George Saunders's 'Vigil' Reflects Contemporary Secular Culture's Misguided Moral Priorities
Source: Peter Tonguette. "Nothing Worth Staying Up For - The American Conservative." April 13, 2026. www.theamericanconservative.com
The Gist
The author argues that George Saunders's new novel shows how modern non-religious culture has gotten morality backwards - treating normal business activities like running an oil company as evil while ignoring real moral problems. He thinks the book unfairly demonizes its oil executive character and reflects the author's confused moral priorities.
Conclusion
George Saunders's novel 'Vigil' exemplifies how contemporary secular culture has inverted traditional moral categories, treating legitimate business activities as sins while tolerating actual moral transgressions
Premises
- Contemporary secular culture tolerates clear sins like abortion while making taboos out of morally neutral activities like immigration enforcement, plastic bag use, and mask refusal
- Saunders portrays an oil executive as the embodiment of evil simply for taking pride in contributing to modern society and questioning climate extremism
- The novel's characterization of the oil tycoon is cartoonish and unconvincing, relying on stereotypes rather than substantive moral critique
- The protagonist's defenses of his industry are more reasonable than the supernatural accusations against him
- Saunders could conceive of no greater wickedness than making a fortune in the energy sector, revealing artistic and moral myopia
Assumptions
- Traditional religious and moral frameworks provide the correct standard for distinguishing sin from virtue
- The oil and energy industry provides legitimate and necessary contributions to society
- Climate change activism represents extremism rather than legitimate environmental concern
- Literary works should be judged partly on their moral and political perspectives
- Secular progressive values constitute a distortion of proper moral priorities