Is human nature bad? Would we kill for the greater good? Even when the greater good will turn out to be egoism? Paulo Coelho asks us this when reading his book The Devil and Miss Prym. A small village full of hard-working people is offered a great opportunity that could save them from their good but boring lives. But they have to kill someone. Anybody. Chantal Prym is the messenger of this deal, made up by a strangers that stays in the village for a week, whether she wants it or not. She starts struggling with good and bad, angels and devils. The villagers are struggling to get the possible murder justified. All because of the stranger, he wants to know if human nature is bad.
While reading, you can’t escape asking yourself the same question. Will they kill someone? Is it possible to murder when you take somebody’s innocent live? Would I be able to do that?
The answer is mostly frightening: we don’t know, but we will all try to get our choice justified, whether you kill are not. As soon as you suceeded in justifying, you could do anything.
To know how it ends, read the book, you probably won’t regret. It’s written in an accessible way, it doesn’t feel as a ‘heavy’ book. At the same time it makes you doubt human standerds, human moral, compassion and choices.
Would you kill for a better live, even when you always liked your ‘old’ live?