Shape-shifting

I was struck by Todd Gitlin’s use of the word “protean” to describe Barack Obama and his presidential campaign (see the post “Heros and Old Kings for details). Protean means versatile, able to assume different forms, a notion that certainly applies to the mythopoesis or mythmaking symbolized by Obama and his call for change.

About this change, Obama says, “I’m asking you to believe. Not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington…I’m asking you to believe in yours.” Reflection on the mythic origins of the word protean reveal interesting and important challenges for the rest of us, the voting public, who are, as Obama correctly insists, as much a part of this mythic refashioning as the candidate himself.

The word “protean” is derived from the Greek God Proteus, a wily shape-shifter with a gift for prophesy. He could be compelled to come to the aid of heros, but his assistance contained a dual challenge: to literally hold fast no matter how fearsome or slippery his permutations, and to pose the right question when the god conceded defeat. As the one chosen to embody our desire for change, Barack Obama will become what we allow, or demand. It is our collective task to expect multiplicity and to hold fast through the unsettled and unsettling times ahead.

We also need to ask the right question, of ourselves, of the candidate, and the country. Recent events and campaign rhetoric, including the discussion of “fundamental differences” during the presidential debate last week, suggest this one: Is there a meaningful role for government beyond national defense, and if so, what is it? Or perhaps we can go deeper into this idea of “government of, by, and for the people.” Abraham Lincoln delivered these words in his Gettysburg Address, at a time when the country was, as it is now, bitterly divided. Can we ask ourselves who is to be included, empowered, and served?