Barbara and Goliath

 


This is the way things always have been. It’s always been David and Goliath. The least likely, dirty, smelly, sheep herding child against the sure-to-win, powerful giant. This has always been the way. And it’s not about the victory; it’s about the struggle. Victory is fleeting. Struggle endures.

I’ve been reading the murder mystery book series by Kate Wilhelm written between the 1990s into the 2010s. The protagonist, Barbara Holloway, is a criminal lawyer disillusioned with the justice system that is so easily manipulated by greedy, self-interested, powerful, wealthy, elites. She literally takes the law into her hands to advocate for the innocent, the outcast, and the vulnerable.

Just like history is often written by the victors, laws were written by those in power to favour them and maintain the status quo that maintained their hegemony. It’s a conspiracy that hides in plain sight through authority, legitimizing atrocities with impunity.

Barbara agonizes over her own manipulation of the law and hiding truths that if exposed would spell the end of innocent lives through wrongful accusation or imprisonment. It’s this act of conscience, the risk to her life and reputation, her purpose to save innocent lives that gives her “underdog-David” status. It’s all about the struggle.


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