"The Enemy Within" - Kirk the freak?

[Ragitsu]

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. He could wish all the best to his crew, but if he doesn't have the ability to take decisive action, all is lost, barring an act of God.

I think of genuine pacifists and other conscientious objectors who never raised a fist yet either put themselves in harm's way (during protests, for instance) or accepted jail time if there was indeed a penalty for avoiding conscription. A distinction ought to be made between assertiveness and aggression. These folks are rare, but they do exist.

For all his bellicose posturing (and the genuine threat he represented, to be fair), Evil Kirk was petty in ways that displayed insecurity. Interesting to note is that when it came time to fuse the halves together in order to restore the Captain, Good Kirk was the model of calmness/acceptance whereas Evil Kirk was no longer quite so brazenly macho.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

You do what you can to help, with the abilities given to you by God. Desmond Doss didn't shoot a gun in World War II, yet he saved many lives by being a combat medic. You need not take the action some might demand/wish of you, but you should act where able and warranted.

Kirk has the rank of captain, the role of Enterprise's first in command, Starfleet training, and the natural ability to do what he can and does.

 

[Timofnine]

After an anxious wait, Kirk is beamed back on to the transporter pad as ‘one’… he is ‘whole again’. But is this the ‘good’ Kirk or the ‘bad’ one? This is a silly question of course as we know that it is *both*. This Kirk still has his scratches off Rand you see. Kirk has also seen a part of himself that *no one* should ever see.

We are given a confusing final scene which I assume is a product of it’s times where Rand attempts to talk to Kirk on the bridge, he dismisses her. Rand is quite taken a back by this. Reporting to Spock instead he states suggestively “The ‘imposter’ had some interesting qualities don’t you think, Yeoman”. As if insinuating that she might have somehow ‘liked’ her past encounter with him and the qualities shown… but I shall leave this one there.

Quotes from my review of the episode here if anyone is interested in reading it.

 

[Ragitsu]

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Isn't that quote intended for people who are of the opinion that their actions serve some sort of good but their moral heuristics are screwed up instead of truly good people that happen to be in a rotten situation?

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Okay, maybe that wasn't the right quote. My intention is to say that you can have all the desire in the world to do good, but it's useless if you don't act.

 

[Commander Troi]

It's kind of a depressing message if it is indeed speaking about the human condition: everyone is a potential rapist held in check by another personality.

Having watched again not too long ago, I disagree. I think the message is simply that we're all capable of both good and evil actions - it's our choices that define us - and that traits we tend to think of as "bad" or "good" aren't that black & white. For example, agressiveness can be acted out in harmful or helpful ways.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

It's kind of a depressing message if it is indeed speaking about the human condition: everyone is a potential rapist held in check by another personality.

No. That's explicitly not what the episode says.

"Evil Kirk" is not Kirk. Kirk is not a potential rapist. There is a personality inside Kirk, that we're calling "Evil Kirk," that, if separated from the rest of Kirk's personality, is a rapist. But that enemy within is not Kirk. Neither is Kirk what we're calling "Good Kirk," the rest. Kirk is more than either. He is both, but only when they are combined.

The enemy within is not Kirk. The episode is not saying that everyone is a potential rapist.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

No. That's explicitly not what the episode says.

"Evil Kirk" is not Kirk. Kirk is not a potential rapist. There is a personality inside Kirk, that we're calling "Evil Kirk," that, if separated from the rest of Kirk's personality, is a rapist. But that enemy within is not Kirk. Neither is Kirk what we're calling "Good Kirk," the rest. Kirk is more than either. He is both, but only when they are combined.

The enemy within is not Kirk. The episode is not saying that everyone is a potential rapist.

That's right. In a previous thread, I explained it with a chemistry analogy:
https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/star-trek-tos-re-watch.309313/page-12#post-14229108
Kirk is a compound, not an element.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

That's right. In a previous thread, I explained it with a chemistry analogy:
https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/star-trek-tos-re-watch.309313/page-12#post-14229108
Kirk is a compound, not an element.

That's a great analogy.

Evil Kirk is to Kirk as pure sodium metal (Na) is to table salt (NaCl).
[...]
Sodium is explosive and chlorine is poisonous, while sodium chloride is an essential nutrient.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

If I might be permitted to bring VOY into this...the conversation between Kes and Tuvok in "Cold Fire" is very similar to what we're talking about here:

"To be honest, I never want to see that part of myself again."
"To which part are you referring?"
"To the part of me which got pleasure from destroying the plants in the airponics bay. To the part of me that was tempted to go with Tanis. I never realized I had such dark impulses."
"Without the darkness, how would we recognize the light? Do not fear your negative thoughts. They are part of you. They are a part of every living being, even Vulcans."
"You?"
"The Vulcan heart was forged out of barbarism and violence. We learned to control it, but it is still part of us. To pretend it does not exist is to create an opportunity for it to escape."