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Dalton Trumbo wrote; "A man does not say I will starve myself to death to keep from starving. He does not say I will spend all my money in order to save my money. He doesn't say I will burn my house down in order to keep it from burning..."
It is easy to miss the beauty of this declaration. It is not the futility at issue, it is the stubborn defiance, the blind recalcitrance. No, one can not save money by squandering it, or thrive through one's starvation, but when Trumbo treads into destruction with the burning of the house, the focus shifts from mocking the foolish to fearing the ferocious.
Far beyond the nihilistic principle that would indicate "those who have nothing have nothing to lose," beyond the tempting justification that once one acquires something of value, one becomes a slave to its preservation; Trumbo touches – perhaps accidentally – on a far darker truth:
Is it not better to suffer by one's own hand than cowering at the hand of another? Is it not a source of pride to control one's actions to the very end, to refuse the mantle of victimization?
More honorable to slit one's own throat than to be murdered by the enemy.
More dignified to starve than to be fed shit.
Braver to dive from the cliffside than to be pushed.
If you will burn my house, than I shall burn it first, and deny you the satisfaction. I shall not debase myself defending petty things, for I have transcended brinksmanship. This, it would seem, is the way of the warrior.
Which brings us back to Trumbo, and the root of his disgust for the warrior. How can one negotiate with a warrior, a person whose values are alien? It takes another warrior, one who speaks the language.
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