On Betrayal (via Granta)

Mohsin Hamid on Betrayal

Betrayal is when someone you love forces you to accept the proposition that life is not the way you most wish it to be, indeed that life never was this way, and that there is nothing – nothing – in your power that can be done to change this. Betrayal is therefore pain. And also education.

The more loved the source, the more sharp the deviation, the more lasting the desire that it be not so, the more potent the betrayal. To be born is to be betrayed by she who birthed you. That said, betrayal isn't necessarily bad. Often, it's essential. Sometimes it's a blessing.

 More here: http://www.granta.com/New-Writing/Defining-Betrayal