The Past Is Our Definition

After Jack has grasped the truth that every man has a long heritage of deeds both noble and sinful—deeds that have lessons to teach and consequences to give in the present day—he finds himself able to tell Anne “how if you could not accept the past and its burden there was no future, for without one there cannot be the other, and how if you could accept the past you might hope for the future, for only out of the past can you make the future" (Warren 461). The “burden” of which Jack speaks refers to the accountability of man for his past, to the

Often times we find ourselves thinking about the past only to try to force the memories away and return to our current delusion. We can never erase the past, but if the past is who we are, then should we just welcome pain back into our lives? Embarrassment, guilt, and pride betray us as we choose to bury our darkest memories in our head and look to a positive future without ever having to readdress them and acknowledge that they had ever happened in the first place. Thinking back now my weakest moment caught me by complete surprise.

In a lifetime, everyone will face challenges that will leave you with guilt in your heart.Guilt from treating a friend or a close person terribly, failing school, and not training hard enough for a sport that one has loved. To fix those past memories people will try finding a way to redeeming themselves, which can make up for their guilt. A Brazilian internet explorer Eduardo once said, “True redemption is seized when you accept the future consequences for your past mistakes .”As Eduardo explained, the only way seek true redemption is to going on in your life and fix your past mistakes.For example in wrestling some meets against other teams can come down to one match and the wrestler who loses that match just gave that team a close loss.

A person’s past life is really important because it shapes the individual to be the kind of person he/she will be in the future. No matter how much we try, we can’t rid ourselves of our past nor can we run away from it. It’s embedded in our memories and will always remain to do so. In the short story “Xmas”, by Russell Banks, we meet the protagonist, Gregory Dodd who tries to run away from his past and avoid it. Eventually, the reader will learn what the consequences of such an action can lead to. Through the epiphany that the protagonist, Gregory Dodd, undergoes, Banks illustrates the consequences of avoiding one’s past; the nature of the epiphany is defined by the car collision, and ultimately leads Gregory to a wakeup call and a deeper self-realization, leaving him with some heavy thinking to do about his life. The forces that contribute to intensifying the moment of epiphany are seen in the plot and symbolism.

As human beings that regret past moments, we often have the urge to try to reverse our mistakes by reliving the past. Unfortunately, as learned from The Great Gatsby we must leave the past in the past and live in the present, as attempting to relive the past is impossible. Gatsby, a man who hoped to attain his love, Daisy, through fixing the past promises, “I’m going to fix everything just the way it was before” (Fitzgerald 117). This hope of Gatsby’s was impossible, as Daisy had changed and moved on with her life, which resulted in Gatsby’s inability to obtain Daisy. So, remembering to live in the present allows for us to leave behind the moments of regret in the past which allows us to avoid demise similar to

Among their past having a great effect on their present self, Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby, Willie Bodega in Bodega Dreams and Eric Carmen the composer of Boats Against the Current remain hopeful in trying to achieve their goal. The authors and writers of these pieces of literature all talk about a character's past with one another and then moves to the present and has them with a different character. This takes a toll on Gatsby and Bodega as they both try to show the love they once had, but both fail trying to do so. Although some may say your past is in the past, i believe that your past can greatly influence your present and future self as shown by Fitzgerald, Quinonez and Eric Carmen by the use of symbolism and characterization.

So he had learned what he needed to do so he do it the next time and finally achieved what he needed so we should learn from what we have done and fix it so it will be easier. If we can't overcome the obstacle the first time analyze the mistake and fix it. Everyone can overcome an obstacle So in fact they can change and overcome obstacles we just need to capitalize our mistakes.

Human beings make mistakes; sometimes they learn from their first mistake, sometimes they learn after

This idea of people's pasts and if it defines them is important to study because of the issue of stereotyping. This research is needed to help people understand the seriousness of this issue. Is one's

Sometimes the past has an irreversible role in a person's future actions. In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, when the protagonist of the story, Okonkwo, was young, he won a great fight in his village and gained much respect and popularity. He was viewed as a heroic person and a great leader in the village. This was very important to Okonkwo because he wanted to be seen as masculine and brave. However, there was another side to this respectful Okonkwo that went unnoticed.

In everyone’s life there is a moment that is so dreadful and horrific that it is best to try to push it further and further back into your mind. When traumatized by death for example it is very natural to shut off the memory in order to self-defense suppresses the awful emotional experience. Very often it is thoughtful that this neglecting and abandoning is the best way to forget. In Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved, memory is depicted as a dangerous and deliberating faculty of human consciousness. In this novel Sethe endures the oppression of self imposed prison of memory by revising the past and death of her daughter Beloved, her mother and Baby Suggs. In Louise Erdrich’s

Mistakes are very common in life. Whether or not our mistakes are big or small, in the end we still learn from them. After, a proposed amount of time when is that mistaking no further in our worries. I believe problems begin through mistakes, ones that can’t be undone such as criminal acts.

Rich successfully uses strong images and an extended metaphor to establish a theme that shows that by re-examining a hurtful experience one can experience a rebirth of their

Many other people have been in similar situations which have taught them a ‘life lesson’. In Gondry and Kaufman’s Eternal Sunshine, Dr Howard Mierzwiak knew of the power of memories. He went about erasing people’s memories without telling them the full consciences of their actions; like Joel who midway through the erasing process realised he wanted to keep them, his life afterwards was different as he didn’t have his memories of Clementine to remind him of what love felt like.

When we first started walking, we would stumble and fall down within few steps, until we learned how to walk perfectly. Mistakes are like these falls, without which we would never excel at anything. But one thing we should always keep in mind is we should never let these mistakes stop us from continuing the work. Mistakes are lessons for us, which help us grow and reach newer heights. Studies have shown that a person who has committed a mistake is always more determined and focused than a person who hasn’t. Thomas Edison came up light bulb after