Jack Reacher - Cult Hero

While on holiday, I read a trashy novel in the Jack Reacher series – No Plan B. A Jack Reacher thriller sells somewhere every nine seconds. What is the appeal?

In short, Reacher is a one-man vigilante. He rights wrongs, stands up for the innocent and powerless, defeats evil, and brings justice.

Behind this sits deep assumptions. People are self-seeking. Society needs rules and law enforcement to maintain order. Certain individuals somehow come to live outside or above the law and perpetrate great injustice and abuse. Someone must stop them.

Behind these ideas sits the philosophising of Thomas Hobbes (1588-1649). Hobbes lived through the execution of King Charles the 1st. Hobbes reckons that, left unchecked, humans are prone to competition, pursuing selfish ends at the expense of others, and ultimately war. We are deeply flawed creatures.

And yet we desire peace. We forgo some of our natural rights and freedoms so that the state can enforce shared rights and wrongs, bringing peace and order.

At the opposite end of the spectrum is Rousseau (1712-1788). He believes people are born intrinsically good. We have an innate care for ourselves and others. It is society that messes us up. It reinforces ideas like comparisons, competition, and getting ahead.

These two ideas continue to compete. The political right-wing emphasises getting tough on crime and stopping illegal migrants because it has Hobbesian assumptions. The political left emphasises assuming people are basically good when not corrupted by religion, capitalism, or consumerism. Limiting the influence of big institutions brings social freedom and harmony.

Are people bad and need restraining by society, or are people good and society corrupts? Christians see insight in both. We are fallen, and created in God’s image.

At present, it feels like the left is in ascendancy. But Jack Reacher’s popularity suggests Hobbesian assumptions also prevail.

By Rev. David Rietveld