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[vc_row el_class=”olive-branch-bg-c-r”][vc_column][vc_column_text](Warning: Spoilers abound in this post! If you haven’t seen Hamilton,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>you can watch a recording of the original Broadway production on Disney+<\/strong><\/a>!)<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cCan we agree that duels are dumb and immature?\u201d<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n \u201cSure.\u201d<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n If only the feuding founding fathers could have left it there.<\/p>\n But, of course, the destinies and legacies of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr were always fatally intertwined. We all knew Burr would be \u201cthe damn fool that shot him.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n What many of us didn\u2019t know, before seeing Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton<\/em> musical, was just how complex the relationship between Hamilton and Burr would be. Friendship, rivalry, admiration, bewilderment and contempt\u2026 these many relationships are entangled in the evolving tension between them. As they each hurl toward self-destruction and the destruction of the other, we can\u2019t help but wonder what might have been if they had looked through a lens of appreciation rather than animosity.<\/p>\n At least, I can\u2019t help but wonder.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”16px”][vc_column_text]That\u2019s part of the genius of Miranda\u2019s interpretative lens on this explosive episode in American history. Hamilton<\/em> is rife with mimetic insight, exploring the powerful human connections that tangle us in relationship and rivalry.<\/p>\n Regardless of historical accuracy<\/a>, Hamilton<\/em> rings true because the messy, complicated humanity of its characters is on full display, particularly in its poignant portrayal of the tragic relationship between title character Alexander Hamilton and narrator Aaron Burr. \u00a0A connection that might have built them up instead destroys them as mutual ambition overshadows admiration and a fraught friendship devolves into enmity.<\/p>\n This tragic human pattern happens all the time. Most of us have experienced it in some form. But when we\u2019re caught up in the throes of mimetic rivalry<\/a>, losing ourselves in an increasing fog of hostility as we match our opponent insult for insult, blow for blow\u2026 we seldom realize what we do.<\/p>\n One way Hamilton<\/em> brings hope, then, is by showing us this rivalry from a vantage point that helps us understand how to disentangle ourselves from a similar fate in our own lives. We may not worry about dying in a duel, but we can easily become caught up in conflict with a friend or someone with whom we have more in common than we would ever want to admit.<\/p>\n When that happens, there are at least three lessons we can learn from Hamilton<\/em> in order to gain perspective on our rivalries:<\/p>\n When we learn these lessons, we might finally understand not only that the world is indeed wide enough for our rivals and ourselves, but that life is too short to let rivalry overshadow friendship.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_section el_class=”post-quote”][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1566306295282{background-image: url(https:\/\/ravenfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/0c0caab3a0b06f49d1f4e4069f7acecc-e1562958862845.jpg?id=19638) !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text css_animation=”none” el_class=”quote”]Hamilton<\/em> is rife with mimetic insight, exploring the powerful human connections that tangle us in relationship and rivalry.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”16px”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]The striking commonalities between Hamilton and Burr are so intrinsically intertwined with their differences that its impossible to untangle them. Both their similarities and differences ultimately lead to their demise, but this fate might not have been inevitable. There are better ways to steer a course through the complexities of contentious relationships.<\/p>\n The first step, again, is to allow our common desires to guide us toward cooperation rather than rivalry, and our differences to open space for learning rather than contempt.<\/em><\/p>\n Hamilton and Burr are the same age, orphaned, and brilliant. Though their different temperaments drive the story forward, there are deeper similarities than may first meet the eye.<\/p>\n Most importantly, the ambition that manifests itself so differently in Hamilton and Burr is underwritten in both cases by a sense of pragmatism. Hamilton, coming from nothing and surviving against all odds, rises to his position through dedication and decisive action, determined never to throw away his shot<\/a>. However, Burr, though orphaned, was raised in stability.<\/a> For him, survival has depended on holding tight to what he had, so he\u2019s cautious, willing to wait<\/a> until he knows which path will best benefit him.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_empty_space height=”16px”][vc_single_image image=”20936″ img_size=”full” alignment=”right”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space height=”16px”][vc_column_text]Hamilton\u2019s boldness and Burr\u2019s caution work toward the same ends: building (in Hamilton’s case) or protecting (in Burr\u2019s) a legacy<\/a>. They each want to leave their marks on the world.<\/p>\n Ultimately, their mutual ambition becomes their mutual downfall.<\/p>\n And the tragedy is that their common goals had once brought them together in friendship. If only they had seen the value in that friendship instead of letting it devolve.<\/p>\n Hamilton admires Burr before they even meet. He wishes to emulate Burr, who sped through college to an early graduation, and seeks him out for help. Burr, sensing that Hamilton\u2019s impulsiveness could get him into trouble, kindly advises him to \u201ctalk less; smile more.\u201d<\/a> This shocks Hamilton, who has gotten as far as he has precisely by speaking his mind.<\/p>\n Though it appears that Hamilton writes Burr off as unprincipled from that point on, the friendship continues. When Burr appears at Hamilton\u2019s wedding<\/a>, Hamilton sincerely congratulates him on a promotion through the military ranks, while Burr compliments Hamilton\u2019s indispensability to General Washington. Both express a hint of jealousy at the other\u2019s position, but for now, affection overpowers jealousy. Burr and Hamilton bewilder one another, yet respect remains.<\/p>\n Their mutual bewilderment careens toward contempt as their careers in law and politics evolve. While Burr marvels at Hamilton\u2019s nonstop<\/a> energy, Hamilton concedes that Burr\u2019s even-handed diplomacy makes him a \u201cbetter lawyer.\u201d<\/a> Yet Hamilton continues to despise Burr\u2019s unwillingness to show his political leanings, while Burr bristles at Hamilton\u2019s arrogance.<\/p>\n Still, Burr is inspired all the while by Hamilton\u2019s ambition. \u00a0Envy of Hamilton finally compels Burr to stop waiting and seek his place in \u201cthe room where it happens.\u201d<\/a> When Burr switches parties<\/a> and unseats Hamilton\u2019s father-in-law in the Senate, Hamilton takes it as a personal affront. And when Burr later runs for President, he tells Hamilton, \u201cI\u2019m chasing what I want\u2026 and I learned that from you.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Hamilton, meanwhile, learns nothing from Burr\u2019s caution until it\u2019s too late.<\/p>\n What if they had learned better lessons from each other?<\/p>\n What if Burr had chased his dream by following not only Hamilton\u2019s relentlessness but also his willingness to state policies? What if he found a way to be decisive without being as<\/em> divisive as Hamilton, blending his natural diplomacy with a vision beyond his own gain? After all, his losses came from a perceived lack of principles and the distrust that created (especially in Hamilton).<\/p>\n And what if Hamilton had learned caution and patience from Burr, enough not to publish the sordid details<\/a> of\u00a0his\u00a0affair<\/a>\u00a0and ruin both\u00a0marriage<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0political career<\/a> in one fell swoop?<\/p>\n Hamilton and Burr could have taken different lessons from one another and potentially remained friends had they seen the value in the characteristics they despised and had they been willing to share political power. Yet they each took on the more self-destructive traits of the other. Burr lost his sense of caution and judgment and ultimately his reputation when he challenged Hamilton to a duel<\/a>, and Hamilton lost his life when he chose to throw away his shot.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_section][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1566393555121{background-color: #f6ebdf !important;}” el_class=”optin”][vc_column][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”][\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n How could Hamilton and Burr have re-prioritized in order to avoid their fates?<\/p>\n By rooting themselves \u2013 their honor and their legacies \u2013 in love.<\/em><\/p>\n Is this absurd? Not really.<\/p>\n Hamilton and Burr were both military men. So, their lives weren\u2019t going to be entirely defined by mercy over violence. But they were also men who wanted to make peace in their new nation, defending loyalists in court to encourage national unity<\/a>. And they were orphans who loved their children and knew what it was to have an absent father. They might have decided that dueling and other vengeful means of defending honor wasn\u2019t worth the risk of leaving their children, or modeling a dangerous path for them.<\/a><\/p>\n They swore to their children that they would be around.<\/a> Flirting with vengeful honor codes risks breaking that promise.<\/p>\n What if Burr and Hamilton had seen that their children\u2019s future and the nation\u2019s future would be best served by their collaboration and using their different gifts and perspectives to shape a strong, thoughtful country? What if they had realized that the violence towards which they were driven would set the new nation upon an already cracked foundation?<\/p>\n \u201cIf we win our independence? What if Hamilton had cared as much about a cultural code of nonviolence as he did about a strong central economic system<\/a>? That would have been truly revolutionary! And what if Burr had merely stuck to his original principle that duels are \u201cdumb and immature\u201d<\/a> instead of losing sight of that fact when it was his own honor at stake? What if he had staked his honor on his ability to resist\u00a0<\/em>killing his compatriots rather than on his willingness to do so?<\/p>\n There are multiple potential incentives for Burr and Hamilton to choose restraint over vengeance. And Hamilton almost comes to this perspective when he, perhaps willingly, throws away his shot. But it was his confrontational nature that ultimately brought him to the dueling ground in the first place.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”16px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n And on the dueling ground, the focus narrows.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cMy First Friend; My Enemy\u2026\u201d<\/h3>\n
\u201cI Swear That I\u2019ll Be Around For You\u201d<\/h3>\n
\nIs that a guarantee of freedom for our descendants?
\nOr will the blood we shed begin an endless cycle of vengeance and death with no defendants?<\/a>\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nThe World Is Wide Enough<\/h3>\n