Meg Killion

Benjamin's "The Destructive Character" describes people who have "destructive characters." Benjamin feels that people with this destructive character are the origins of the deeper obligations endured in other people's lives. People who are "destructive characters" are only interested in the "clearing away" of everything, destroying even the traces of destruction. They seem always "young and cheerful" because they have destroyed even the traces of age. By destroying everything, he is able to vastly simplify the world--for them, ignorance is bliss. The destructive character is constantly at work, although their work is never creative, nor is it inspired by any sort of vision. This lack of vision goes so far as to exclude thoughts of what will fill this newly cleared space. The destructive character must be constantly surrounded by people in order to avoid thinking in any sort of creative, contemplative way. Despite his constant interaction with people, he has no interest in being understood and, as gossip is a symptom of a desire for understanding, he avoids gossip. He is reliable because he recognizes that something could go wrong at any point. Nothing is permanent for him; he is able to create pathways everywhere, even where other people see walls. Benjamin summarizes the destructive character as being one who "lives from the feeling, not that life is worth living, but that suicide is not worth the trouble." This statement seems particularly interesting in light of the fact that Benjamin himself committed suicide, albeit to escape the Nazis.

-The destructive character consists of both bad and good qualities. While Benjamin sees this as wholly negative, could some of the character's good qualities, such as reliability, exist on their own in a positive way?

-What sort of people in contemporary times have this "destructive character?"

-How do these destructive characters create the obligations in other's lives?

-In the first paragraph, Benjamin discusses the realization that the obligations in ones life originate in destructive characters. Is the fact that many of life's obligations are brought about by these sorts of people a bad thing, or could the type of motivation brought on by these obligations be worthwhile?