Honor's Paradox

[rolanni]

If you honorably serve a dishonored master, is your personal honor unsullied?

Discuss, with examples.


ETA: Lotsa people ducking the question here. Interesting.

Comments

[kay-gmd.livejournal.com]

My assumptions:
1) service to this master is not optional (if this is not the case it is probably not honorable to continue to serve)
2) you are aware of the master's dishonor (if you aren't you can't be blamed for the master's honor status)
3) the cause for dishonor continues (if the master was dishonored, but has since changed, or the dishonoring event doesn't effect your service it is irrelevant)

At this point it depends on the definition of honorably serve.

You could serve in such a way as to try to guide the master out of dishonor in which case you would still be unsullied, although it might not be publicly visible.

You could serve, but refuse to follow directions that go against your honor. Same result as above.

If you allow the master to force you to do what is dishonorable that would sully your honor, but I think the degree to which it does is effected by the dishonorability of the task, and the choice you have in it.

For instance in Cordelia's Honor (which I'm currently re-reading) Bothari is arguably honorable, but he is implied to have committed dishonorable acts in the service of Vorrutyer, but he for various reasons has little or no choice in the matter. When he's ordered to rape Cordelia this breaks past his max dishonorability, and he refuses, and then stops Vorrutyer from doing the same even though this drops him into a puddle of psychosis I would say that he remains honorable, although I'm sure many of his earlier victims think of him as a despicable monster.

In Duainfey Rebecca's acts while under compulsion do not reflect on her honor since she has no control over herself.