So begins “The Iliad”: “Rage — Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles, / murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses.”
Murderous and doomed. Full of rage. Those are the feelings that slowly crept up on me Tuesday night as I sat in my floor’s lounge with my floormates and watched the election results trickle in.
I started the night out with optimism for a Hillary Clinton victory. That optimism soon turned to unease, then dread and disbelief.
Finally, the result became evident: victory for Donald Trump. I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t this. Throughout the entire course of this election, I never truly believed — until the end of Tuesday night — that we would elect Trump. I wrote column after column about Trump, the entire time in shock that he was a viable candidate.
I’ve always taken heart in this famous Anne Frank quote: “In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”
On Tuesday night, that faith took a big hit. Regardless of policy, Trump’s hateful, divisive and bigoted rhetoric has always been a deal breaker for me.
I thought it would be one for America, too.
So when it became clear that the election was Trump’s instead of Clinton’s, I began to empathize with Achilles a little bit more.
Full of rage at the decision of Agamemnon to take from him a girl that Achilles received as a spoil of war, Achilles resolves to quit fighting in the Trojan War until his honor is restored by Agamemnon.
This election, for many Americans, is disheartening. Discouraging. Demoralizing. When faced with this landmark decision by our country to choose hate instead of tolerance and divisiveness instead of togetherness, we can take the same route that Achilles chooses when confronted with an outcome he doesn’t like.
Quit. Stop caring. Ignore the world around us. Stop fighting for change, for equality and for a more perfect union.
It’s an incredibly easy path to take. However, it’s the decision of a child. Of someone who, like Achilles, is incapable of realizing that their actions — or lack thereof — will have a huge effect on everyone else in the fight.
Thanks to Achilles’ inaction, the Achaeans suffer huge losses. The war drags on far longer than necessary and results in an incredibly unnecessary loss of life.
If we choose inaction in the wake of a Trump presidency, we are choosing selfishness. We are choosing the instant gratification of blind rage in lieu of action, perseverance and tenacity.
It’s okay to be upset with the outcome of the election. I am — and more than I have words to express — but don’t follow in the footsteps of Achilles. Be angry, but do something about it. Get involved in politics. Work to register voters, to get the word out about policies you believe in.
In doing so, we can be angry, but perhaps not doomed.
acgroove@indiana.edu
