Duryodhanization: Are Villains Born, Made, or Made Up?

by Nishant Uppal

Duryodhan was a man of strong character and integrity.Duhshasan was respectful, generous and kind towards women.Shakuni was a very simple man who loved his subjects unconditionally.Duryodhanization refers to the birth and processes of development of a villainous character-whether in works of history or mythology. In this book, Uppal ekes out the dark side of management and leadership by studying fascinating characters from the Mahabharta. He probes what it really means to be a villain, and if villainous traits are inherent or cultivated.Original and thought-provoking, the book draws from history, mythology and literature, and unpacks the process of villainization through the central character of the legendary villain, Duryodhana.

Genres: Psychology

217 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 29, 2018

Reviews

[Arunima Shah · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have ever wanted to understand the people you hate, dislike, can't look at, do not understand - this book is a great place to start! This book answers questions about the basic fabric of negative human traits, and defines them without bias. The book begins with an explanation of how the word villain fell victim to etymological degradation and parochialism, dives into an academic analysis of what 'villains' are made of (i.e. the dark traits), and finally details the process of Duryodhanization.

Don't pick it up under the impression that it's another retelling of the Mahabharata from Duryodhan's perspective. This book isn't about that. It's a character analysis of some of our favorite characters from Mahabharata whom we have grown up hating! It humanizes them, and helps us understand how villains come to be perceived as villains - the genesis, process, and the perceptions.

Things I loved -
1. Impeccable detail and research has gone into writing of the book. I am a research scholar myself and I can clearly see the attention to detail here.
2. Appears to be quite exhaustive in building an understanding of dark traits.
3. Easy to medium level of difficulty in reading. Nothing a seasoned book lover can't handle.

Things one might not like -
It's academically written, especially the first half of the book, which might not be everyone's cup of tea.

But I would say - do give it a shot if the 'not positive' side of human beings intrigues you even a little.

[Mayank Shandilya · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book would make sense to people who are well aware about the character Duryodhan and have read some retellings of Mahabharata and have themselves processed some thought over the character of Duryodhan. The author breaks down the book in a typical MBA format to make it palpable for the audience which is a little too simplistic for my liking but would still do a good job, if a quick fix of character arc dissection and understanding is the motive.
One thing that stood out for me was the discussion of feminism by the virtue of Gandhari and Kunti. A lot of texts and recent books talk about Draupadi in terms of feminism in Mahabharata but no one has discussed the above two characters in contrast, which was refreshing for a change.
The author does get into psychology of characters but can't seem to close the thread it had intended to stitch.
Overall, a good read and a little disjunctive.

[Anshuman Swain · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 rounded to 2.
Although some of the character analysis in the book is interesting (and therefore the 2.5, otherwise I would have rated it lower), it suffers from major problems: biggest of which is that the assumption of strong genetic basis of complex trait inheritance. This issue is highly contentious and criticized scientifically - and the author doesn't even address this problem or mention it. Most biologists know that complex traits such as personality traits, are a result of intriguing interactions between nature and nurture. Both nature and nurture have multifaceted factors which themselves interact in complicated fashion - so presenting a simplistic picture is incorrect.
Moreover, the text is slightly repetitive and in places, inconsistent. The author also doesn't look at the complexity and variance of the epic across time and space. Overall, I expected a lot different from the book.

[Harshil Mehta · Rating 3 out of 5]

What does make one villain? Is it their genes, social behaviour, or personality traits?

The answer varies. And Uppal categories this process of becoming a villain as Duryodhanization, from the infamous character of Hindu Epic Mahabharata.

Divided into five parts, the book explores the negative personality traits, character analysis of the characters of Mahabharata, and in the last his commentaries. Every villain has some everyday things: Machievaleesim, narcissism, psychopathy, neuroticism, et al.

These things have been associated with the villains of Mahabharata. Uppal elaborates the events and connects them.

In conclusion, he compares the process with infamous villains of history, which one can hardly disagree with--Dhan Nanda, Aurangzeb, and Hitler.

Properly referenced, this book is an average one to understand the process of villain-making, i.e. Duryodhanization.

[Niraj Khandwala · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept and the hypothesis is very interesting however don't read of you are looking for conclusion... author leaves the reader with thoughts at best.

Liked the introduction in to the behavioural science regarding negative traits.

The book gets repetitive quiet a bit. Moreover if you know Mahabharat then a lot of the arguments put here would be known l.

You can do a quick read for curiosity but nothing more than that.

[Anish Bhuju · Rating 2 out of 5]

An okay read if you like the hindu epic Mahabharata.

[Imran M N · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slightly repetitive would have been better if it had more datasets still overall a decent read. Readers need to be aware of the events in Mahabharata to understand the different viewpoints here.

[Saikrishna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great approach to finding the root cause of villains being born, and different perspectives getting developed as a result of interpretations.