In his 1943 book The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis warned of a society producing “men without chests,” individuals stripped of moral sentiment, where intellect and appetite rule without the mediating force of virtue. Lewis argued that by dismissing universal moral laws, we erode the “chest,” the seat of magnanimity, honor, and compassion, leaving behind beings who are mere animals in their actions.
The tragic murder of Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte subway is a chilling manifestation of this prophecy, exposing a society frayed by moral decay, where criminal justice reforms have faltered, and the absence of love, kindness, or Good Samaritan instinct left a young woman defenseless.
Iryna Zarutska, a vibrant Ukrainian immigrant, was stabbed to death in a subway car, her life extinguished in an act of unimaginable cruelty. Her attacker, a man arrested 14 times yet freed under no-cash bail policies, embodies the failure of a system that prioritizes leniency over accountability.
Criminal justice reform, intended to address inequities, has instead enabled repeat offenders to roam unchecked, leaving victims like Zarutska to pay the ultimate price. This is not justice; it is negligence dressed as compassion. Lewis’s words ring true: “We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst.”
The moral decay extends beyond the perpetrator. Witnesses stood by, watching the scene from afar or leaving altogether rather than intervening on behalf of Zarutska. Where was the Good Samaritan, the person driven by the “trained emotions” Lewis deemed essential to humanity?
The subway car, a microcosm of our society, revealed a collective atrophy of the chest—a refusal to act with courage or compassion. This absence of moral sentiment reflects what Lewis called the “tragi-comedy” of a civilization that demands virtues it systematically undermines. We champion individual freedom and relativism, yet are stunned when empathy and responsibility vanish.
Zarutska’s murder is a mirror held up to our moral landscape. A society that fails to cultivate “just sentiments” in its people—through education, culture, or law—produces not only perpetrators devoid of conscience but also bystanders who lack the moral fortitude to act. Lewis warned that without the chest, “the head rules the belly through nothing,” leaving us with intellect unmoored from virtue and appetites unchecked by honor.
This moment demands reflection. We cannot restore Zarutska’s life, but we can honor her by confronting the moral void her death exposes.
Criminal justice must balance reform with accountability, ensuring that those who repeatedly harm are not free to destroy again.
Society must revive the chest—teaching and celebrating virtues like courage, compassion, and sacrifice. We need not just laws but a culture that fosters Good Samaritans, not silent spectators.
Lewis’s warning is clear: “In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function.” Without a return to objective moral values, we will continue to mourn victims like Iryna Zarutska, left defenseless in a world of men without chests.
