Workbook on Jehanne

Unlike the workbook I use for my novel in progress, the one I have for Jehanne has dated entries.

I wrote this on 12th August 2003.

The Nature of Hatred

We have a family quarrel here fuelled by the basest of human emotions – hatred, vengeance, the desire for power, betrayal and lust.

Hatred can be momentary. It can lead to the quick, violent murder of another person. But true hatred is never quick. It is nurtured through generations as it feeds on itself and grows and then slowly passes from parent to child – from birth to death to a new birth.

Hatred becomes a gene imprinted on each succeeding generation until the circle is broken.

From the time of Edward III of England’s failure to claim the throne of France, both countries have been one big dysfunctional family riven by hatred and rivalry. As two siblings will lash out at each other with sticks, these family members used their subjects in the game of ‘my army is bigger than your army’ that we know better as The Hundred Years War.

By the time of Jehanne, the French sibling was on his knees, broken and bleeding, half-surrendered and half-willing to fight on. That sibling had been cursed but desperation finally lent him motivation.

Lift the curse. Find victory. Find hope. Tell the people what they want to hear. All is not lost. We have our saviour.

All the sibling had to do next was find this saviour. The human mind is capable of infinite scheemes when pushed far enough.