Too Far Into It To See It

“In the temporal plan of the system there is not a moment when those involved in the action do not see themselves separated from their rivals by formidable differences. When one of the ‘brothers’ assumes the role of father and king, the other cannot but feel himself to be the disinherited son. That explains why the antagonists only rarely perceive the reciprocal nature of their involvement. Each is too intensely engaged in living out his nonreciprocal moment to grasp the whole picture . . .” (Girard, Violence and the Sacred, p. 158).