Change
Just because someone had committed evil acts in the past, does that mean that he will never be able to change? As the old saying goes, "A leopard never changes its spots.", but it does not apply to everyone, does it? I was reading The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith, (hands down the best history crime fiction writer ever) and the main character in the story, Leo, was a KGB agent during the Stalin era and had sent many innocent people to the gulags where they were brutally tortured and died. He changed, however, after solving the murder of 44 children and had set up a homicide department, hoping to work with equality and fairness and not having to be subjected to the State's political control. While I understand the deeply-rooted hatred and abhorrence the throngs of victims had towards the KGB agents, in which this case, Leo, we must not fail to consider the fact that he was under the control of Stalin. It was either he and his family members dying or the revealed names of those supposed dissidents. We are well aware of Stalin's paranoia and his extremity in dealing with anybody who would even slightly question his ruling, so it is completely understandable that the KGB agents have no choice but to carry out orders. It's the State's orders. It's Stalin's orders. When Fraera found Leo, she grabbed him by the collar and told him, "You do not deserve to be loved, and just because you have left KGB, it doesn't meant that you are not who you used to be and I will never forgive you for betraying Loraz and the church." I started thinking, was it right for Fraera to be exacting revenge on Leo? If she were rational, she would be declaring war against the State, those politicians who were tightly-knit with Stalin and not be killing the KGB agents because they were just doing their job. It was the same for Fraera's followers. Were they to disobey her orders, they would be killed by her, so it was either they committed those atrocities and crimes, or they face death. It was an easy decision; commit those crimes. She is now the same as Leo, so what gives her the right to be despising him? And just because he used to send the supposed dissidents and priests and teachers to the gulags, does it mean that he doesn't have the right to be loved? Everyone deserves to be loved, no matter how malicious he or she is. Love can change so many things. If we were to deny a person of love, then what would the person be living for? Hatred? Anguish? Anger? Are those the emotions a person should be living for? Such negative emotions being prophecized, I suppose it is obvious how a person would turn out to be.