Snowed In and Reading

Machiavelli by Ross King

After reading the very long history of the Renaissance by Ada Palmer, I decided to read a biography of one of the most memorable characters of the era. Machiavelli: Philosopher of Power by Ross King is a wonderful study of a complex man. Over time, politically motivated opinion-makers have converted his memory to a caricature, especially because of his notorious book The Prince and its most famous quote that isn’t really there: “The ends justify the means.”

I enjoyed learning the details of a highly accomplished political man and the complex forces in the many political entities in Italy in his time. Here is a long quote about what Machiavelli said about morality and the obligation one has to do good and follow moral principles:

Machiavelli … does not hold that this conventional morality is entirely practical in the brutal world of Italian politics. “The gulf between how one should live and how one does live is so wide,” he writes, “that a man who neglects what is actually done for what should be done moves toward self-destruction rather than self-preservation.”

Nostrums having to do with keeping oaths and showing mercy are all very laudable on paper, but the man who transfers these moral precepts into the political arena will find himself drastically compromised. Machiavelli offers a new approach to political morality: “The fact is that a man who wants to act virtuously in every way necessarily comes to grief among so many who are not virtuous. Therefore if a prince wants to maintain his rule he must be prepared not to be virtuous, and to make use of this, or not, according to his need.” Qualities that the world considers virtues will lead a leader to ruin, while those regarded as vices will often bring safety and prosperity. Good leadership requires a prince to “know how to do evil.” (King, p. 156)

The Maid by Nita Prose

Molly, the narrator of this novel, is a maid in a luxury hotel whose observations of the vast gap between herself and the very entitled guests create an amusing read. However, the gap between Molly and the people whose rooms she cleans is not just amusing, it implies that you should think about the way society privileges you (assuming that you sometimes are in the position of the guests). 

Molly’s  observations include lots of unflattering details about the guests and their possessions. I like this one: “Isn’t it interesting how luxury has an unmistakable scent, as unmistakable as fear or death?” (p. 141)

Is the US a class-based society? As I read The Maid, I found this question both directly and indirectly a motivation throughout much of the story. Both Molly and her recently-deceased grandmother felt that working as hotel maids was their vocation, and they had a commitment to doing a really good job. The other workers in the hotel were vividly described in Molly’s narrative, in contrast to the way they acted as if they were invisible — and were really unseen by the guests. 

The novel is not just a study of the work done by the employees of a hotel: it also tells a story about a rather dramatic death of a hotel guest, about a complex criminal network that took advantage of the hotel, and of how Molly (working with several of her co-employees) basically sleuths out the details of the criminal activities, how they happened, and who was responsible. Altogether, this makes the book hold one’s interest though it’s pretty long — to me it was worth reading.

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