Just a thought
Written by: Elijah Christiane M. Fajardo
It’s half an hour past midnight as I write this, and I have just finished reading The Secret History by Donna Tartt, a book famous for its dark story and intriguing characters. In the very first paragraph of the first chapter, Tartt dives into one of the most engaging quotes: “[A] morbid longing for the picturesque at all costs.”
The novel was premised on the same—students with an unhealthy obsession with romanticizing their desire for knowledge and for life’s beauty, resulting in a loss of moral compass and of reasonableness. While The Secret History is a work of fiction, I can’t help but wonder, “Could we, as law students in the pursuit of further knowledge or a so-called ‘picturesque’ life, lose ourselves in the process?” I remember the story of Icarus who flew too close to the sun, falling into his own demise. How far should we be willing to fly for our “picturesque”?
In the middle of the night, before closing my eyes, I thought the answer was simply to fly cautiously, to steer clear from recklessness and danger, and to not lose ourselves in flight. Not only was Icarus warned not to fly too high, but he was also warned not to fly too low.
I thought about the legal field and how to approach it with the caution taught by the story of Icarus. For instance, the reason we’ll represent clients in the future should go beyond the measly paycheck. In such a case, we try not to fly too low. We don’t serve half-heartedly. On the other hand, we also have to realize that legal education is a privilege, and that it comes with the responsibility to ensure that we never use our knowledge or capabilities to the prejudice of others. Our picturesqueness should not be at the expense of another’s tragedy. This time, we try not to fly too high.
With these cautions in mind, I believe the pursuit of the picturesque becomes more purposeful.
In The Secret History, the group of students, in a cult-like manner, lost their sense of rationality and purpose for their study. While I doubt that we, as students of the law, will end up holding bacchanals just like they did, we should nonetheless remain cautious not to lose sight of our moral grounds and grasp of reality in the pursuit of our versions of the picturesque.
“There is nothing wrong with the love of Beauty. But Beauty—unless she is wed to something more meaningful—is always superficial.” — Donna Tartt, The Secret History
THE BARRISTER 