WORTH HOW MUCH?

It’s something that I’ve used in my books as a way to create hierarchical structure and therefore the framework that a society can be built on but does a title become more powerful than the person who carries it?

In The Circle books, there are characters who go by their station or role in the world rather than by their names. The Mage, The Elder, The Messenger, all occupy what would be called high office in the story but we haven’t yet been given any of their real names. They’re all very powerful in their own right but is it the badge that gives them the power or does it come from them intrinsically?

The UK has seen a change in monarch for the first time in years but the enormous power that can be wielded by the King or Queen isn’t built on any specific personal qualities beyond being the next in line. As Prince of Wales, Charles would have been able to do some things but not others but now he’s in the hot seat, he can all of the things that previously only his mother did. Looking at things like that, anyone could be under that crown and do the same.

We recognise this fact easily because we don’t bow and scrape with everyone we meet but shouldn’t we ask ourselves about the reasoning behind the worth we place on people or roles?

If we’re looking up and are running around in a panic, the person we’re reacting to can most likely fire us or make our life uncomfortable. Who’s worked in a company that had the top brass come round on visits to see how everyone was getting on and have meetings with heads of departments etc? Where everyone would be doing their very best to make sure the place looked great and everyone was doing what they were supposed to and everyone was happy? They must have thought every site they visited just naturally smelt of fresh paint.

It was the mantle of the person which would cause the stress.

Everyone on edge because one foot out of place would mean a fate worse than death.

Ish.

But if you look the other way, if you only see the value of a person coming from what it is they can give you, there’s another issue. People can be corrupted by always being surrounded by bowers and scrapers and start to believe the metaphorical hype.

If we all have intrinsic value, the mantle of office should never lead to its wearer to treat anyone with less dignity, but this imbalance doesn’t have to remain just with highly elevated people. Have you only been spoken to when someone needs something from you? Have you seen an imbalance in relationships?

I’ve created the characters I have and the society I have to help create a subtle level of tension in my books that’s always just there on every page to constantly be a small obstacle everyone could trip over at any point because risk comes from more than just the evil monsters. I also want to just suggest that people at every level are dealing with their own specific issues, very often being driven by their own position, so maybe we all just look at the person across from us as a human to start with.

Stay safe fellow humans.