Natasa said:
<In Blake's case, I am not referring only to his realization about the
evil
nature of the Federation. Blake is not just forced to face the horrors of the world around him. He is also forced to understand and experience the dark recesses of his own mind.>
Yes, but to the extent that fictional characters can have real lives, if you see what I mean, Travis is not just Blake's animus, but a real and powerful person who can have a strong negative impact on the world--I mean, if Travis had been dead, he couldn't be chucking strontium grenades around in Pressure Point, could he?
I do think that it a strong part *of* his refusal to kill Travis and Servalan. He doesn't enjoy killing, ever. With them, there is the very
real
possibility he *would* enjoy it, and it's important to him that he never reach that point.
But as long as you are involved in a war, you're GOING to kill people, and the question is whether the people you enjoy killing deserved to be killed or not. This line of thought reminds me a little of H.L. Mencken's dig that the Puritans disapproved of bearbaiting not because of the pain to the bear but the pleasure to the spectators.
As you said, he knows his own dark side and is determined to keep it under control (witness also his refusal to consider controlling Star One, because "that sort of power would corrupt anyone," himself included.
I just keep thinking of the (still alive) tropical fruit farmers saying, Damn, that Blake sure is corrupt and not minding compared to the alternative. Maybe, like Cathleen ni Houlihan selling her soul to the devil to buy bread for her tenants, he should have been willing to undergo the corruption to prevent mass deaths.
-(Y)