The Victims' Side

Tarrou finally tells Rieux his whole life story. He had joined movements that promised to fight death and found that they too passed death sentences. He discovered that even the well-intentioned help kill at a distance, through logic that sounds airtight at the time. Out of all that disillusion he salvaged one rule.

Notice what the rule is not. No theory of history is on offer here, and no program for remaking the world. Tarrou has given up on maps and adopted a compass.

He no longer claims to know where events are heading or which doctrine is finally correct. He claims only to know one thing in any situation, who is bearing the damage. Stand there, and work to make the damage smaller.

Notice also the modesty of the goal. Reduce, not abolish. Tarrou promises no rescue of the world, only subtraction from its harm. And the phrase in every predicament matters most of all. Not just in politics or plagues. In office disputes, in family quarrels, in every room where power is unevenly spread.

Use the compass once. In whatever conflict crosses your path, ask first who is being damaged, and let your weight land on that side. You do not need certainty about anything else.