Summary

The article "Living Under the Fisher King" draws a parallel between the suffering of a mythological king and the consequences of Donald Trump's presidency, suggesting that America is experiencing a metaphorical blight due to Trump's corruption and lies, akin to the suffering of a land under a wounded king.

Abstract

"Living Under the Fisher King" is a poignant modern parable that reflects on the human tendency to seek someone to blame for catastrophes, particularly in the context of American politics and disasters. The author equates the Trump presidency with the plight of the Fisher King, a figure from Arthurian legend who is unable to fulfill his duty to protect the Holy Grail due to an incurable wound. This wound, symbolizing corruption and moral failing, renders the king impotent to serve his people, much like the author perceives Trump's presidency. Trump's habitual lies and self-serving actions are depicted as a contagion that afflicts America, leading to a decline in the economy, international reputation, and public health. The article suggests that Trump's narcissism and inability to prioritize the well-being of the nation over his own interests have resulted in widespread suffering and division among Americans.

Opinions

The author believes that blaming political or moral enemies for disasters is a common human reaction, as seen in reactions to events like 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and the Haiti earthquake.
There is a critique of the tendency to attribute disasters to the moral failings of the victims, which the author finds to have biblical precedents.
The author expresses a newfound understanding of the desire for mythological explanations for suffering, but instead of blaming fellow citizens, they see Trump as a modern Fisher King whose personal failings are causing national distress.
Trump is portrayed as a leader

Living Under the Fisher King

A tragic modern parable

When terrible things happen, people look for someone to blame. This is true with individual tragedies, like house fires. This is even more true in the case of large-scale disasters, like floods, hurricanes, or terrorist attacks. The emotional response is very human: I’ve been hurt, it must be somebody’s fault.

In recent American history, there’s been a pattern of doing this and blaming one’s political or moral enemies for the disaster. For example, after the terrorist attack on 9/11, Jerry Falwell blamed homosexuals, pagans, and the ACLU. After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, Pastor John Hagy blamed this on the general level of sin in the city. And after the earthquake in Haiti, Pat Robertson claimed it happened because the people had made a pact with the devil.

It is easy for secular, supposedly sophisticated Americans to roll their eyes at this easy supernatural blaming. However, there is biblical precedent for this: both the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the great flood happened in the Christian Bible due to the sinfulness of mankind.

And you know what? Living under the Donald Trump regime, I’m starting to understand where they’re coming from. I too want a mythological or supernatural explanation for all the evil happening to my people. However, rather than blaming my fellow citizens for their sin, I feel like I finally know what it is like to live under the regime the Fisher King.

The Fisher King is a legend from the Arthurian tradition. In this story, a king who has the responsibility of safeguarding the holy Grail is wounded with an incurable illness. He cannot stand, and spends his days simply fishing. Many knights visit him, trying to heal his condition. They all fail. He continues to suffer, and his land suffers with him. His entire country suffers famine and pestilence because of his affliction.

That is the situation in which America finds itself now.

Donald Trump is our Fisher King. He received a sacred charge, and he is the most recent president to do so. His position calls him to stand proudly and protect freedom. However, Trump’s soul is wounded, with an incurable illness.

Rather than a physical wound, he bears the blight of corruption in his heart. There’s a reason newspapers keep track of his thousands upon thousands of lies. Trump lies habitually, as a matter of course, as naturally as breathing. His lies poison the land, and the people he should serve suffer as a result.

In the legend of the Fisher King, because of his wound, all the king can do is fish (hence the name). Because of Trump’s wound, all he can do is tweet. In many ways, it is worse than the situation with the Fisher King, because the king may have poisoned his entire land, through his injury, but it is a quiet, passive, suffering. Trump’s tweets run through the land like an active contagion, infecting everyone with a Twitter account.

The Fisher King’s wound is in his leg, specifically his thigh, which many take as a way of suggesting the Fisher King is impotent. The Twitter King’s condition is worse. He can father children, but his corruption flows through them, so they are all as evil as his illness. They are living lies. A legacy of living lies.

When Percival (one of Arthur’s knights) visited the Fisher King, he asked the suffering king a question: “Who does the Grail serve?” The Fisher King showed his wound was as much spiritual as physical when he could not answer this question.

Trump displays a similar failing every day, by answering the question not with silence, but with ego. Donald Trump’s America serves him, and no one else. And America sickens as a response.

The economy has crumbled.

America’s reputation around the world is tainted.

And the American people, who Trump should serve, die by thousands, due to the coronavirus and the armed violence of Trump supporters.

This is life under the American Fisher King.

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