Everyone knows the story of King Midas. Though there are many versions, one of the older and more well known states that Midas had rescued Dionysus from his enemies. And as a reward for delivering the god – Dionysus gave Midas a gift. The gift was, as we know, that whatever Midas touched (or came close to) would be turned into gold.
This was, of course, a wonderful gift. And Midas praised Dionysus for this tremendous power to make gold.
Except.
Except these ancient stories always have an “except”. The “except” in Midas’ story is that Midas has no control over what he turns into gold. And this, as you can imagine, is problematic. Obviously this is going to cause problems with eating, dressing, bathing, et cetera. In the classical version, it ends there – with Midas learning the folly of his ways, bathing in the river and no longer having aurifactoral power. Interestingly, the modern version is much darker. In the modern version his daughter comes too close – he touches her and she is transformed into gold!
The point of the story is simple: be careful what you wish for! Or…is it…too much of a good thing is a bad thing…or is it to not seek power you cannot control…or is it a rebuke of greed?
Well, like all good stories, I think it’s probably a combination of all these things. But I think that the modern version has a particularly poignant and pertinent message: the commodification of everything eventually leads to the commodification of people.
Remember, Hawthorne wrote the modern version (and it is VERY worth the read – as all of his short stories are) in the 1850s, when the Industrial Revolution was changing life everywhere and slavery was a major issue, and Abolitionism was reaching its zenith in New England. Children were not scholars and gamers in those days. Oh no, in the 1800s children worked – sometimes very large percentages of children staffed factories and mills. And it’s in that milieu that we need to read Hawthorne.
His Midas is a doting father, who is enraptured with the power to turn everything into gold. Indeed, he states that he wants to make collect vast amounts of wealth to provide security for his daughter! But little does Midas know that the Golden Touch is not only a maker of wealth but a destroyer of beauty and nature. His daughter’s beloved roses are studiously alchemized. Much to Midas’ astonishment – Marigold doesn’t rejoice at the eternal and golden flowers but weeps because they have no perfume.
YES. The golden roses will last forever, but they hurt her when she tries to feel the softness of the petals and the fragrance is no more – they are dead. Midas wanted to collect wealth for his girl – but she’s far more interested in appreciating beauty than in being rich.
This cannot but be seen as a stinging rebuke to the culture of the day! The New Englanders with their puritan work ethic, thought that everything should be made efficient and never should a moment of life be wasted – but what Hawthorne saw was that their “stewardship” was often a stalking horse for greed and covetousness. But more than that – he saw that when everything can be commodified, everything will be. Including people. Including children. Including beloved daughters.
Moreover, I don’t think it’s accidental that it was a daughter. The treatment of little girls in classical literature is always a referendum on character. Why? Because little girls are the most vulnerable to exploitation. Hawthorne is warning – and a warning that we need to heed – that when everything becomes about wealth, people become commodities.
In America we commodify sex. Prostitution, pornography, lewd movies, music, and television, advertisements and commercials are all trying to cash in on sex. And one of the eminently predictable and yet unforeseen consequences of the commodification of sex is the objectification of women and the grooming of little girls. If women are objects, then girls are simply objects-in-training or objects-in-waiting.
Except when they aren’t. Except when little girls are just objects and not potential candidates for objectification. Except when girls are not seen as Divine Image-Bearers, but as means to sexual conquest and financial gain.
In America today there is a powerful move to end the sexual exploitation of children. I fully and completely support this. But I wonder if we’re hacking at leaves and branches and not getting to the root. In fact, I think that’s exactly what we’re doing.
What Hawthorne saw, and we don’t, is that America’s religion is Consumerism. And when Consumerism is your god, then Commodification is your creed and sacrament and sacrifice. Everything must be made salable. And everyone. As long as we worship consumption and wealth, there will be no end of people who seek to profit off by fleshmongery. We will not stop people selling children until we, as a society, decide that somethings aren’t for sale – and that building our worldview on the accrual of wealth and the consumption of goods is not only inexpedient, but it’s destructive, and damning.
Sex-trafficking happens because, as a society, we come to see all things as products for our enjoyment. Until we stop putting dollar signs on everything we won’t stop putting dollar signs on people. And until we stop putting dollar signs on people then the Epsteins of the world will not be black sheep, but bellwethers.