So who is cruel? You, cruel reader, you are.

Is it murder to kill a man if the man never existed? To the man it is.

Is the writer cruel that makes his characters suffer only to bring them to triumph or tragedy in the end?

Is cruelty still cruel if it is necessary? Is cruelty still cruel if it is part of a lie?

Those who perpetrate stories must act cruelly.

Inhumanity is part of humanity as much as suffering is a part of stories. Cruelty is written in the human script.