Carpe Diem Life and Certitude in For Whom the Bell Tolls - Literature Essay Samples

The life expectancy in the United States is about seventy-eight years. Zambia’s life expectancy is roughly thirty-three years. Does this mean it is impossible for a person in Zambia to have a more fulfilling life than a person in the United States? In Ernest Hemingway’s novel For Whom the Bell Tolls, Robert Jordan conforms externally, but raises questions internally about the value of life, and discovers that it is possible to live a fulfilling life in any span of time if one lives life to its fullest. In the beginning, Robert is sure of his causes and beliefs, and is willing to sacrifice his life to win the war. But by the end, Robert’s experiences and newfound acquaintances all work in synergy to persuade him otherwise. His companions change the value of human life for him. Anselmo, Pablo, and Robert are killers. They have all taken human life before, but have different views about doing so. For Anselmo, â€Å"it is a sin to kill. To take the life of another is†¦very grave† (Page 41). Religious and idealistic, Anselmo is the type of man Robert would like to look up to, but knows he can never be. No matter which path he takes, he can never parallel the peace-loving Anselmo—Robert has too much to fight for, too much to live for. On the other hand, Pablo is the most different from Robert, yet the most similar at the same time. For most of the novel Pablo is portrayed as a weakling, a man whose spirit has been broken, even though he was once a terrible kille r. As Pilar has said, â€Å"Thou hast seen the ruin that now is Pablo, but you should have seen Pablo on that day† (Page 74). Unlike Anselmo or Robert, Pablo actually likes killing; he enjoys it, for the most part. But, he is broken before Robert arrives, and so Robert is not able to witness Pablo’s transformation from a ruthless killer to a drunken slob. Pablo underwent change, through a psychological transformation, much like the change Robert goes through. The only difference between the two is that Robert continues conforming outwardly to the needs of society despite his inward transformation, while Pablo chooses to forsake society, and chooses to fully display his inward transformation. True to his character, Robert becomes even more conflicted towards the end. He does not want to kill, and does not want to be killed, but he chooses to continue fighting for a cause he no longer completely believes in. These changes occur within Robert because of his newfound frien dships, especially his bond with Maria. Robert’s view on life changes as he journeys onward, especially after meeting Maria. Prior to meeting Maria, Robert fully believes that â€Å"There are necessary orders†¦and there is a bridge and that bridge can be the point on which the future of the human race can turn† (Page 43). At that point, he is full of conviction and ready to fight for the cause he fully believes in. With high hopes to change the future, he is even ready to die for his cause, although he is not fond of the prospect. His life is meaningless. Soon enough, Robert meets Maria, and she redefines the boundaries of his world. Life actually begins to mean something—Robert wants to live because of Maria. Yet, he sees the future, and sees time running out. This is the critical point, and he realizes that â€Å"There is only now and if now is only two days, then two days is your life and everything in it will be in proportion† (Page 167). For Robert, there is only one path. He cannot si mply stop fighting—he can only change his reasons for fighting. Robert sees his fate, and grudgingly accepts it. Yet despite such acceptance, he does not abandon hope for life, and thus he learns to â€Å"seize the day.† By doing so, Robert lives an entire lifetime in merely two days and dies a fulfilled man. Instead of fighting the war to end the fascist regime, Robert changes his inward beliefs, and chooses to fight for Maria; he chooses to fight for life. Robert outwardly accepts his fate as a soldier, but inwardly he continues to question the value of life and his own existence. In doing so, Robert distorts his reality into a anomalous relationship of life and death. Of the two paths, Robert chooses death, while Pablo, the counterpart of Robert, chooses the path of life. Pablo lives on, but he does not live a greater life—he is a drunken slob living in apathy. Even though Robert lives a much shorter life than Pablo, he still lives a much more fulfilling life than Pablo. Because of his love for Maria, Robert learns to â€Å"seize the day† and is thus able to live a much more gratifying life than Pablo’s in merely two days. He shows how a promising life can be lived in seventy-eight years—or, if one must, thirty-three.

Discovering Morality through texts - Literature Essay Samples

Whilst some discoveries allow an individual to further confirm their views on their world and themselves, others may lead to moral questioning or re-evaluation evoked by their newfound perspective. These discoveries in particular gain value through their ability to facilitate change within their societies, as they bring to light the aspects of these cultures that may require adjustment. In his poems Meatworks and Flames and Dangling Wire (FaDW), Robert Gray critiques the Western, consumer-driven tendencies of his world. He highlights the way in which these attributes may influence the future, whilst blatantly criticizing their lack of moral integrity. Despite this, Gray appears to remain accepting of these flaws, as he recognizes their inevitability and shares how he too is a part of the ethically-distant clockwork. Through his process of exploration and discovery, Gray encourages those who read his poems to in turn remain perceptive and make their own. Through discoveries, values and ideals may be questioned as their worth is reassessed. Whilst this process of re-evaluation allows an individual to gain control over their perception of society, their ability to act upon these beliefs can be obscured by necessity or insignificance. Gray explored the way in which his view of the world was altered as a result of his environmental repositioning in his poem FaDW, as he highlights the materialistic, disposable nature of western culture. Whilst this poem insists that a hellish landscape â€Å"is how it will be after men have gone†, Gray appears to remain positive that the fossils of his society will remain present, acting as a cautionary insight into the necessary and unavoidable downfall of industrialization. Within the poem, Gray portrays his city, being representative of development and industrialism, as â€Å"stakes driven into the earth†, saying later that the place was comparative to â€Å"hell†. By alluding to t he biblical concept of Judgement Day, a burning downfall to mankind, Gray forces the reader to understand the way in which their own actions are conducive to this outcome. As he characterizes the dump with â€Å"cars like skulls† and â€Å"tin cans†, Gray personalizes the scene and reiterates the relationship between production and an industrial apocalypse. Despite this apparently pessimistic approach to his world, Gray’s views can be considered to alternatively be reflective of a more accepting, co-existing ideal. The idea of pain and death being a necessary part of life is demonstrated through the Buddhist ideals evident throughout his poems. Whilst he appears skeptical of the morals of his society, he does not depict an end to these values as an inherently bad thing, instead simply appreciating that they will end. In this way, Grays own discovers have affected him on a spiritual level, as he uses his own alternate ideal to pass a judgement on the end of his s ociety. Through the acceptance of the flawed nature of the world, the way in which an individual views themselves and their world can be altered significantly. Through his discoveries in regards to the inhumane acts behind the meat industry, Gray became able to reassess his perspective and remain critical of these corporations. Gray explored his renewed understanding of the people around him as he says that most of â€Å"them worked around the slaughtering†, ambiguously suggesting that his workmates too understand the atrocity of the Meatworks, and in turn aimed to avoid this issue, reiterated as he states that flaws surrounding the slaughterhouse were â€Å"not looked at†. As his own personal identity is questioned, Gray finds himself unable to rid himself of the immoralities he has committed, as he finds that the â€Å"around the nails, there was still blood†, using the physical act of cleaning himself to symbolise the emotional trauma he has undergone. In addition to this personal re-evaluation, Gray finds himself viewing his world in a different light. He uses pathetic fallacy to convey this, as he sees the once â€Å"white [] beach† in â€Å"mauve light†, as â€Å"startling storm clouds† roll in. Through this, we can deduce that Gray believes that the immorality of his society now overpowers the natural, as it too becomes tainted. Through this it becomes apparent that Gray’s discoveries have altered the way in which he views his world, and in turn alters his own sense of self. Morality, however it is observed by an individual, is an element of society that is both shaped by the world, and plays a role in shaping the values of others. Whether the ideas represented in texts confirm or challenge the dominant morality of society, they play a powerful role in the development of a rich and thoughtful society.