A Vaudeville of Devils

Reviewed by Matthew Rosen

Morality \Mo*ral"i*ty\, n.; The relation of conformity or nonconformity to the moral standard or rule; quality of an intention, a character, an action, a principle, or a sentiment, when tried by the standard of right.

Judged against this stark definition, life's myriad choices become fixed in the glaring contrast of right or wrong, to be or not to be, as Hamlet questioned. Yet, in the more yielding passing of our day-to-day existence we discover the intricate tapestry of infinite possibilities, creating in it the maze of morale indecision which plague man. The tribulations increase exponentially as each new situation gives rise to an interminable cycle of corollaries and consequences.

It is the navigation of this intricate mental minefield to which Robert Girardi directs his most recent collection of short works. An eclectic assortment of seven short tales assembled to drown the reader in the well of moral depravity only to be driven to the zenith of rectitude.

The reader is plunged into the cold, Teutonic, Nazi front as it is perceived through the eyes of a SS officer commanded to execute the destruction of "subversive" artists in the heart of World War II. The reader is forced to grapple with the challenges that face this soldier as he tries to find justification to this senseless violence in "The Demons Tormenting Untersturmführer Hans Otto Graebner".

Girardi, navigating this twisted landscape, then hurls the reader across time and space to a corporate executive faced with endorsing a merger that will net him great personal fortune but at the expense of the workers that he maintains.

From a man who watches an exploding landscape from within a decadent macabre last supper, to two men searching for a mythical treasure at the bottom of the sea while competing for the love of the expedition leader's daughter, these seven tales charge the reader to stretch his/her capacity of reason to its furthest boundaries. It challenges the way in which the reader perceives his/her own daily occurrences and to reexamine the delicate equilibrium with which he/she maintain their own scales of morality.

In one of the most poignant works in the book, "The Defenestration of Aba Sid," the reader is asked to walk the precarious edge of morality that faces an attorney when he is given the undertaking of defending a mafia king pin accused of murder. The story challenges the reader to determine how far must one go to give the benefit of innocence and at what expense is justice best served.

What work on morality would be complete without the inclusion of god? In "Sunday Evenings at Contessa Pasquali's," we are given the thought provoking insights of the author into the controversial realm of divine morality. We find his insights in the form of a priest lamenting over the hardships that face the soul when it departs the physical realm and is forced to account for the actions of the preceding week and to cast its gaze ahead at the opportunities and challenges of the forthcoming week. The priest comments, "God is the only remedy…without God the world is a vaudeville of devils. An absorbed carnival full of people fornicating to no purpose and shooting each other over a joke."

It is from this passage, which Robert Girardi takes the title for this work, "A Vaudeville of Devils" and provides a very fitting commentary on the state of societies' morals. In the end there has to be a higher authority to which one must concede. If not, then the fallible nature of mortal man will lead to no good end. No body of eternal morals can ever be conceived of flesh and blood, for no individual is ever above himself or herself to the extent that they are absolute and free of all prejudice and bias.

These narratives lead man to that extent. To discover that ultimately there will be a reckoning that will deem us responsible for our actions. Actions, which we are in turn, required to defend or at the very least justify. This delicate tapestry of morale struggle is spread out before us, the full spectrum of indecision here to be observed. In these seven tales, the reader is faced with challenges of every nature. The purpose must be beyond the pleasure of a good read; the purpose is for every man to discover that beacon of morality within him, to affix their moral compass to that point and in doing such, merit a salvation from this tumultuous labyrinth. Robert Girardi provides a gripping and diverse work that challenges the reader to examine the ethical status quo and to re-evaluate his or her own morality.

The morality of an action is founded in the freedom of that principle, by virtue of which it is in the agent's power, having all things ready and requisite to the performance of an action, either to perform or not perform it.