Chivalry

I’ve always heard the saying: ‘Chivalry’s dead’ and never really understood what it meant.

Chivalry-according to the Oxford dictionary refers to the combination of qualities expected of an ideal knight,namely courage,honour,courtesy,justice, and a readiness to help the weak.

It’s probably almost impossible to have all that in one person which explains why it’s ‘dead’. I would like to hope at least a few shreds of it remain but I don’t see too much of it to be honest. Maybe it’s cause I’ve already closed my eyes and expect it not to be there? Anyway,I’m drifting from my point.

So,I’m sat here reading Michael Lynch’s ‘Stalin’s Russia’,trying to wrap my head around the fact that in the 1930’s Stalin was so heavily invested in transforming Russia into a superpower that he restricted artists from doing what they do best-expressing themselves through Art. They were no longer individuals and it baffles me how people who are still alive today,lived through that. I mean..I realise it was good for the long run because Stalin pretty much put Russia on the map but I mean, if I lived in that type of world then this blog would be non-existent! It’s just so astonishing to know that there were times like that!

Robert Service notes that ‘more great intellectuals perished in the 1930s than survived’. They couldn’t bear it and even though I personally disagree with the idea of suicide(another debate for another day people) I can see why they would. I mean, if you were a writer,you lived to explore the world  through what you wrote! How could you do that if you were only writing about ‘Mother Russia’ and ‘Stalin’..doesn’t that defeat the whole purpose of writing creatively?

I believe God has all put us on this Earth for a reason and we should not be restricted from carrying out that purpose. Okay,suicide is not exactly the perfect way to show your defiance but now I’m reading about these people in my history textbook. And even though I kinda wish they went against what they disagreed with in a different way, nothing changes the fact they were prepared to die for their beliefs-now that’s what I call chivalry.

Peace & Love,

T

xx