Me, My self, and Mersault

Mersault has shown us that he believes human life has no meaning. We catch a glimpse of this when he says, "A minute later she asked me if I loved her. I told her it didn't mean anything but that I didn't think so." This emotional indifference impacts Marie's feelings, but Mersault is blind to the situation. We know that his central idea focuses on the meaninglessness of life, but I think this all seems to changes after the Incident with the Arabs. When Mersault goes to prison, all he's focused about is killing time. In this time he begins to recollect all of his memories due to his irrefutable boredom and he also repetitively reads a small newspaper article that's been posted on his cell wall. He also catches himself talking in the mirror, which I think shows his improvement in self-awareness. He begins to grow and understand himself as well as his beliefs, but he keeps hearing the voice of the nurse during the funeral procession. She tells him if he walks too slowly he might get a sunstroke, but if he walks too quickly he might work up a sweat and catch a cold in the church. At this moment he realizes that, "There was no way out" and he applies this to being in prison. He now understands that there is no way out of prison and that there is no way out of a life that inevitably ends in death.

Poem Reflection

"I have said that the soul is not more than the body,

And I have said that the body is no more than the soul,

And nothing, not God, is greater to one than one's self is,

And whoever walks a furlong without sympathy walks to his own funeral drest in his shroud,

And I or you pocketless of a dime may purchase the pick of the earth,

And to glance with an eye or show a bean in it's pod confounds the learning of all times,

And there is no trade or employment but the young man following it may become a hero,

And there is no object so soft but it makes a hub for the wheel'd universe,

And I say to any man or woman, Let your soul stand cool and composed 

before a million universes."

Whitman begins to sum up what he has been talking about when he says that the body and soul are equal. He emphasizes that the self is more important than anything, even God. He goes on about how having sympathy is essential to one's life and without it, you are walking to your own funeral. He says that even a poor man can have anything he wants, and a man can become a hero from his job. Whitman wants people to be more interested with themselves and others, rather than trying to figure out about God. This section is very inspirational and it's a good viewpoint on why you should focus on yourself and others because it allows you to open up a whole new world of curiosity and self-exploration.

Significant event

Martial arts, without a question, has made me the person that I am today. Through years of wins, losses, pain, happiness, and many disciplinary situations, I have leaned a varied amount of lessons. I've gained many relationships and opportunities from the sport; it's become a lifestyle. Its hard to pick out a specific event because I've been participating in Martial arts for nearly 14 years and most of what shaped me happened when I was a young child. The two characteristics that have been integrated into my life the most are humbleness and respect. Without these specific attributes, my personality would be way different. I am able to use these to find happiness within myself and others by setting examples and doing everything I can to meet any specific persons needs. I continue to strengthen these behaviors in my everyday life caused by my observant personality. I also try to better myself as a person everyday and spread kindness to others. I hope you enjoyed reading my post!

Socratic Seminar Reflection

Today's discussion was very helpful in the sense of filing out what C.S. Lewis' message was and we also got an idea of a solid source that evil may stem from. Alex Chaney introduced the quote, "With great power comes great responsibility" and that is what helped ignite the discussion about evil. Are all people that hold power responsible of the power in which they are holding? Are they selfish? Do they need more money/power? People with great power tend to be wealthy and tend to strive for more wealth just for personal reasons rather than trying to place extra money down for a good cause. People with great power tend to be leaders; but is a leader really a leader if they lack the motivation to help others? In today's world, with enough power and enough money, you can do just about anything you want. Now, it's not necessarily always used for good reasons because some people like to abuse their power. Abuse of power can be very serious because like I said, if you have enough power and money, you can do anything...
When someone notices the power they hold and how strong they can be, sometimes they start to use it for themselves without acknowledging what they are going to effect. People can then begin to use their power to commit crimes without consequences. People who choose to abuse their power can become intimidating, violent, and controlling, which causes the people to succumb to their ways.