Analysis Of Light Through Friendship : Light Through Friendship

He thought he could finally peek his head out of this poverty. He thought he could make something of himself. He had good family support surprisingly from where he came from. His mother was a big part of that hope, since it all started with her. When Mary, Wes’s, was in her first marriage she was getting verbally and physically abused.

In Holly Wren Spaulding’s essay, “In Defense of Darkness,” her main claim is that we have fallen away from darkness and immersed ourselves in a society of lightness. Furthermore, she claims this has lead humans to lose touch with basic human emotion as well as the sensual and spiritual experience true darkness has to offer. Spaulding makes this claim evident through exceptional use of personal testimony and copious appeals to value.

children to raise. He was not getting enough attention as he wanted at home, he got his

He lived through many traumatic events all alone because he didn’t have a companion with him. This mental illness of PTSD, could have been avoided if he would have had a companion that looked like him and thus treated him kindly.

He has moved out of grief for his lost son. He is portrayed many other times through out the poem in the same way. He is an elderly man insane with sorrow. He has left his family to be a hermit, or at least to live below his status.

life and he wanted to escape a society full of rules to freedom in the wild.

from the desire to escape these personal issues that he had with his father and the expectations

his desires to be free as an emotional outlet. While he trudged through the fray of intrafamily

Throughout the story Baldwin illustrates that darkness is approaching when he says, “And when light fills the room, the child is filled with darkness. He knows that every time this happens he's moved just a little closer to that darkness outside”(7). The darkness and light Baldwin describes works as cycle, similar to night and day, after light comes darkness and after darkness comes light. The pattern of darkness and light is painted to symbolize the cycle of suffering and salvation, showing without one the other cannot exist. It is how to achieve this balance of light and dark that the narrator struggles with throughout the story. The narrator witnesses many instances of darkness, when his daughter died he wrote, “I was sitting in the living-room in the dark, by myself, and I suddenly thought of Sonny. My trouble made his real”(14). This instance of darkness the narrator depicts shows that suffering hold a present everywhere, it’s universal, and people can cope with their suffering though relating to one another. Furthermore, the recurring idea of darkness throughout the story shows that suffering will always exist and it is a vital part of the human experience. However, one can find the light, escaping the darkness for a moment, through relating to one another and showing compassion. In essence, the symbols light and darkness are used to develop Baldwins theme that suffering is

and opportunity. He yearns for a life that will provide him with comfort and stability, he

“It is far better to be alone, than to be in bad company.” That quote was said by one of the best and the first president of the United States Of America, George Washington.

that he wanted him to be a man who could get out of any situation and

Unfortunately, I began reading “Darkness Visible” with preconceived notions and wrongly assumed that this memoir, like “The Last Time I Wore a Dress” by Daphne Scholinski, would be filled with charismatic descriptions of life in a mental hospital and the activities (or lack there of) surrounding day-to-day life.

The pain and the struggles we go through are essential for us grow and mature. Dan experiences a life changing moment when “a light flickered in the darkness...” and he realizes “the process of real meditation- to expand awareness, to direct attention, to ultimately surrender to the light of consciousness” (Millman 97). In that moment of deep meditation, Dan’s body “becomes a radiant prism, throwing splinters of multicolored light everywhere. And it came to me that the highest purpose of the human body is to become a clear channel for this light-- so that its brightness can dissolve all obstructions, all knots, and all resistance” (Millman). Millman uses his light as a metaphor to represent awareness. During deep concentration, the light makes the contents of our minds visible, and we are able to now see all of the negative

Touched by fading moonlight, the girl looked pale as a ghost, distressed and sorrowful. Great drops fell from her eyes; the heavy rain clouds in her mind let loose their turbulent nature. She felt the muscle of her chin trembled like a small child, again, she looked toward the window as if the darkness outside could soothe her. However, she tried to keep her sobbing down by biting her lips, afraid the woman would “visit” again. Meanwhile, in the hallway, there was only deadly silence, creating an overwhelming sense of emptiness.