Life and Its Lessons - Essay Example

?Abdulaziz Alrediny December 16, Life and its Lessons In life, people are believed to be defined by who they are, what they do and what they have, but are these really the things that define a person’s worth? Or maybe there are more important questions that people should ask themselves in order to know that they have lived their lives fully. The decisions that are made determine what happens in the future. If decisions made in the past are analyzed, can people confidently say that lives had been lived the best that people can? In the search for worth, the first thing people usually ask themselves is “Who am I?” which is a question of self identity. The question of happiness is the main concern in answering the said query. In addition, self-expression and without being afraid of what other people think is another important issue in relation to knowing one’s self. In the Apology and Crito, it was said that, humans can use reason rather than the values embedded in the culture to determine whether an action is right or wrong (Dingman 35). This is the part where Socrates was being asked to flee from prison in order to get away from being killed by drinking hemlock. However Socrates said that he doesn’t want to flee, though he was to be sentenced. He wants to be sentenced even though he doesn’t believe in the ways on how the government sentenced him. He would like that the public know of his ideas rather than flee. He was a philosopher and he stood with his beliefs even if it meant he had to die for it. He further stated in Apology that “A good man cannot be harmed either in life or in death” and since he believed that he did the right thing, then he knew that even if he died then he would not be harmed.It was also in the text “Apology” wherein the “Strong Promise of Defiance” showed that Socrates was willing to defy the Athenian court whether it was a legal or illegal order if it stops him from being what he is which is a philosopher (Dingman 36). In addition to this, another example is in the story “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, one of the characters Miss Moore is a college educated woman who has come to live in a poor African?American neighborhood and took the responsibility to teach the children living in it about the community outside and the problems that African Americans and poor people face in the world (Galens 21). Miss Moore was not afraid to be different from the other members of the community where she lived. She was college educated, does not go to church like the rest of the community and wore her hair in curls that was different from the African-American descent who had their hair straightened out. This just shows that she’s comfortable with her ancestry and does not conform to what was expected of their race. She was not afraid to share her ideas even if others think she is weird. Another example came from the play “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansbury, Beneatha was a feminist, her ideas and the way she thinks were that of a modern African-American woman. She even wants to works as a doctor which in his brother’s eyes was a job for a man and wanted her to be a nurse instead. She was not afraid to speak of her ideas and what she feels (Domina, 3). In order to make right decisions people have to determine first who they really are. Because if they deny everything that they stand for, then the decision making capabilities may be hindered by conflicts within themselves. Another question that a person asks in life is “what can I know”, what people know in their lifetime came from what they learned from childhood and reinforced as they grow old. The lessons in life “what we can know” are influenced by people met in school, work, and the society. In addition, some lessons are results of the decisions or choices that are made. The story “The Things we Carried” by Tim O’Brien depicts and shows the things that soldiers carry both physical and emotional issues. It sets an example on what can one know in the workplace and the people they work with. All carry basic military goods and personal items that would help them during the war; aside from the basic goods all of the men bring slightly different things that ease either their loneliness or fears (1-2). O’Brien uses the physical objects that the members of the company carry as a window to understand the emotional burdens that these soldiers bear. What they carried are the things that they know will help them during the war whether physically or emotionally. What these men in the war learned are the hardships of war, which teaches them to be prepared because they know that if they came unprepared, they can die. These emotional baggage carried by men who came from wars usually have these feelings even after the war is over and usually defines their decisions in the future. What we can know from our families such as love, pride and responsibilities was depicted in the play by Hansbury. Going back to Bambara’s “The lesson” Ms. Moore is a college graduate who came into a neighborhood and chose to teach the children. This is an example of what a person can know by being educated. She learned about the differences and inequality between races and this is what Ms. Moore imparted with the children. She used what she learned in college to teach which were her views on the in justice caused by the prejudice in terms of differences between the social classes and the races (Galens 42). Everyday people make decisions, and these decisions can either be beneficial or harmful. In making decisions people usually come upon different choices. What determines choices in life? Are regrets really part of life? What are the lessons in the end? Sometimes human beings are faced with opinions of others and people who are against these decisions. According to Plato’s Crito, humans can use reason rather than the values embedded in the culture to determine whether an action is right or wrong (Dingman 35). In addition to this, in Euthypro’s Dilemma, Plato said that an act is right because “God says it's so, or does God say it's so because it's right?” (Baggett 9) Could whatever is right be determined by God or could something be inherently right? These questions are usually taken in account when human beings make decisions. This then brings us to the last question which is “what should I do” which is based on the previous question “what I know”. Previously we learned about what a person can do, people have choices on the things they can do depending on their talents and education. What one should do is to apply what they know or learned in life then apply it to the decisions that they make in order to put it to good use. For example, Ms. Moore used what was learned during college years to teach it to the neighborhood children; she imparted what she knew which is college education by teaching which is what she did. One of the works that touch on the dilemma of making choices is that of Robert Frost’s “The Road not Taken” wherein a line in the poem goes “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both,” if faced with the same crossroads in life, why do people make different choices? These lines show a person who needs to make a choice between two paths which is not uncommon these days. But several factors in people’s lives which include ideologies and experiences as well as the knowledge acquired throughout life determine the choices they make and theses are what are taken into consideration when people choose. Some people on the other hand may look back and think what if they chose the other road? What would have happened? In the end, the poem stated that “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference” (1). These lines from the poem show that in the end people are bound to learn from whatever path was taken and it would make a difference. In conclusion, choices and decisions are made depending on many factors and mostly from the things that had been learned throughout people’s lives. And in each path taken, human beings learn new things and take them in their journey through life. Each new lesson is used toward the next paths that are needed to be taken. As long as people live, choices are made, and lessons are learned. As long as alive, the process of learning is continuous. Works Cited Dingman, Kyle, Obedience to the State in the Crito and the Apology. Aporia. 15:1, 35-50. Domina, Lynn, Understanding A raisin in the sun: a student casebook to issues,  sources, and historical documents. Westport CT: Greenwood Press, 1998. Frost, Robert. The Road Not Taken. Mountain Interval. 1920 Galens, David. The Lesson: Premium Study Guide. Farmington Hills: Gale Group, 2002. O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York: Penguin, 1990. Baggett, David. Theistic Activism and the Euthypro Dilemma. Detroit, Michigan: 2002. Read More