Bad Faith

FULL VIEW IF YOUR BROWSER CAN TAKE IT.

When we do not believe we have a choice as to our self-definition, our convictions, our ethics, our self-expression, or our own future, when no one has taught or equipped us with this sacred thing called The Right To Choose, we have bad faith indeed, and we are not likely to live to our own fullest potential or to treat other human beings with kindness.

I arrived at this realization through a conversation shared with about Harry Potter characters. The conversation turned to Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, and became a bit heated on the topic of Draco. I contended that Draco isn't really evil but suffers the fate that I have explained above. I believe this because JK Rowling has stated in interviews that this is why she has given him the made-up surname "Malfoy," derived from the French word "mal" (bad) and the French word "foi" (faith). Draco's lack of faith in his own agency to make choices and be his own person, separate from a mock-up of his father, is manifested even in his pale, weak, ghost-like pallor of hair, eyes, and skin.

I want to thank Elenlith for his debating skills in the field of psychology, because without his argumentativeness, I would never have been able to make this piece.

This is a picture of a scrawny, tall, downtrodden blond boy in his late teens, but it doesn't necessarily need to be Draco, it could be any person who is at a crossroads in life and trying to awaken to the fact of his/her own independence and freedom. It's a painful rite-of-passage.