the balance between grace and justice in stories
It would be a little bit annoying for me to completely ignore the fact that I haven’t posted in four months.
But anyway, the last Star Wars movie to end the saga came out, and while I haven’t fully made up my mind how I feel about it, it did stir up some thoughts I’ve been having for a while about different movies, TV shows, and books.
There seem to be many cases of unbalance in the dealing of grace and justice for characters. Characters do bad things. Sometimes even unforgivable things. Excuses shouldn’t be made for them. But when characters attempt to redeem themselves, to what degree do they deserve forgiveness? How much grace are they owed? Can a clear and utter change of heart be enough, or is death the only true redemption for them? Grace without justice is weak. When done repetitively, it loses its meaning. Likewise, justice without grace is harsh. It leaves no room for hope.
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Many cases of this unbalance exist across stories, but one example is Severus Snape. His death felt like the natural thing to happen, and I don’t really have any problems with it. He died fairly nobly. But a significant amount of people take him as a hero just because he loved Lily, and ignore all the bad things he did throughout his life, like needlessly bullying children. Even Harry names his son after him, and I don’t understand it. Like, I too can do very good self-sacrificing things if it means I can be an absolute jerk to everyone all the time. That’s an ideal trade.
Another character who comes to mind is Natasha Romanoff. When Clint and her have to decide who to sacrifice for the Soul Stone, Clint says he should be the one to make up for all the people he randomly killed. However, Natasha is the one who ultimately makes the sacrifice, even though she is arguably the more prominent character of the two. So, two problematic points: was she the one to die because she didn’t have a family—even though the Avengers were the same as a family to her, or was she the one because, like Clint, she had “red in her ledger” even though her crimes were long in the past? Whether it was unconsciously one of these things (or just bad writing), I don’t think Natasha got the end she deserved.
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While it’s obvious that there should be balance between grace and justice, I lean towards being more lenient, even if it can cheapen the grace. Giving a character the benefit of the doubt isn’t the worst thing ever, so long as grace isn’t given endlessly when no heart changes happen.
