Song of the Beast: Why not death/sucide?

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*]

The July BotM was Song of the Beast by Carol Berg. Thread here: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/9...

One of the themes in this book is overcoming physical and emotional adversity. The main character, Aidan, is tortured for 17 years while imprisoned for crimes he was not even informed of. Some of the things done to Aidan was to be whipped with a razor edged whip and to have every single finger broken (and badly healed) hundreds of times.

At the same time I was reading this book, I was taking a lecture class on the Philosophy of Death. One of the topics (naturally) was suicide. Removing all spiritual/religious concepts (because we are all from different backgrounds)…would a torture situation like this be grounds for suicide?

I know that when I was reading it…I kept thinking that I could not have survived what Aidan did. Since I read the book while taking the class…the specter of death was always hovering near.

So, imagine this situation:

You are a young adult…no older than 21 years of age, healthy and strong. You are arrested but given no reason why. Your “trial” is held in secret. You are pronounced guilty without any rebuttal and you are sentenced to life without parole. While in prison you are not allowed to see the sky or go outside. You are beaten with a razor edged whip and are constantly tortured. You have no knowledge of a possible way to escape or any change for the future. Would you attempt suicide?

[Janny]

MrsJoseph wrote: "The July BotM was Song of the Beast by Carol Berg. Thread here: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/9...

One of the themes in this book is overcoming p..."

That's an interesting point.

I would think some individuals would go that route. A lot would depend on the character's innate resiliency. Some would survive, some, certainly not.

On the nonfiction front, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption certainly documented the extremes of abuse, and records how much the human spirit is capable of overcoming.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*]

Thanks for the reply, Janny!

I've given your reply some thought.

Do you think that it makes a difference that the WWII survivors knew why they were being held and that Aidan did not?

[Janny]

MrsJoseph wrote: "Thanks for the reply, Janny!

I've given your reply some thought.

Do you think that it makes a difference that the WWII survivors knew why they were being held and that Aidan did not?"

Again you raise a very interesting question. I couldn't know.

When the Outward Bound program was initiated - it was founded because in WWII, shipwrecked soldiers who were in their 20s often died, where older vets in their 40s survived - the theory was, younger people had not yet met with adversity enough to realize they could survive more than they believed - they tended to give up too easily, so the Outward Bound program was started to test people past their preconceived 'limits' and show them in graphic terms that they could 'survive, endure, overcome' far more than they thought - and that one person's strengths did not mean they were Always strong - that everyone had their moment where they fell apart or triumphed.

I did that program at age 17 and I can say by that experience it changed everything about my personal outlook.

So much of what keeps people going is their capacity to hope - and how stubbornly rooted their personal sense of survival - certainly Unbroken - that biography was about an extraordinary individual.

I bought into Aidan's tenacity - so the story sucked in my suspension of belief. I wasn't looking to poke holes in whether he WOULD have died; of course if he had, there would not have been a story at all.

But you do raise cogent points.