Character

What is Character?

No, not an avatar in a story. What is character, as in an attribute? Why does it matter? Why should it matter?

Ever since I was a small boy, character has been something my father has attempted to imprint on my being. "Character is what you do when nobody else is around," he'd always say. That illustrious 'way to be.' That grandiose perfection that seems so unattainable, and at the same time, so sought after.

Character is defined as a feature of integrity, or, a moral/ethical quality. One's reputation. Honesty, courage, thrift, reverence, loyalty, friendliness, obedience, and cleanliness are just a few examples of what would make up the character of a man (or woman). These are the moral and ethical principals that we base our lives upon, what helps to shape our perspectives, our interactions, and our responses to our world. Our character is what defines us among our peers, our superiors, and especially to those we have been placed above. Dad would say that, "You can tell the character of an employer by the way he treats those he employs." 


Okay, okay Coqui. We've heard that same thing forever. Why does it matter?

This is why it should matter: our world is morally and ethically bankrupt. Where character once was celebrated, it's now looked on as archaic, meaningless, passe. But how can something so integral to our being be passe? That's ridiculous! What if I told you that your arms were meaningless? Your sight was passe. To have something that is fundamentally human be written off as archaic is hopelessly silly, and smacks of the greatest lack of thought. What you are cannot, and should not, be changed. Shouldn't that be a rallying cry in today's world? If everything else in the world is accepted, why is character thrown under the bus? Why are virgins looked down on? Why are crooked politicians celebrated while good men who achieve greater things unknown? Why does evil continue to triumph, and good wane?

Character isn't only a moral compass; it's who you are. So, how are you going to define yourself? With the broken morals of modernity? Is there something greater?

-Coqui