Okay, let's get into what my book was about for this week:
Eagleton first talked about how the well-behaved, moral-oriented middle class is extraordinarily boring compared to the extremely saintly and extremely evil. I must say that I agree with his statement, but I feel perfectly comfortable with my "boring" morals. I'm simply too lazy to be exceedingly good or bad.
Next, he discusses the combination of total savagery and analytical intellectuality. He connects this combo to evil, though rather abstractedly, and alludes to the devil: "If the devil is a supercilious intellectual, he is also a vulgar little clown who mocks the very idea of sense-making." This very much reminds me of a fictional villain who mocks the story's protagonist and everything they stand for all the while displaying some sort of superior intellect. At least that's what I pictured.
I think Eagleton secretly (but not-so-secretly) admires evil. He never shows contempt for what it is but instead almost chalks it up to be a magnificent thing. This subtle affinity for evil has perhaps allowed him to write passionately about the subject and I, as a reader, can really enjoy his somewhat long-winded, confusing discussions. He has covered so many aspects of evil that I have no idea what other things the rest of the book will talk about. I can only hope it is all just as interesting.