the Hero believes, if not in a world of abundance, then at least in the possibility of such a world.
If the Villain believes in a reality dominated by fear, the Hero believes in one ruled by love.
The Villain is cynical. He or she believes that mankind is inherently evil.
The Villain believes in “reality,” in a Hobbesian world of all-against-all.
The Villain, as we’ve said, is not necessarily “bad” or even “villainous.” In the villain’s eyes, he is the Good Guy. He is simply acting and making choices within a universe of monsters. He must therefore become, in the name of Good (or at least self-preservation or the preservation of society as a whole) a monster himself.
The zero-sum view of life is that of limited resources. Not enough to go around. If you and I want our share (or even simply enough to survive), we must take it from somebody else. However much of the pie we grab, that’s how much less remains for everyone else.
In the non-zero-sum world, on the other hand, resources are infinite. The love a mother gives to her child (and that the child returns) grows greater, the more each loves. There is and can never be a shortage of love.
Compassion is infinite.
Integrity is infinite.
Faith is infinite.
Zero-sum versus non-zero-sum.
Hero versus Villain.
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I wonder if anyone else sees how this analogy can be applied to those who criticize the wealthy for economic inequality.
This kind of breakdown illustrates how everything is just a matter of perspective. It makes me think of Nietzsche's definition of heroic: to go to meet simultaneously one's greatest sorrow and one's greatest hope.I also like how you point out that the villain isn't necessarily bad, their worldview just causes them to act in a certain way to achieve their goals. I can no longer remember whether it was Peterson or Nietzsche who spoke about this (probably both in similar fashions) but good morality is merely that which agrees with a social group. Bad morality is what sees you ostracised.
Of course, that's an entirely different discussion, whether there is an absolute Right and Wrong.
Yet to have a great piece of writing you need convincing villain in order to show anything interesting in hero's character. Without great villain, hero is flat, ordinary everday person, not spectacular. To make hero shine you ned to construct contrasting background and character. In another word you have to show how somebody is a villain. Everone on the Hero's list is also villanous, but the popular narations goes one direction. Chaos is unbearable. Multiple points of views are unbearable in one head. It is nice and cosy to have simple narrations. Great villain does the trick. Makes it all simple.
