Human suffering is a major topic in both “All Quiet on the Western Front” and in “Civilization and its Discontents”. Sigmund Freud discuses and presents his theory’s on how people and society work and think while Maria Remarque describes the Life of a German solider in World War One. Freud underlines the reasons why humans suffer and Remarque describes a story where these aspect of suffering are present. Suffering is part of everyone’s lives and is present in society for several of reasons. People, their own body’s and the world around them causes suffering. World War One was an event that caused the suffering of millions and Freud’s explanation of suffering can be used to describe the suffering in Maria Remarque’s novel.
A human being has one life and one life only. The older I get the more I realize how precious my time is. An old friend of mine a mechanical engineer who has lived through the prime of his life reflected back on some marvelous experiences he had as a child where his parent would take him every week to watch the trains go by. His fascination with trains at an early age inspired him, later to have a successful career throughout his lifetime. As a child I had a strong love and a passion for science. I believed that my strong fascination and drive to explore new things will carry me far in whatever future career I go.
In order to interpret skills presented in The Schopenhauer Cure, it is important to understand the various techniques and speaking methods of protagonist Julius Hertzfeld. It appears Julius views the group as an ecosystem, an organized structure consisting of parts, similar to the systems of the human body. The main conflict explored within this book is the introduction of Philip into the delicate structure of a fully functioning mature group in the end-middle phase transforming to ending phase. This thought process is comparable to the human body being introduced to bacteria and subsequent antibiotic. Upon inspection, the quandary materializes: Was Philip the bacteria? Or, was he the antibiotic?
Throughout humanity, the idea of suffering played a major role in human lives, in some cases by ending it. Nevertheless, according to popular religious traditions, the first humans, Adam and Eve, were placed on Earth to suffer for their sins in a life of misery. All humans are a part of this “original sin,” thus there is no such thing as innocent humans suffering in the world. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Popular religious themes are centered on the idea of continual suffering in life, like the Israelites who continued to suffer through the Holocaust. The theme of The Mexican Flyboy is also structured around the idea of suffering. In the story, Simon Vegas is obsessed with people who have suffered throughout history and “saves” those victims out of their misery. Even though Simon liberates the victims out of suffering, the historical events like burning of Jesse Washington continue to take place. The idea of saving the individuals is abstract, as it seems like the bodies suffer, while the souls are saved.
Edith Wharton is an important, though neglected novelist in the history of American literature. Her novels study the status of the women and explore their relationship with men in a male dominated society. Again and again she presents the state of exceptional, rising, ‘New Woman’ of the turn of the century to break out of her compressible role and attempting a venture rebellion. The Age of Innocence is on the theme that deals ironically with the affluent social world of New York. The novel has a theme of entrapment and the struggle of the intruder, both to maintain an adult sense of self in a childish society and to rescue a trapped male from that society. The novel analyses the impact of misery and pain when society establishes the false
Norcross believe that one should not eat meat that is raised in a factory. He uses an argument about torturing puppies and eating their brains. Although his argument about Fred and his extreme cruelty to feel the sensation of eating chocolate is cruel, it puts one in a state of mind to pay close attention to his point. What is his point? Eating animals that are raised in factories are just is cruel as torturing puppies for one’s own pleasure. He states that Fred’s pleasures do not make it morally permissible to torture puppies. This is compared to livestock in factory farms because, they undergo the same kind of torture and abuse. His conclusion is that, torturing puppies and eating meats from factory raised cattle are one in the same and is immoral.
Heavily influenced by Max Weber, Peter Berger was interested in the meaning of social structures. Berger’s concern with the meaning societies give to the world is apparent throughout his book The Sacred Canopy (1967), in which he drew on the sociology of knowledge to explain the sociological roots of religious beliefs. His main goal is to convince readers that religion is a historical product, it is created by us and has the power to govern us.
In the essay In The Jungle, Dillard gambles with the idea of being more adventurous and closer to nature. She writes, “We are in this planet only once, and might as well get a feel for the place” Having your hair braided by local girls, exploring the forest, and seeing a tarantula are experiences that bring us closer to nature and lead us to desire simpler things. In Dillard’s next essay, The Deer at Providencia, she makes the point that suffering is unavoidable, we are all going to suffer at one point in our lives just as the man and the deer did. Pain is unavoidable, whether one is a human or an
Suffering forces people to be put in bad places where they feel pressured to eventually make inhumane decisions. Putting people in these poor situations pressures them to make choices that will be best for survival. An example of an inhumane decision occurred in Night in chapter 7 when the whole camp was
The Lowest Animal by Mark Twain shatters the illusion that the human species is superior in every way to animals. The essay satirizes that animals are superior to the human species through the use of made up experiments. Twain utilizes these experiments to demonstrate the parallels between the behaviors of animals and man. These experiments showcase how animals are the “higher animals”. Even more, the experiments are attempting to prove how we, as man, have descended from these higher animals only to lose a few of their favorable traits. Twain argues that a trait the human species has gained that sets us apart from animals is “moral sense”. He states that this trait is where all of our unfavorable customs stem from, such as cruelty, greed,
Thomas Jefferson wrote, ''Determine never to be idle...It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing.” In this quote Jefferson perfectly sums up life. Life and time should not be wasted by inactivity but instead should be spent with/on productivity. The purpose of life is to live and to be industrious. By constantly being active a person can accomplish many tasks and possibly goals. Being industrious and productive leads to performing well in life. Life has a time limit and therefore one should not waste it by being idle or unproductive.
The Holocaust was a very dark and tragic period in history, and if you were a prisoner you may wonder, Why am I here? Why don’t I give up already? Or maybe even what is the meaning of life? Elie Wiesel’s memoir shows the meaning of life, through personal experiences of extreme tragedy, complete brutality, and terrifying torment by the hands of German Nazis, in his literary piece Night.
"Live life to the fullest, and focus on the positive." This quote by Matt Cameron (brainyquote) is telling us to live life freely and as best as we can. Life can be tough at times, but it's all on how you perceive your own life. Instead of going through the motions and letting life guide you, take life as a positive and live it to the fullest. In Elie Wiesel's (2006) book Night and the movie "Life is Beautiful" (2000), there are many different views and outlooks on life, but it's how you handle them that make it so much richer. The movie and the novel are both taking place during the holocaust where father/son relationships are exposed. Even though the story lines are the same, there are different outcomes. Different perspectives are portrayed
It starts with him concluding that suffering must be the purpose of human life, because there is evidently too much of it in the world for this not to be the case. According to him, happiness is just the absence of pain, which is why our expectations of it are usually too high. And when we find a brief respite from pain, we are thrown into another state of suffering – boredom. Yet, Schopenhauer views misery as necessary, since if all our desires were instantly fulfilled, we would lose our sanity due to lack of purpose. This is why the philosopher believes that non-existence is preferable. Even animals are in a better condition than us, because their suffering is not exacerbated by ambition and reflection. In the last third of this essay, Schopenhauer presents his thoughts on the origin and organization of our world as explained by Hinduism, Buddhism, the ancient Greeks, Judaism, and Christianity. This is where I found several factual flaws, and at the same time several surprisingly Biblical claims in Schopenhauer’s arguments. He begins by denouncing Judaism, saying that an all-benevolent God would not create a world full of misery. But according to the book of Genesis, the Garden of Eden, where man lived before the Fall, was essentially paradise on Earth. In addition, the philosopher falls pray to the classical misconception of blaming God for all the evil in
Memory and history have always shared a part in creating an individuals perception of themselves, their lives, and of their importance. The Holocaust was a mass murder of millions that took place in the mid 1940’s, that changed the lives of so many. ("The Holocaust") Night, is a memoir by Elie Wiesel that describes his experience as a teenager struggling to survive in concentration camps during the Holocaust. (Wiesel, 2006) Elie Wiesel accepted a Nobel Prize in honor of his devotion to human rights and in ending injustice for all. His acceptance speech was presented in Oslo, Norway in 1986. (Wiesel, Elie) The New York Times article “150th Anniversary: 1851-2001; Turning Away From the Holocaust” by Max Frankel is a message of regret concerning