The Kestrel (Gabrielle)
One of my all time favorite authors is aman by the name of Lloyd Alexander. He wrote a series that is up on the list of books I grew up with and regard as staples in any literary diet. I read everything I could find that Lloyd Alexander had written except for a book called The Kestrel. I have memories of various people discussing Lloyd Alexander and remarking on how fun his books were. Except for The Kestrel, they would say. Yes, the others would agree, except for The Kestrel. So the last time I was at the library and I saw The Kestrel I got it out. I wanted to see what everyone meant. And you know, they were right.
Often times there is conflict in Lloyd Alexander’s book. Sometimes even war. But it is portrayed almost as a child’s version of war. His books are written for young people and his wars are a young perspective of war. There is always this sense that this is a bad thing, but he never goes into much detail and the questions he asks are not about the war itself. Except for The Kestrel. It is a book that asks brutally hard questions about warfare and honor and I am ashamed to say I don’t have the answers. There were times in the book I thought “That’s wrong”, but then I would hear a character explain it and it almost made sense. I would think “They shouldn’t do that”, but then I would wonder what they should have done instead. I started asking the same questions Lloyd Alexander asked, but I don’t have any answers. I don’t think he does either. So for now I’m pondering, but I wonder if there are any clear answers. The most I have right now is “War is an ugly thing and it always will be.”
Tell me about it! Then there’s all this stuff that I’ve been reading on espionage. It’s a dirty, dirty business.
However, I need to ask to the question: just because it’s dirty, does it make it wrong? War is ugly, but sometimes it is right. And in war, sometimes the “better” decision is still awful.
Consider the use of nuclear weapons against Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I can argue a case that this was an atrocious act. However, what was the alternative? An invasion of the Japanese home islands. Would that have been less violent somehow? Probably not. The violence would have been better targeted, perhaps, but still there would have been numerous casualties. Maybe even Grandpa, right? After all, he served in the Pacific.
Sometimes, life is full of ugly options, and there’s nothing that you can do about it.