NOTES ON A THIEF OF TIME by Tony
Hillerman
This book and author
touches on a number of themes I have considered throughout my life. The major
motivation for each and every and all human endeavor might be described as
changing time, changing the meaning of the past consciously and unconsciously,
definitely changing the meaning of the future, and both therefore, in a very,
very complicated way, changing the meaning of the present. It would possibly
be helpful if one has dealt with the tremendous difficulties and profound and
unresolved emotional turmoil of Nietzsche=92s totally irrational but
simultaneously terrifyingly rational =91theory=92 of =93the Eternal Recurrence of
the Same,=94 but actually that may complicate things unnecessarily for some
people. For academic people that can only understand things academically, of
course, none of this will make any sense whatsoever.
The nature of time, to
express it bluntly, unforgivingly, and cruelly, is the bringing back to life
of the beloved dead, of changing the present hated nature of those one once
deeply loved by means of twisted philosophical interpretation, of firmly
predicting and truly believing in a future where justice will be served, the
evil properly punished and the good rewarded, the beloved dead brought back to
life, and the twisted and lost beloved untwisted and found, thereby giving the
present fullness and meaning. It means returning things to the =91same=92 where
the =91same=92 was when =93the world was as it should be=94 and everyone was happy and
loving each other. This isn=92t the =93case=94 as Wittgenstein would say
unforgivingly. Wittgenstein had the advantage =96 or disadvantage =96 of not
having such a =91same=92 to return to. =93Unforgiving=94 is the best way of describing
his thinking. He was neither cold nor cruel in his unforgivingness, but was
very passionate in it and many times deliberately desired to deeply hurt
others and never ever regretted this motivation. That he thoroughly understood
the central, key motivation of the irrational/rational =93Eternal Recurrence of
the Same=94 was expressed by him when he wrote in his private notebooks that he
would never believe in God until he was redeemed first. The utter
irrationality and impossibility of this desire perfectly expresses what
Nietzsche also was impossibly after and the whole concept of time as I
expressed it above that every human being, including obviously Wittgenstein
also, shares at least to some extent, shares in constant necessary rejection
if nothing else. You might even say it is the core grammar of language =96
except some languages and cultures escape it to some extent. Definitely
NOT
the Western, white man=92s culture of the value and language of success.
Hillerman=92s series of
Navajo mysteries has two Navajo Tribal policemen as heroes. Lieutenant Joe
Leaphorn and Sergeant Chee. Hillerman implicitly, but clearly intentionally,
states he has discovered a Navajo metaphysics and philosophy that is
definitely reflected through these two characters. Their primary
characteristic is that they are =93cool.=94 Not utterly detached and uncaring, but
able to stand back and observe and control their passions. In LISTENING WOMAN, Leaphorn,
while apprehending a Navajo wanted for stealing white men=92s sheep (=93They won=92t
miss them,=94 he says though obviously they did, but sheep are of fundamental
importance to Navajos who rely only upon =93the sufficient=94 to survive and do
not understand nor desire =96 as tribal Indians =96either profit
or success or wealth =96 which is why the white man and Indians who take up =93the
white way=94 call tribal Indians ignorant and lazy), stops a Navajo driving a
new Mercedes Benz for speeding, who smiles at him and says the traditional
=93What=92s the problem officer?=94 and then, when Leaphorn turns his back for a
moment, tries to run him down and escapes. Of course Leaphorn is thoroughly
pissed, but in the search he deliberately erases all other motives than
solving the puzzle of why someone would try to kill him for a simple traffic
violation. He even deputizes the sheep stealer and gives him a gun and who
promptly escapes when the search comes to a dead end, kindly leaving the gun
behind. With both Leaphorn and Chee they deliberately erase, not just forget,
interfering, trivial emotions and concentrate on what is important, on =93What
is the case.=94 This is a constant throughout the series. In other words, they
ALWAYS have a clear idea of
what the =93case=94 is. Things white people would always be intensely obsessed
with, they simply drop with the greatest of ease because they are =93lazy=94 and
=93ignorant=94 Indians, savages, without culture, without history, without
intelligence or ambition, or even cleanliness.
That is, they are always
concerned primarily, above absolutely anything else in the universe, with
balance within their own characters. Of course they have a history and a
culture. But it is oral, not written, with all of its advantages and
disadvantages, but most especially the
psychology of an oral culture. They take Aristotle=92s teaching about =93the
golden mean=94 and the general Delphic Greek saying =93Nothing in excess=94 to the
extreme. This includes happiness and close personal loss. This includes living
in the middle of trash, of a yard full of weeds, and a rusted car body on
blocks. Not exactly the image of the affluent yuppy. In ethics and primary
motivation this means they are not interested in judging others in the
vengeful white man=92s way of justice. Even the police have a relaxed attitude
toward what is considered =93property.=94 They can work around Kropotkin=92s =93All
property is theft=94 while compromising with the white man enough that he thinks
his property is protected. But property is never a primary value to them by
any means.
Punishment and
restoration (time, bringing things back to the way they were, which in a
partial sense is what punishment is suppose to do --- to restore the balance
of time --- if you cannot bring back the dead then kill the killer and restore
temporal balance) are never their goals. In this they deeply reflect
Nietzsche=92s thought on revenge as the root of morality --- and revenge as
simultaneously the root of all evil =96 an obsessive Western white man=92s way of
thinking. Maybe, then, there is something true to calling Nietzsche a
Buddhist. It is something so-called philosophers and scholars should have
already seriously considered but have rarely touched on and never in a
thorough and consistent fashion. This extreme desire for balance, for harmony
within oneself, disregarding any balance in =91objective reality=92, is also found
in another great American philosophical novelist, Thomas Harris, in his HANNIBAL and SILENCE OF THE LAMBS when
Doctor Lector retreats into his memory palace to escape disturbing and
distorting emotions and situations, and calmly and rationally considers his
situation, so by the end of HANNIBAL, one realizes he
is a person who is =91good=92 without in any way being =91good=92 and thus puts the
whole question of traditional ethics in a totally ludicrous aspect.
The Navajo solve murders
primarily because they are puzzles. At least these two policemen are obsessive
about connecting rational cause with effect and truly understanding =93What is
the case.=94 They solve murders
because the murderers may hurt more people. They do not solve murders simply
=93to bring people to justice=94 and punish them, i.e., to hurt them as they
deserve. In fact at one point in A THIEF OF TIME Leaphorn,
being escorted to his execution by the murderer, while talking about
anthropology and genetic drift (you learn a lot about the anthropology of
Southwest Indians from Hillerman who has not only won a literary prize from
the French but and award from the Navajos as =93special friend of the Navajos=94),
can easily confuse the reader because both Leaphorn=92s and the murderer=92s
motives for being in this situation are exactly the same =96 the murderer=92s love
for a living woman and Leaphorn=92s love for a dead woman.
=93I am not sure of your
motive for all this. Killing so many people.=94
=93Maxie told you that
day,=94 Elliot said. The good humor was suddenly gone, replaced by bitter anger.
=93What the hell can a rich kid do to impress
anyone?=94
=93Impress Maxie,=94 Leaphorn
said. =93A truly beautiful young woman.=94 And he was thinking, maybe I=92m like
you. I don=92t want this to go wrong now because of Emma. Emma put little value
on finding people to punish them. But this would really have impressed her.
You love a woman, you want to impress her. The male instinct. Hero finds lost
woman. The life saved. He didn=92t want it to go wrong now. But it had. In a
very little while, wherever and whenever it was most convenient, Randall
Elliot would kill Eleanor Friedman-Bernal and Joe Leaphorn. He could think of
nothing to prevent it.
Pp. 312-313, Harper
paperback, 1988.
This should remind one of
the prosecutor=92s interrogation of Raskolnikov.
Leaphorn and Chee
explicitly denigrate the motive of punishing others. They just don=92t want it
=93to go wrong.=94 They easily =91forget=92 smaller crimes to explain and prevent
major crimes. And they even =91forget=92 major crimes in the past if it saves
lives in the present. They deliberately keep their motives clear and
uncomplicated. They understand what they truly consider important and what the
price is to be paid for that. That means dropping things that most people
consider of overwhelming importance. In other words, they have absolutely no
interest in changing time.
The Navajo =91religion=92 has
no belief in an afterlife or a personal god. The sprits they =91believe=92 in are
definitely mortal in the long run. Lieutenant Leaphorn believes in nothing. He
is explicitely an atheist in Navajo terms and let us not even bring up
Christianity. He once believed in specific people but they are all dead.
Exactly Nietzsche=92s problem. Sergeant Chee explicitly knows his people=92s religious
heritage which he is hesitantly and haltingly learning is superstition, but he
also realizes it helps him keep balance and harmony in his character. Being
=91white=92 or being =91Indian=92 is not a matter of skin color or racial
characteristics or cultural inheritance. They are ways of living which they must
freely chosen between. Just like Sartre or Heidegger at the pure moment of
authenticity, a moment that is merely mythical in everyday reality, but on the
other hand, is almost impossible to not assume as somehow valid, however that
may be. Without any supporting external autonomous moral standard telling them
what is the =91good=92 way and what is the =91evil=92 way is. =93The white way=94 is
clearly recognized as not only something that bestows great and wonderful
benefits if used properly, but also is force an Indian has to recognize, deal
with, and accept to some extent even to stay a true tribal Navajo. Chee has
the opportunity to become a very successful white man in the white man=92s
world. He has not only graduated the
I am getting tired. Am
quitting here.
=91Sincerely=92
Gary C.
Moore
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