Character and Personality of Mother Teresa - Essay Example

Due: Character Critique Essay Mother Teresa is a well known woman, who worked for the benefit of people all her life. She was born in Skopje and was raised in Albania, as a Roman Catholic. Thus, her upbringing was influenced by Jesus, as he was compassionate person and Mother Teresa wanted to be like him. Like every other known figure, she had many qualities, was appreciated for her contributions and she also had flaws, which created a significant amount of criticism. Positive Traits The first positive trait of Mother Teresa is that she was caring towards the people who were poor and didn’t have any homes or food to eat. She cared for the people on earth and helps those who infected with AIDS. She started over a thousand foundation, however, the first one she started, was without any funds, which shows how compassionate and she was ambitious to do something for the well being of people. The objective of her life was to care for people and she spent 60 years of life in the slums of Calcutta. She helped the poor by giving them food, clothing, shelter and she was particularly devoted to helping the sick like lepers. She even cared about those people, who were dying or those who were abandoned by their loved ones. However, it wasn’t easy; she faced a lot of difficulties, extremely challenging situations and she had to put herself through a lot of hardships. This personality trait of her teaches people to take care of others, even if means sacrificing your own needs and desires. There is a quote of hers, which states, “I for one do like the worldly comforts and I am sure you do too. And you know what, that’s perfectly fine. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Just don’t be wasteful”. (Marques). The second personality trait of Mother Teresa was her strong faith. She faced many challenges in her life, because providing for the poor and taking care of them wasn’t an easy task. Faith was perhaps her solid foundation, which didn’t tremble when she faced difficulties; her faith taught her the core values of life, which was to take care of the poor and love them. She stated that, “In this life, we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.” The presence of her strong faith was the reason why Mother Teresa did so many things for the human kind. As she was inspired by Jesus, she involved herself in charity life and lived simply like him. She even believed that the God called her Himself and instructed her to work for the benefit of mankind. She left her convent in 1948 and opened her first charity organization, a home for those who were left on the streets to die (Teresa and Gangi). The Home for Dying was a place where people could die with dignity in Calcutta. Many other women, who were with Mother Teresa in her convent school, joined her in the cause and this group of women were then known as the Missionaries of Charity. She used to give food and clothing to children and needy people on the Christmas Eve. The third and the most important personality trait of Mother Teresa was her self-confidence. She knew the work she was doing in Calcutta helped many people and the way she spread her organizations all over the world, help many poor people. Due to her self-confidence, she approached the Pope and many other philanthropists, for support. In this process, she gained powerful allies, who were supporters of her cause. She received many awards because of her contributions; she gained self-confidence because she had believed in her mission. She continued helping people, even when she was criticized and the name of her organization was opposed. She had a vision for her organization and she initiated a new order, by helping people, even though she already had a respectable position in her convent. Her self-confidence also depended on the fact that she was empathetic towards people and knew that she had to keep working for them. She was compassionate for those who didn’t have much, and this made her an admirable figure of all times. Negative Points There has been a documentary about Mother Teresa, which outlines the many doubts people had about her relationships with influential people and the way she handled her organizations. The first personality trait was her leadership skills, which showed in how she ran her organization. Those who observed her organizations, where she kept the poor, were of the same opinion about the conditions of those places. These priorities of these organizations weren’t the hygiene of the poor, in fact, at times, the poor sat on the floor while they were fed and drool was coming out of their mouth; the floors were not in good condition as well (Downs). Moreover, there wasn’t even actual food present in these organizations and there were no painkillers either. This was not because Mother Teresa had low funding, but this was because she didn’t have good leadership skills or she wasn’t good at managing her own organizations. Moreover, her lack of good leadership skills, made her a person, who wasn’t open to ideas from anyone. In fact, Mother Teresa was intolerant of any mistakes from her followers. These followers were mostly volunteers, who wanted to follow the footsteps of Mother Teresa, because they knew about her from her contributions towards the society or they were from her convent. The second negative personality trait about her was of the idea that everyone who dies, is in a good place because they meet their God. Even though it was religiously correct, she thought this thing for people who could have been saved. For example, there was a nurse who worked with Mother Teresa, but she left her because of an incident that happened. There was a child, who had a chance to survive in this world, if he had been given the proper course of antibiotics, but Mother Teresa refused to do so and said that this treatment was irrelevant, because the boy is going to meet the God, in any case. The criticism here is that Mother Teresa showed more love for the dying, instead of those who were living and had the chance to live more. She abided by her religion in an extreme sense, as she felt that God wanted her to do this; religion was sort of a justification for everything (Claridge). This could be seen as a betrayal, because the relationship she had with the people she picked off the streets, she should have been more interested in saving their lives, instead of waiting for them to meet their Creator; when you love someone, you don’t feel the religious delight when they are dying. However, when she got sick, she went to the best heart specialist in New York City, which shows that she preferred to cure herself and not to provide other sick people with the same chance. The third personality trait of Mother Theresa, was perhaps her views, which were more religious and less humane or for the benefit of people. She was against the idea of abortion and contraception; in fact, she stated that, “The greatest destroyer of peace today is the crime of the innocent unborn child. If a mother can murder her own child in her own womb, what is left for you and for me to kill each other?” (Hitchens). However, even though her stance would have been supported by many, her view of birth control was something which was opposed by many. She was against using birth control, even though she was working in a country, India, which was overpopulated and many were dying because of poverty and because they had nothing to eat. Mother Teresa had the support of Vatican’s, and became a political tool for them. She even asked leaders of many countries to pass anti-abortion laws, and her support was backed by the Catholic Church. Conclusion Mother Teresa was an inspiration for those who wanted to help other people; she was an inspiration for those who wanted to save the lives of many. Mother Teresa laid down the foundation for people, to make them aware of the ways in which they can help those who are poor, don’t have sufficient to eat and don’t have a home. She was ambitious and passionate about what she started and started her first foundation, even though she didn’t have any funds. Even though she faced a lot of challenges and difficulties, she didn’t lose any hope and continued her efforts. Her faith was her strongest tool, but because of her political relationships, she became a subject of criticism. Her stance on abortion and contraception was something which further boosted the criticism. However, there are different opinions regarding her personality, some see her as a saint and some see her as a symbol of evil. Mother Teresa’s is an important personality, who sacrificed a lot for the people she served. Works cited Claridge, Sarah. Why Mother Teresa Was Evil. N. p., 2000. Web. 10 May. 2014. Downs, Ray. The Atheist Vs. The Saint: Why Christopher Hitchens Hated Mother Teresa. N. p., 2011. Web. 10 May. 2014. Hitchens, Christopher. The Fanatic, Fraudulent Mother Teresa.. N. p., 2003. Web. 10 May. 2014. Lee, Adam. Shattering The Myth Of Mother Teresa. N. p., 2008. Web. 10 May. 2014. Marques, Joan F. On Impassioned Leadership: A Comparison Between Leaders From Divergent Walks Of Life. International Journal of Leadership Studies 3.1 (2007): 98--125. Print. Teresa, and Carol Kelly-Gangi. Mother Teresa, Her Essential Wisdom. 1st ed. New York: Barnes & Noble, 2006. Print. Read More