Have you ever put together a large jigsaw puzzle? When you put away the puzzle, sometimes the pieces get lost or bent. If they do, when you take it back out and try to reassemble it, the puzzle is not complete; the overall picture, however, is still satisfying. In John Donne's "No Man Is an Island," the author similarly says that the inhabitants of the world comprise a team. When the team
(the world) loses a player, the team is not complete, but it finds some way to move on without that player. Every player is like a pebble that has been dropped onto a perfectly still pond; the consequence of the impact ripples out from the center. The ripples reach all sides of the pond, in a far-reaching expression of cause and effect.
Donne
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"If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own"("No Man Is An Island" sent. 2).In other words, no matter what happens in the world, whether it is a clod of dirt from a country, a mountain, or a whole home of ours or someone we know, the repercussions will still affect us. He claims that when a clod (human) is washed away or dies, Europe (all of man kind) is just a little bit less than what is was before, no matter how important or great the man was. If a piece of a manor is washed away, the manor is not complete. It can be fixed, and everything will still function normally, but it will not be the same as the original.
At the end, Donne explains how he is affected: "Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. ("No Man Is An Island" sent. 3). Any man's death takes a little part of him, because he is a part of a whole; that is, he is a member of mankind. He does not want to know for whom the bells are tolling; he knows that another piece of him is gone.
As life goes on, you meet people, and you accumulate acquaintances. You think that what you are doing does not affect them or anyone else, but it does.
When you die, or when they die, or when anyone dies, you are hurt and so are they; somehow or some way you have
There is survival after death where the death becomes parts of the soul and the body.
“As long as you live, shine feel no grief at all Life is short Life demands its toll” (Pilich).
Humans. We are complex beings that are constantly filled with curiosity. No matter where we are, how old we are or what we do, one thought always comes to mind. What life are we going to have? Short? Long? Good? Bad? We may never know but
It’s easier to turn a blind eye to other people's problems instead of getting involved from fear of causing pain to ourselves. “My father had just been struck, in front of me, and I had not even blinked. I had watched and kept silent” (39). Sometimes there’s a risk of us getting hurt, so we just pretend something didn't happen. I think it’s easier that way. It’s easier to just look away and not get our heart involved rather than risk being hurt ourselves, like when someone we didn’t know, or who wasn’t close to us dies, it doesn't bother us a lot. Their death doesn’t directly affect us or our daily lives. In fact, we try not to think about it because it would put a burden on us. The Jews couldn't think of every single person who died, otherwise they wouldn't be able to function normally. The grief would wash over them like an unbearable wave. “The dead remained in the yard, under the snow without even a marker, like fallen guards. No one recited Kaddish over them. Sons abandoned the remains of their fathers without a tear” (92). The sons couldn't care about their fathers deaths. They had to move on in order to survive. The Jewish prisoners saw so much death that eventually it didn't seem to bother them. It didn’t matter who died, because they couldn’t care. All they could care about was survival. All of these deaths that they saw everyday were only a part of the traumatic event they went
King of Pop, the iconic Michael Jackson is an example of how some people go beyond life. For once he died he was so much more important and earned way more money. While he was alive the King of Pop was $500 million in debt. Once he died he earned over $1.5 billion, Halperin believes “The simple truth is this: the most extraordinary fact about Michael Jackson’s death is that it made him the highest-earning corpse in the world”. Which is the truth, while Michael was alive he was known as the man who tried to kill his baby and a sex predator. Now after his death he is literally the richest corpse in the world. Some people are worth more gratitude, short after Banquo’s death he was then recognized as the noble wise man he always was, which is the reason he was dead. Macbeth says, “He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valour To act in safety. There is none but he Whose being I do fear: and, under him, My Genius is rebuked” (Shakespeare Act III Scene I). Macbeth felt as though that since Banquo was so wise and noble that only he had the ability to catch on so his deceitful plans. But as when Banquo was alive he was only recognized as Macbeth’s sidekick or his best friend, never as his equal or even his
The refrain, “five bells”, in italics is like a stage direction that reminds us the bells are still in the process of
Pain is universal. In life, everyone will feel pain; it is inevitable and cruel. Physical or emotional, insignificant or severe, it is there. The pain continues mounting into an unbearable amount of suffering. Suffering that blots out everything of worth, such as family, love, aspirations, and optimism. Hopelessness seizes any will to endure. With no way to subside or control the pain, often one will go to extremes in order to be free of it. Many take their life, in order to escape the horror. Committing suicide is a traumatizing experience for any and all involved. Life is precious. The chance to live is only given once, and cannot be taken for granted. Preventing even a single life from ending early is imperative and obligatory
Sometimes we don’t let go of memories, which results into making us bitter and not seeing past the truth: The world does not owe us anything. When the Universe decides to plot a scheme against oneself, one thinks it is the end of life, but the truth is there is always something to live for. Losing a person might be excruciating, but if you keep living on grief memories, it will only be worse. Lingering on things that no longer exist can end a person. Happy moments will fly through them because they’re still lingering on the past. Memories are important, but one has to learn when to let
After we lose someone close to us, everything takes a heavy toll on ourselves. Doing the most basic task exhausts us, "we become so weak that we
If I allowed myself to cry I knew that I wouldn't survive. If I allowed myself to feel the pain there was nothing in this world that would save me.
A well-known author once said that hurt people hurt people. Likewise, in an individual’s life, when an untimely and unwelcome situation occurs, they feel angry and hurt, and can even act gleeful when someone else gets wounded and suffers. When Billy stayed in the hospital, he struggled to process the thought that he emerged permanently blind from the operation room. “‘Are you feeling better now?’ I heard the blind boy ask me, and I turned and looked at him… I was very worried about you… and I want you to be very careful about your eyes.”(45). Even though Billy experienced pain and hurting, he was far more concerned about consoling the people in the hospital ward, making time to ensure they were healthy and doing well. While most people feel
Life is full of loss and you cannot avoid experiencing it and well as sorrow. As people grow up they come to realize that the world is not as it seemed to be when they were younger. They get more independent and their perspective of life changes. They will have to realize that they are not going to live forever. In the short story The Hurt Man, written by Wendell Berry and published in 2003, we meet Mat who learns all of this.
Donne suggests that in mourning the departure of loved one we trivialize the emotional connection shared between the two. He insists that a true connection of souls allows for separation to be a positive
us be with him in heaven. But if we don't then we will eventually regret
When I look in the mirror I know whom I am, but society makes it difficult to understand who I am, because I was born to immigrants of Nigerian descent, and I am a first generation American, that term is sometimes used so loosely. By looking at my name they assume that I am from some island, but I am so quick to tell them that “I am Nigerian”, there is another statement that normally follows this. “You do not have an accent”. I wonder if I had an accent would I be considered Nigerian and not American; then I say that “My parents are Nigerian” and then that changes, so to them I am just associated with the Nigerian culture it does not make me Nigerian, there has been many discussion between my friends who are the same like me confused to