Human Life: A Cycle?

In nature, things happen in cycles. The weather turns hot in summer then turns cold during summer as the seasons revolve in cycles. The tides rise and then falls. The sun rises and then fall. Everything in natures works in a cycle. Is this the true for human life? I think in some aspect it’s similar to the cycles of nature. When we are born, we are naïve and barely able to walk. As we age, we begin to walk, talk and fill our mind with information and intelligence. However, as we approach 60s or 70s, our body begins to degenerate that we tends to get Alzheimer and forget things. Also, our physical body becomes weak and vulnerable to diseases that we can’t walk or talk properly. In this way, our human body works in a cycle just like a cycle of nature. However, in a spiritual way, our human life may never be in a cycle. As we grow and age, we experience many different things and intake many variety of information and memories. If we never obtain Alzheimer, no one will be able to take those memories away from us that it will never follow a cycle where we will be memory-less like when we are kids. As we leave this world, our spiritual body continues to exist even though our physical body may have disappeared. If one such believe in resurrection, then our spiritual bodies never walk in a cycle and keep moving on just in a different physical body.

A Realistic View of Life

We all once dreamt of being rich, famous, a movie star, princess, astronaut, pilot, billionaire, race car driver and etc. However, at some points in our lives, we often realize that these are all just fantasy and impossible dreams. When I’m small, I used to imagine that I would become a jet fighter pilot someday in the future. I dreamt of soaring up high in the sky and shot down enemies with advance technologies. However, as I grow up, I realize that being a pilot is not so much fun and easy. It takes more than just being able to fly a plane and have good eye sight. A pilot will have to withstand dizziness and fear while the plane is spinning upside down and traveling at a speed faster than the speed of sound. Also, it’s not so much fun to shoot missiles at people when you may also be easily targeted by other planes. When we are young, we used to believe that all stories end happily with the good guy defeating the bad guy. However, fairy tales don’t necessary happen in real life. Often times the bad guy kills the good guy and the bad guys gets kill by another bad guy and so on. Reality is cruel. Life itself is cruel. As we grow up, people begin to put more responsibility on us and life becomes more complicated than just going through school, getting a job, marrying and dying old. Life is unpredictable and often discouraging, but because of this uncertainty, we are able to treasure every moment of our life and live the best out of it.

Comparing Characters

In the Red Badge of Courage, Henry was influenced by many of the characters in the story, such as Jim Conklin, Wilson and the tattered man. Jim Conklin was a close friend of Henry that they have met each other since school. Jim Conklin mainly serves as a role model for Henry as an example of a courageous soldier. When Henry asked him about fleeing away from battle, Jim’s word comforts Henry that it’s normal for soldier to retreat and run. It gave Henry confidence and strength. Wilson, also known as the loud soldier, is also a classmate of Henry, although he is not as closed to Henry. In the beginning of the war, Wilson talks loudly and externally look like a brave and strong man. However, Wilson is actually quite afraid of death and gives his last letter for his family to Henry, afraid that he will soon get shot. It is amazing of how Wilson has transformed within only one battle that when Henry comes back to the regiment with a head wound, Wilson eagerly help Henry and tends his wounds. In the end, they become good comrades and friends. As for the tattered man, he serves as a reminder of Henry’s guilt of being a coward. The tattered man constantly asks Henry of his wounds and follows him around. For all these character, I’ll choose Wilson to write about. Wilson has the most dramatic change in his character beside Henry that he transforms into a real soldier in the end of the story.

Henry's Relationship

In the Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane, Henry experiences different relationship with each of the characters in the story. Henry was a close friend of Jim Conklin, since they have known each other in school. Jim Conklin primary serves as a role model for Henry. Although Jim is also a rookie in war just like Henry, Jim displays a brave, courageous characteristic that Henry admires. When Henry asked Jim Conklin whether he will flee if other runs, Jim Conklin replied by saying he will do things along with the flow and trend. This comforts Henry that even his role model is willing to flee and retreat from battle. As for Wilson, Henry has also known him in school, yet he is quite annoyed by him. Although Wilson acted as if he is not afraid of battle by talking loudly, secretly Wilson is actually quite afraid of dying. During his first encounter with the enemy, Wilson is so scared that he entrusts his last letter to his family to Henry. When Henry returns to his regiment having a wound on his head, Wilson is a good friend of Henry that he tends and takes care of him. The tattered man deeply annoys Henry by questioning Henry’s wound. Henry is deeply annoyed by the question that it reminds him of being a coward without the “red badge of courage.” In the end, Henry abandons the tattered man, feeling guilty for leaving this lonely, hopeless man wandering in the field alone.

Conscience

What is conscience? According to the Merriam Webster, the definition for conscience is “the sense of moral goodness or blameworthiness of one’s own conduct, intentions, or character together with a felling of obligation to do right or be good.” Basically, it means that conscience is a sense of right or wrong. When one does something that is against their conscience of moral rightness, one feels guilty. Often time your conscience may disobey and interfere with your daily life. For example, if you find a poor, hungry, cute little stray dog on the street. In your conscience, it is right for you to take this poor animal home and take cares of it. However, in your current economic condition, you have no ability in having a pet that you barely have enough money to feed yourself and pay for your rent. You will face a hard decision on whether to go with your conscience or reality. Usually a person may just walk away, however feeling guilty of not being to help that poor soul. This is the same for Henry Fleming is the Red Badge of Courage. In his conscience, he knows that it’s wrong to flee from battle that he is a coward. However, afraid of dying, Henry is unwilling to test his courage. He felt extremely guilty for his uselessness and this emotion overwhelms him when he witnesses his friend’s death, which his friend has fought courageously.

The dark side

“The power of the dark side!” According to the dark Romanticists, they believe that everything has a dark side. Like Romanticists, they believe emotion overweigh rationality, however they focus on the dark side. In many modern literature and movie, dark Romanticists have a lot of influence in them. For example, in Star Wars, the antagonist is described as the dark side of the force that people use this dark power to do heinous acts, such as destroying a planet. Also, in horror movies, they talk about the irrationality and dark side of human nature that people become mass murder and blood thirst lunatics. The dark Romanticism becomes so popular in mass media today because most people don’t think too optimistic about the world. People are often frustrated about their wages, work, relationship and life. These dark movies allow them to release their negative pain that they may think themselves as doing those dark acts in the movie or they will become cautious about how destructive human nature can be when dark emotions is released. As many movie demonstrated, human’s dark side can be so wicked and destructive that it’s impossible for a person to stop this negative emotion. I believe that there always exists a dark and bright side of human nature. The side you decided to take on greatly determines one’s characteristics and personality.

The Transcendentalists

        The transcendentalists are people who believe everything is a reflection of divine soul. It’s a religious group which they believe individualism outweigh authority and rationality. They believed that people should act upon their intuitive rather than rule of the society. It is these ideas that allow some of the greatest leader in the history of mankind to be created. Ghandi, for example, is deeply influenced by the transcendentalists. Believing that India has the right to be independent, Ghandi rose up against the British control using peaceful protest despite the risk of death penalty. Also, Marther Luther King was also deeply influenced by the transcendentalists. Believing with his intuitive that all man, including African American, should be equal, he led a successful campaign in the civil rights movement, which eventually allows African American to gain suffrage right. I personally disagree with some of the transcendentalist’s ideas. It is really hard for me to believe that everything in the world has a divine purpose or soul. I don’t believe that there will be soul in paper, water bottle or my computer. I only appreciate their ideas about how we should use our intuitive over rationality. Although rationality is also very important, some time the right thing to do is not written in the guidebook, that we need to use our intuition to guide a path to the future.