Fighting for redemption

For months now I've helped myself fall asleep by trying to make up situations where people were faced with really difficult decisions, the kind of decisions that drive fictional narratives but are not cliche.

An example of a cliche would be the decision a boxer faces when he has a chance to fight for the title and a million dollar prize and the restoration of his dignity even though doctors have said there is a chance he will go blind if he fights again. Should he enter the ring?

Let's say this fighter is an honest man but earlier in his career he was wrongly accused of "throwing" a fight and is now widely regarded as a cheater. Of course, he has a wife and a child. The wife knows the truth about him -- that he didn't "throw" the fight, or else threw the fight for other honorable reasons (to help his wife's father get out of debt or something).

And the child -- probably a little boy -- also believes in his father's basic integrity, but must face the daily taunts of his classmates about how his father cheated. Poor kid. He doesn't deserve that. Especially since he is skinny, weak and has to wear those thick glasses. What that kid deserves is a hero! But a blind one? Maybe not.

To make the decision even harder, we learn that there is no guarantee the fighter will go blind. He could get in there and fight valiantly and emerge with his vision intact. But to beat this particular foe, he has to fight the kind of match that makes him vulnerable to a blinding blow. He can't win otherwise.

So what does he do? He has the love of his wife and boy, shouldn't he just walk away and be satisfied that he is a good man who did the right thing? And what if he doesn't fight? He might always be remembered as a the sap who threw a fight. Is it better to be a blind, rich, redeemed quasi-hero or a quietly honorable man, content with his own actions and conscience, who is so confident in himself that he is willing to carry around a stigma for the rest of his life? At least he will be able to see his son grow up, and let his gaze linger on his wife's beautiful smile. Ahhhhh.

You can go back to Greek philosophers to read about character and reputation. I think it was Epicticus who wrote that a man cannot always control his reputation but he can control his reaction to his reputation. There are often factors outside your control that dictate what people think of you, and Epicticus and the other Stoics believed that you needed to disregard things that were outside your control. Happiness comes from within.

Stoics did not build Hollywood, however, so naturally our fighter enters the ring, loses his eyesight halfway through the battle but still overcomes his rival to win the match and the eternal adoration of his wife and son. Miraculously, when the swelling goes down, the fighter's eyesight returns and everybody lives happily ever after.