Deliverance

James Parshotam
I lower my head, not in shame, but in pride at the nobility of my dreams and aspirations. I walked
these streets with the stature of a god. Yet although I am not a god and merely a man, I have done
that which no others were capable of. Have I not earned my glory? Have I not earned the respect
of those who I sought to save, who now turn on me?! I brought them the democracy that they so
fiercely demanded, I was the salvation of which their meagre existences were so deprived!
Is this the harbinger of solace? That all that I have now, is that which I have in common with the
people; the silence marked only by unheard thoughts, never to be acknowledged or pondered.
Merely squandered, under the iron boot of an ungrateful and savage populous.
Is it not the burden of the more capable, to exact justice as they see fit? To many that would seem
an arbitrary abuse of power, but in a time of such civil unrest marked by a consensus of morbidity,
is a guiding hand not to the benefit of the masses? Despite all that has transpired, I was elected
against my wishes, taking the position in service of the people who appointed me. Can one
condemn me for enveloping the duty into the essence of my existence, letting my obligation to the
people define my purpose? I remain steadfast in my conviction, that it is the trial and tribulation of a
ruler to carry forth with determination, to actualise the grander future that I alone envision.
I was the peoples shield against the regimes tyranny, their condemnable treatment of the people
justifying my course. I implored them not to assume that force would incur the change that we all
coveted, that it would only trigger a dictatorship that would once again ensnare the people in the
chains that once restrained it, eternally vying to assert control over the minds of its inferiors.
However in my time of reflection, I see that in the eyes of the people, I have become that which I
abhorred. Even now my life is dedicated only to the prosperity of my subservients, and I retain
conviction in the incorruptibility of my beliefs. However my actions suggest otherwise, that this
delusion casts an overbearing shadow on my accomplishments. For when has a ruler known
oneself to be evil, nefarious, and malign? Ive remained resolute in my purpose; was my motive not
serving the interest of justice, although were others to do as Ive done they would be condemned
by the masses, the malevolence of my actions have dragged those corrupted back to the hell from
whence it came.
Alas, the time for discourse has reached its end and the people vehemently refuse to endure it
further. Much to my chagrin, in my final moments I understand the vitriol of my creations, the
madness and rage that I inflicted and infected upon the soul of this nation, and in the flames that I
sparked, hear those I considered my subjects tumultuously chant my name Robespierre.
And the guillotine falls