No one Is The Good Guy

This novel is the most like reality in this way: regardless of who is identifiably villainous by the majority, everyone is the bad guy. Cries for revenge or blame disguised as a desire for justice will consistently win out over taking responsibility. Responsibility for extremism, cowardice, or an attempt to capitalize on chaos. The fires of anarchy can destroy the very foundations they are trying to save, and the inaction of the able-bodied can herald tragedy. In the end, there are some who may be more innocent than others, but in every collapsing system, no one is holistically blameless. This is not a political statement, it is a human constant. It is obvious when this constant is applied to fiction, and painfully obvious when it is not.

There are plenty of objectively villainous figures in history, but the general evils do not cease when they are removed from the equation. This is not a justification, it is merely an observation. If it's not quite correct to say that everyone is the bad guy, then it's certainly true that no one is the good guy. At least, not in the traditional sense. This is a tremendously valuable realization that can be applied to fiction, yet is ironically almost completely useless as a social commentary. The knowledge of shared responsibility and majority/minority blame does not drive positive change on its own. But it can make for one hell of a good story. A story in which there are no heroes or villains by the author's arbitrary design. There are only characters. Acting. Reacting. Dealing with conflict and trying to survive while they attempt to achieve their goals, by varying degrees of nobility or deceit. The sometimes dark truth that many are unwilling to admit, is that such a summary describes all of us. We may be the hero in our own story and the villain in someone else's. Another character in a potentially authorless tale that unfurls into infinity. And like life imitating art, we will either take responsibility or cast blame. But mostly, we'll do both.