Decisions and Suffering - Literature Essay Samples

Icarus decided to fly too high. Stephen decided to sin. Icarus decided to fly too low. Stephen decided to pursue a more selfish path. Icarus fell. Stephen grew. Icarus’s story is a warning for any man with too much hubris. Stephen Dedalus, from The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce, soars like Icarus and surrenders to temptation but in the end decides to grow in the face of suffering before he can fall. A person’s decision when they are faced with suffering leads to their growth or their surrender, this suggests that a person’s development is determined by their decisions. Stephen’s decision to surrender to temptation and end the suffering of sexual frustration leads him into the identity of a sinner. Stephen does not feel free in his suffering. His faith and fear of committing sin smothers him, so when he finally surrenders he can finally feel some form of freedom, â€Å"†¦as he suffered the agony of its penetration†¦and the cry that he had strangled for so long in his throat issued from his lips. It broke from him like a wail of despair from a hell of sufferers†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (100) His occasion to surrender to his suffering from sexual frustration fuels his continuous surrender to this sin. The pleasure outweighs his faith as he descends into sin. â€Å"He was in another world: he had awakened from a slumber of centuries.† (100) He surrenders to his suffering and this ignites a passion greater than his faith and restraint could offer. He has essentially surrendered into the world of hell but hell has more passion than earth an d so he indulges. â€Å"†¦all but burst into hysterical weeping. Tears of joy and relief shone in his delighted eyes and his lips parted though they would not speak.† (101) Stephen is like a boy again, full of wonder, and he lets go of his emotions like he did as a boy. He lets his emotions take over and physically show. â€Å"He closed his eyes, surrendering himself to her, body and mind, conscious of noting in the world but the dark pressure of her softly parting lips†¦he felt an unknown and timid pressure, darker than the swoon of sin, softer than sound or ordour.† (101) Stephen finds himself completely immersed in his new state of pleasure and surrender. He feels relief and a greater passion than he could have ever thought possible. Which, keeps him in the world of surrender to the sin of sex. Stephen’s decision to go to university instead of priesthood is, however selfish, growth. This decision lets him grow into his newfound identity as an artist rather than a man shackled to sin and faith. He exclaims once he makes his choice, â€Å"The university! So he had passed beyond the challenge of the sentries who had stood as guardians of his boyhood and had sought to keep him among them that he might be subject to them and serve their ends. Pride after satisfaction uplifted him.† (165) Stephen faces a challenge to grow out of submission to priests and into the freedom of university. Although this means his family suffers, he develops great personal growth. â€Å"The end he had been born to serve yet did not see had led him to escape by an unseen path: and now it beckoned to him once more and a new adventure was about to be opened to him.† (165) Stephen escapes the suffering under his faith. He instead sees the freedom of not knowing what will happen. Steph en thinks as he crosses a bridge, that trembles with all of his and passing priests’ weight and steps, â€Å"†¦to tell himself that if he ever came to their gates, stripped of his pride, beaten and in beggar’s weeds, that they would be generous towards him†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (166) The instability of the bridge and the bridge itself symbolizes his ambivalence towards his decision to reject priesthood. As he crosses the bridge he deals with the exciting reaction to the decision to the examination of his future. He must question his own future’s stability. Stephen decides freedom for growth over stability with the priesthood. â€Å"His heart trembled; his breath came faster and a wild spirit passed over his limbs as though he were soaring sunward† (169) Stephen resembles Icarus, soaring towards the sun, but he must make the conscious decision to grow rather than fly so far he can only fall and surrender. â€Å"Yes! Yes! Yes! He would create proudly out of the freedom and power of his soul, as the great artificer whose name he bore, a living thing, new and soaring and beautiful, impalpable, imperishable.† (170) Stephen takes this challenge to not only grow but to soar with his new freedom. And he seems conscious of his ties to the myth that could end in his ruin. He knows that his freedom and growth is worth the risk of the fall. Stephen’s decision to leave university is at first a surrender, but ultimately a growth. His hesitation over the idea to leave illustrates a surrender, â€Å"A sense of fear of the unknown moved in the heart of his weariness, a fear of symbols and portents, of the hawklike man whose name he bore soaring out of his captivity on osierwoven wings†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (225) This is potentially an occasion to surrender to his namesake’s fate, however Stephen makes it into a challenge to grow into the artist that he wishes to be. Like the artist that his namesake was. Stephen connects with birds not only because of his parallel to the myth of Icarus, but to their patterns, â€Å"Then he was to go away for they were birds ever going and coming, building ever an unlasting home under the eaves of men’s houses and ever leaving the homes they had built to wander.† (225) The birds are free, they are free to move and wander. They are free to grow and discover while men are s et in their unchanging reality. Stephen sees himself as a bird in his challenge to grow in his new freedom, and decides full heartedly. â€Å"†¦I will try to express myself in some mode of life or art as freely as I can and as wholly as I can, using for my defence the only arms I allow myself to use-silence, exile, and cunning.† (247) His chance to grow as an artist despite modest means is not wasted. Stephen refuses to waste his chance and makes his decision clear. Stephen does not back away from his final decision to have his freedom as an artist. â€Å"Welcome, O life! I go to encounter for the millionth time the realty of experience and to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race.† (253) Ultimately, his decision is not a surrender, but a challenge to grow in the face of little comfort but complete freedom. Icarus and Stephen soared. The difference between them is Icarus fell and Stephen grew. How they dealt with their suffering and eventual freedom illuminates their development as people because their decisions either lead to their death or their rebirth. Stephen and Icarus may both be full of hubris, but Stephen decided to channel that into personal growth and Icarus decided to channel that into an exhaustion of his freedom. Their suffering lead to their decisions about their freedom. Stephen decided not to fall.

Analysis Of The Book How We Survived Communism And Even...

Slavenka Drakulic, a highly respected journalist and commentator on culture in Croatia, published the book How We Survived Communism and Even Laughed in 1991, which was a collection of essays that comprised of the stories of many women’s lives throughout Eastern Europe that lived in a communist society. Drakulic wanted to capture women’s stories and share them with others, because these were women who suffered from carried the biggest burden of life, living at the bottom tier of their society. As Drakulic states in the book’s introduction, Trivial is Political: â€Å"It was the relationships between political authority and the trivia of daily living, this view from below interested me most. And who should I find down there, most removed from the seats of political power, but women. Even if they fully participated in revolutionary events, they were less active and less visible in the aftermath of those events† (xv). I feel Slavenka Drakulic also wanted to e xpress to others through these women’s stories just how impenetrable and distressing attempting to adapt to living in a non-communism society is when you have known nothing but communism. This struggle could be applicable to any society changing from one political ideology to another, and Slavenka Drakulic’s ability to communicate these women’s stories can inflict a large sense of empathy for these women who fought so hard every day against the political ideas ingrained in their minds, so that they may have a chance atShow MoreRelatedEssay on Cold War Book Review670 Words   |  3 Pages Political and economic perspectives should not dominate the analysis of communist rule. Analysis of the social aspects and results of communist rule are necessary to achieve a full understanding of the effects of such government. Slavenka Drakulic produced How We Survived Communism and Even Laughed, an appealing work with this fresh social approach. This nonfiction work combines the authoramp;#8217;s own recollections with the stories of other women of the Eastern Bloc. Drakulic, a renowned journalistRead MoreA View from the Bridge: Story of a Brooklyn Longshoreman6101 Words   |  25 Pagesprovides a convenient outline or a bounding set of markers guiding the search through the historical context of A View from the Bridge, as well as the personal and cultural influences at work on him. But before examining the details of Miller’s life, we should zoom out to a larger view of this period and the currents leading into the 1950’s to root our understanding in a broader context. The economic depression of the 1930’s had a profound effect on Miller as he has intimated in his autobiographyRead MoreExploring Corporate Strategy - Case164366 Words   |  658 PagesSTUDIES ECS8C_C01.qxd 22/10/2007 11:54 Page 598 ECS8C_C01.qxd 22/10/2007 11:54 Page 599 Guide to using the case studies The main text of this book includes 87 short illustrations and 15 case examples which have been chosen to enlarge speciï ¬ c issues in the text and/or provide practical examples of how business and public sector organisations are managing strategic issues. The case studies which follow allow the reader to extend this linking of theory and practice further

The Question of God C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate...

In 2002, Doctor Armand Nicholi, Jr. sought to put two of the greatest minds of the 20th century together to debate the answer to the lifelong question, â€Å"Is there a God, and if so, how should we respond to his existence?† Nicholi is the first scholar to ever put the arguments of C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud side by side in an attempt to recreate as realistic of a debate as possible between the two men. He examines their writings, letters, and lectures in an attempt to accurately represent both men in this debate. His result, the nearly 300 page book, The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of Life, is one of the most comprehensive, well researched, and unbiased summaries of the debate between†¦show more content†¦As a response to Freud’s interpretation of the conversion of Saul/Paul, Nicholi then looks at the conversion of C.S. Lewis as well as several other students who each had experienced religious convers ions of their own. Nicholi had conducted a study of said students in order to determine if their conversions were â€Å"[expressions] of pathology, i.e. isolating and destructive, or†¦adaptive and constructive? Did these experiences impair or enhance functioning?† (2002, Pg. 80). Nicholi’s findings were incredible, the lives of each and every convert, including Lewis, changes dramatically for the better. They experienced higher levels of self-esteem, more satisfying relationships with friends and family members, and â€Å"†¦a lessening of ‘existential despair’; and a decrease in preoccupation with the passage of time and apprehension over death† (2002, Pg. 80). I will dedicate the remaining words in this paper to my attempt to reason how these conversions could produce such spectacular and beneficial results. I believe the answer can be encapsulated in one word; hope. Christianity gives hope to those who believe its message. In an attempt to show why it gives hope, I will attempt to provide the fundamental beliefs of Christianity in a few short sentences. Christianity explains the universes existence with the teaching that there is a God; a supreme, goodShow MoreRelated Hamlet and the Oedipus Complex Essay1218 Words   |  5 PagesOedipus complex was formed by Sigmund Freud in the 1900’s. It is based on the play Oedipus Rex, written by Sophocles around 427 BC. In this play, Oedipus killed his father, the king of Thebes, and married his mother without knowing his relationship to either of them. The Oedipus complex states that â€Å"children experience a phase in their psychosexual development (the phallic stage) during which they experience positive feelings toward the parent of the opposite sex and feelings of rivalry toward

Of Mice ; Men Essay Example For Students

Of Mice ; Men Essay Warren French writes, The world just hasnt been made right, so that dreams are the only things that can keep men going. Agree or disagree with this statement. I remember a time in my life when I would always play with little children. At that point, at the age of six or seven, I decided to become a pediatrician or a kindergarten teacher. When I started high school, I started feeling stressed out because of the pressure that I was doing to myself to reach my goal of becoming a pediatrician. I could hardly focus on the topic we would have during class because I would be thinking about my future as a pediatrician. With the help of my friends, they helped me overcome the obstacles that I had. The more I thought about what profession I wanted to be, I thought about how much I loved working and dealing with computers. My friends and cousins told me that I should and can be what ever I wanted, and that helped me decide to major in computer engineering at San Jose State University. So you see when it comes down to life, dreams are not the only thing that can keep men going, friendships, pets and companionships can do the same. In the novel Of Mice and Men Lennie, George, and Candy demonstrate and prove that dreams are only one of the things that can keep men going. Lennie, for God sakes dont drink so much.You gonna be sick like you was last night.I aint sure its good water. Looks kinda scummy. (page 3). George is so concerned with Lennie that he tells him to be careful of what he drinks because he does not know if it is good or contaminated. He tells him that so Lennie will not get sick and so that they can save up for their dream house. I want you to stay with me, Lennie. Jesus Christ, somebodyd shoot you for a coyote if you was by yourself. No, you stay with me. Your Aunt Clara wouldnt like you running off by yourself, even if she was dead. (page 13). After Lennie and George fight over the dead mouse, Lennie tells him that George would be better off if Lennie went to the mountains to live in a cave. George doesnt let him. He tells him that he wants him to stay because not only did George somewhat promise Lennies dead Aunt Clara that he would take care of him, but he also learned how to live and adjust with the fact that Lennie has kind of a childish mind. Candy says, Wellhell! I had him so long. Had him since he was a pup. I herded sheep with him..You wouldnt think it to look at him now, but he was the best damn sheep dog I ever seen. (page 44). Candy had his dog so long that he never thought that the day would come when people would start having problems with him. Candy was so attached to his dog that he wouldnt hear any of it. He loved seeing his dog after work so much that he never knew the day would come when his dog would not be in the bunk house at the end of the day. I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldnt ought to let no stranger shoot my dog. (page 61). Candy finally realizes that the other guys were right about his dog. He regretted not putting his dog to rest himself instead of letting Carlson do it. He also realized that his dog was not the only thing tha t kept him going, but the idea that one day he will find a guy who will show him the courtesy of companionship with not only an animal, but also with a person. .ud7693d3c27925bc95408866df6abeda8 , .ud7693d3c27925bc95408866df6abeda8 .postImageUrl , .ud7693d3c27925bc95408866df6abeda8 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ud7693d3c27925bc95408866df6abeda8 , .ud7693d3c27925bc95408866df6abeda8:hover , .ud7693d3c27925bc95408866df6abeda8:visited , .ud7693d3c27925bc95408866df6abeda8:active { border:0!important; } .ud7693d3c27925bc95408866df6abeda8 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ud7693d3c27925bc95408866df6abeda8 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ud7693d3c27925bc95408866df6abeda8:active , .ud7693d3c27925bc95408866df6abeda8:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ud7693d3c27925bc95408866df6abeda8 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ud7693d3c27925bc95408866df6abeda8 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ud7693d3c27925bc95408866df6abeda8 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ud7693d3c27925bc95408866df6abeda8 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ud7693d3c27925bc95408866df6abeda8:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ud7693d3c27925bc95408866df6abeda8 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ud7693d3c27925bc95408866df6abeda8 .ud7693d3c27925bc95408866df6abeda8-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ud7693d3c27925bc95408866df6abeda8:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Universe And Solar System EssayTherefore, I somewhat agree and disagree with that statement. For the most part, I disagree because if a person has friends that will stick by them no matter what then they will have the will to keep going. If that person had a companion, then that person will do what ever it takes to make the other happy.