Volume 2 - Top-Tier Character Ayanokōji-kun [DISCONTINUED] [READ THE REVISION]

Prologue - Solemn Soliloquy

I've thought about this exact topic ad infinitum. I've chewed it through, carefully examined each and every single aspect surrounding it, but still haven't found a satisfying trace of an answer.

Are people able to change?

...What an inane question, right?

In our current society, which is considered a proper and civilized one in the eyes of today's top philosophers and sociologists, people at any socioeconomic layer strive towards self-improvement, towards an ideal. But if that is true, a precondition has to be fulfilled:

People are not satisfied with their current self.

A sad reality often faced with scant confidence. There are those who clamor they are perfect, those who do not see any need in degrading their current self; but they are merely a single, insignificant ignoramus in the magnificent apparatus of human society. Their delusions have little effect on the greater picture.

On our path towards the ideal, we created pillars of support.

Schools, or any institution of learning and education.

Special programs that help those in need.

Psychiatrists who play a fundamental role in rehabilitating the mind.

As a result, we became dependent.

However, that is not something to be viewed in a negative light at all. 

Men and women, young and old have different abilities, so the faults they possess should differ as well. People struggling with a deficiency in their learning capabilities require subsequent lessons to deepen their understanding of a certain subject; those whose minds have been scarred from mental trauma visit therapists so they can return to their former self.

People who have problems try to fix their problems—they either struggle in vain or bask in the glory of success. No matter what polite euphemisms one might use, that is the cruel reality. Even if you avert your eyes, these facts never change but stay consistent throughout time.

Humanity has an engrained desire to improve. To be human is to strive.

The situation we find ourselves in will not become simpler any time soon. No, one could argue that it will only grow more complex and fraught, like a tree branching out in all directions to grasp at warm light shining down.

...

Everything stated so far is plain obviousness any person could have grasped by themselves.

Are people able to change?—The answer would be "yes". But I never even considered that question.

There is something else, something far more difficult and grave:

Is anyone able to change?

Murder, rape, torture—All heinous crimes committed by members of our species.

Are those prisoners of deep darkness able to change?

Do they even deserve to change? Should we give them a second chance? Isn't it better to let them rot behind iron bars?