Discourse on Promises

As I pondered and searched for an opportunity to add to our wonderful discussion, I was distracted by the outside world. A thief had robbed my thoughts from me. Not given to despair, I conducted an extravagant search in which I could have in no way been thwarted by my enemy. My search ended in triumph beneath my bed when I found Chesterton’s novel The Man Who Was Thursday.

I began thumbing through the book and was at once reminded of an oddity within the pages thereof. It is incredibly obvious that each of the men upon the Supreme Council of Anarchist had at some point in their lives taken a vow never to disclose that they were policemen. It is this vow which I had intended to discuss, and now upon the rediscovery of my senses, that desire remains the same.

Almost before his adventure ever begins, Syme is forced to secrecy by our friend, the good anarchist Gregory. As is indicated later in the novel, our Mr. Syme was not the only character to take such a vow. It would appear that all of the Days had made such a promise; a promise which would force them to never tell the police about the Council.

“What does this mean!?” I screamed aloud. “How could this happen?” I began to wonder whether this had been a mishap on Chesterton’s part (unlikely) or if it had been divinely orchestrated by Sunday. I came to the conclusion that in all reality the cause of this oath matters not at all. Ultimately, all that matters is that it happened. Now, what to do with it?
Saturday was the only character in the novel who went to the police. Does this mean that he didn’t make the same promise as everyone else? We shall never know. All that we can now contemplate was the purpose of the promise. I believe that we must assume that this promise was put in place in order to keep the police upon the High Council from discovering one another and turning upon Sunday. The supreme secrecy of the inspectors caused them to be alone and frightened; however, no matter how frightened they may be, the inspectors keep their word. At one point in his adventure Syme discloses that he is under even more compulsion to keep his promise because he made it to an anarchist, an undesirable person.

This indicates to the reader that promises must be kept under pain of death. A vow may put a person into a dire situation, but that vow must never be broken. If Syme had stooped low and broken his vow, he may have begun a spiraling descent into true anarchy. He would have abolished all the restraining authority that his morality had.

Now, just as the heroes reached the ending of their story as they reached the end of the pier, so I reach the end of my discourse as I come to the end of the page (87).