Intentions and Actions
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| The Bishop and Jean Valjean |
I have had to apologise many times in my youth.
A friend once complained that I had
been rather rude to him. In those days, I had no idea that people were so very
sensitive. I was insensitive, in other words. “Rude? Me?” I was perplexed,
genuinely. “I had no intention of being rude. I’m sorry.”
“That’s quite comforting,” he said. “Unfortunately,
I was on the receiving end of your intention.”
I recall the episode years later.
The point does matter. I had been judging
myself by what was happening inside my head, while my friend had been judging
me by what had happened to him. In my version of the incident, I was a perfectly
decent guy who had merely been misunderstood. In his version, my action revealed
my insensitivity.
When we judge ourselves,
we put our intentions in the witness box. When we judge others, we put their
actions there.
In other words: For ourselves, we say:
Judge me by what I meant. For others, se say: Judge them by what they did.
The most uncomfortable truth: Both
sides may be partly right. Intention does matter. Remember the bishop in the
story of Jeal Valjean in Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables?
Valjean, as a convict, is treated as
a dangerous animal by everyone. After his release, the bishop gives him
shelter. Valjean steals the bishop’s silverware and is caught by the police.
The bishop saves him, however, by telling a lie. The bishop tells the police
that he had gifted the silver to the man.
The bishop’s intention matters
enormously here. The lie he tells saves the soul of a person.
Actions tell us what happened.
Intentions tell us what the action meant. The theft acquired a totally
different meaning just because of the bishop’s intention.
I used to tell my students repeatedly
to judge a character in their stories by their motives rather than by their
actions. Doctor Sadao, in the story titled The Enemy by Pearl S Buck, would
be a traitor to his nation if we judged him by his action of saving the life of
an enemy soldier and also letting him escape. But when we understand his motive
(intention) rooted in deep humanity, the meaning of what he did changes. The
meaning of patriotism too changes!
We need to exercise great caution
here, however. Intentions do not always excuse actions. Sometimes they condemn
them.
I’m tempted to mention what the
Chinese government did a six-year-old boy and his family. Back in 1995. The
Dalai Lama recognised the boy as the reincarnation of the 10th
Panchen Lama. He would be the next Dalai Lama. But the Chinese government
wanted their own man to be the next Dalai Lama. So they took the boy and his
family into custody. Later, another boy was declared the Panchen Lama. The Dalai
Lama’s own choice has never been publicly seen since.
Intentions and motives are quite
complicated the moment you enter the political milieu.
Great! Tomichan. I thought I was back in my Law Classes. " Mens Rea" - the Intention behind the action, if proved to be good, beyond doubt, the accused is acquitted. And, " Audire Alteram Partem. " - Hear the other part/ Part. He or she has the right to be heard. And it is a foundational principle of Natural Justice, which Law upholds tenaciously. Thanks for the autobiographical piece. And I am kept wondering, why this piece, came as a break and a bolt from the blue, your reminiscence as trigger, not withstanding. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteActually judging anyone becomes a complex task because of the intentions involved. Understanding, more than critical observation, is required for happy coexistence.
DeleteI like how you explained the difference between intention and action. The story of the bishop and Valjean makes it easy to see how motives can change the meaning of what someone does. A clear and thoughtful piece.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear this.
DeleteIntentions do matter, but they are often invisible. When others look at our actions, they can see only the actions, while our intentions are invisible to them -- exactly like when we look at the actions of others. You cannot see inside someone else's head.
ReplyDeleteJudging characters in stories is a different matter, of course, since the author may choose to describe the character's intention, but unfortunately reality doesn't work that way.
I agree it is easier to understand the motives of fictional characters. We're not given such insights into the intentions of real people around us. If only we could understand them better... As Francois Mauriac says in one story, God is able to endure our world because he understands us!
DeleteIt's tricky. Good intentions should be looked at as such. But bad intentions that turn out good...
ReplyDeleteThe road to hell is paved with good intentions!
DeleteI think intentions do matter. But we cannot get inside someone's head to know what they are thinking. Actions are much clearer, though. Thank you so much for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. Tough job trying to understand the intentions of other people.
DeletePeople lie about their intentions all the time, so if I don’t know someone, I will judge by their actions. Of course, it’s often the case that we don’t actually need to judge others, and we should instead look to improve our own behavior…
ReplyDeleteMost of the time, if at all we can know others' intentions that's indirectly only.
DeleteHari OM
ReplyDeleteWhile I appreciate your drawing distinction between intention and action... from your opening prompt there is something else to be understood. In an interaction between people, we may say or do something in our own usual fashion, but another, whose life experiences or expectations differ for any amount of reasons, can only receive/perceive (interpret) according to those parameters and may, therefore, feel hurt, insulted, attacked... in that situation you had not placed any 'intention'. You would not seek to have injured the other party, but if that is how they chose to react, then some responsibility in the interaction falls to them. As you say a few lines down, you were in your own head and it is no job of the other to understand that.
It is somewhat different from the examples given, where the protaganists put thought (intention) into their words or deeds. In other words, intention requires aforethought, because intention also means there is expectation of an outcome. That is generally not the case in our daily interactions and conversations, when we tend to be unguarded. An intention is an aim, purpose, or a plan to do something and it is doubtful that was what was happening in the incident you recall. It served well to provide fodder for one of your mindful posts, though! YAM xx
Thank you, Yamini, for the detailed comment. I do agree on the difference between doing things with conscious awareness and otherwise. Many of our actions are not performed with such awareness. But in a novel, we can still understand the motive because we know the characters well enough: that's a good writer's job. We know that Hugo's bishop cannot but do what he did to Valjean.
DeleteThat way, I am not surprised at what China did to the boy who was to be the future Dalai Lama. We could all expect that too. That was the connection I had in mind. But I know I didn't express it well enough. I wrote this post after a rather sleepless night, you can see the time of its posting.
Huh. I've not heard of that story but I am not surprised at all. Crazy how these powerful people operate.
ReplyDeleteYou mean China? Haven't they always been "crazy"?
Delete