The Transforming Power of Suffering - Essay Example

The Transforming Power of Suffering Renowned British poet John Milton’s 17th century masterpiece “On His Blindness” and D. H. Lawrence’s 1918 short story “The Blind Man” may have been written almost 300 years apart but they reveal the same message, aside from the fact that they deal with two blind men who have greatly suffered because of this blindness. Nevertheless, they are finally able to find happiness in their suffering. What is it exactly in suffering that transforms one into a better individual? The lives of both main characters in John Milton’s “On His Blindness” and in D. H. Lawrence’s “The Blind Man” teach us that suffering can indeed transform one for the better, and, in the process, teach him humility, compassion and hope. John Milton’s poem “On His Blindness” does not fail to reveal the poet’s pain and suffering from his own blindness. Blindness, for the poet, is not only a cessation of sight but also a cessation of usefulness. Through the lines “And that one talent which is death to hide,/ Lodged with me useless” (Milton 3-4), the poet reveals the basis of his suffering, which is none other than the lack of importance he feels. At the time that this poem is written, Milton is one of the greatest writers of England, and this horrible condition called blindness is about to end his career, thus rendering him useless, much like the talent in the Bible which the third man buries and eventually becomes the reason for God to punish him (Matt. 25:26-30, The New International Version). For the poet, it seems that being blind is being useless, and being useless is tantamount to preparing oneself to get punished. This is the true cause of Milton’s suffering as he is writing this poem. Nevertheless, Jernigan states that the way Milton reveals his suffering somehow only reflects the idea that “the blind tend to see [themselves] as others see [them and] tend to accept the public view of [their] limitation” (4). Somehow Jernigan is right in saying that most human sufferings are mere acts of the individual directed against himself as a response to his feelings of uselessness and to the idea of getting punished for being useless. This seemingly self-inflicted suffering is somehow shared by the character of Maurice Pervin in D. H. Lawrence’s “The Blind Man.” In the story, Maurice secretly struggles with his blindness by keeping himself busy with daily chores on the farm: “He milked the cows, carried in the pails [and] attended to the pigs and horses” (Lawrence). These are actually a few things that a normal blind man can never get himself to do. Nevertheless, Maurice seems to be pushing himself to do these tasks. Why? The reason is one that he reveals to Bertie toward the end of the story: “What I am afraid of…is that [my wife Isabel will] find me a dead weight [and that] I feel it isn’t fair she’s saddled with me” (Lawrence). Maurice, therefore, just like the poet Milton, feels the same kind of suffering particularly because of their fear of being useless. Nevertheless, what Jernigan states – that “the blind tend to see [themselves] as others see [them]” (4) – is somehow true as most blind people tend to suffer only until they realize that suffering brings them the gifts of humility, compassion and hope. The virtue of humility is evident in the following lines of Milton’s “On His Blindness”: “…though my soul more bent/ To serve therewith my Maker, and present My true account, lest He returning chide” (Milton 4-6). In these lines of the poem, the poet himself admits that although he is ready to serve God, he has no choice but to humbly admit his “true account” – his actual circumstances or the fact that he is blind and that he cannot do anything about it. Indeed, humility is all about mustering enough courage to admit the true state of things and at the same time admitting one’s helplessness in the face of it. In the same way, D. H. Lawrence’s “The Blind Man” reveals the spirit of humility in Maurice Pervin. Isabel, Maurice’s wife, obviously knows that Maurice and Bertie both do not like each other. Nevertheless, the first sign of Maurice’s humility becomes evident when he agrees to the idea of inviting Bertie to dinner. When Isabel reads Bertie’s letter to Maurice, the latter, much to former’s surprise, says, “Ask him to come down” (Lawrence). As he hears Bertie arrive, Maurice then contemplates on himself and his own issues with the visitor and he realizes that “the hatred [he has for Bertie] was nonsense [and] he knew it was the outcome of his own weakness” (Lawrence). From the aforementioned statement, Maurice humbly admits the irrationality of his hatred toward Bertie. Maurice actually hates Bernie – being both a Scottish and a lawyer – simply because the latter brings out the weak man and the angry child in him. Nevertheless, perhaps the ultimate form of humility demonstrated by Maurice is when he himself tells Bertie the truth about his feelings, that “sometimes [he feels he is] horrible,” and when he tells him, “Touch my eyes, will you?—touch my scar” (Lawrence). Perhaps the hardest, or most heroic, thing a man can do is to admit his fault and show his human side to his enemy – or the man who he considers as the first one to possibly rebuke and misunderstand him. This is what Maurice very humbly does. Indeed, both Maurice and the poet Milton have realized that “darkness is the place of humility” (Jurich 8). This realization then transforms them both. Not only however is darkness or blindness a way to humble oneself but also “the way to kinship” (8), and what is kinship but compassion? Through humility, suffering creates compassion in the person who suffers. Compassion means “to feel with” and “to feel the feelings of another person in a deep visceral way [and] to relate to others’ difficulty, suffering, and pain to our own” (Rector 74). Milton’s “On His Blindness,” in fact, reveals more than that, for it actually shows God’s kindness according to personified Patience. In the poem, Patience calms down the fearful poet by telling him, “God doth not need/ Either man’s work or his own gifts. Who best/ Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best” (Milton 9-11). Patience therefore teaches the poet that he is in fact not practically useless although he is blind, for God – being Himself complete and all – does not actually need any of man’s work. The poet’s fear, therefore, are extinguished as he experiences God’s compassion when he realizes that, after all, God does not punish those who do not labor and those who believe they are useless because of their infirmities. The spirit of compassion therefore transforms those who see it, just like the poet Milton. In fact, the compassion of God that the poet experiences in “On His Blindness” is exactly the same thing that Maurice feels when he meets Bertie. In “The Blind Man,” the only time Maurice feels real compassion is when Bertie touches the former’s deformed face, his eye sockets and his scar. After this, Maurice feels renewed – and he really probably is – and thus he says, “Oh, my God…we shall know each other now, shan’t we?” (Lawrence). What does Maurice mean when he says he and Bertie know each other now, when in fact they already know each other’s names? This rather visceral, philosophical knowing that Maurice is talking about is more than the knowing of each other’s names but a form of wisdom – one’s realization of “a different level of being [where they know] who and where they are” (Jurich 8). Therefore, through the compassion coming from Bertie, Maurice gains wisdom. Both Maurice and the poet Milton are therefore transformed by the compassion that their suffering has made them experience. How then does compassion further transform the suffering man? The darkness experienced by the suffering blind is not only a way to experience humility and compassion but also a form of “mystical celebration” (8). The suffering man, therefore, celebrates in the midst of his pain and this celebration only means one thing – the idea of hope. Indeed, suffering teaches man to hope, especially the kind that transforms him into a better individual. In “On His Blindness,” as humility and compassion quell the fears of the poet, these virtues at the same time opens his heart to hope. The only way for a suffering man to become hopeful and to give faith a chance is for him to get rid of his fears. This hope reveals itself in the last line of the poem, “They also serve who only stand and wait” (Milton 14). This line is in fact an inverted form of the sentence “Those who only stand and wait also serve.” This means that although the poet is a blind man who cannot labor but only “stand and wait,” he still serves God in this way – by simply bearing his suffering. Furthermore, by virtue of this fact, he remains valuable in the eyes of God. The beautiful conclusion of the poem therefore inspires the poet and gives him hope in the midst of his blindness. He therefore does not think anymore that his suffering is in vain. When one realizes that his suffering is justified, he begins to feel renewed hope and this is the kind of hope that transforms him. The transforming power of hope is also the main element that viscerally transforms Maurice in “The Blind Man.” In fact, it is not only Maurice but also Bertie who is transformed for even as they walk, “their footsteps sounded strange” (Lawrence). Although the transformation of Bertie is somehow raw as it has been forced upon him, that of Maurice seems fully complete as he says, “We’ve become friends” (Lawrence). The fact that humility and compassion heal Maurice has indeed finally led him to hope. This hope, which takes the form of a renewed friendship, somehow bears the promise of a good and lasting relationship not only with Bertie and Isabel but also with himself. Thus, Maurice and the poet Milton, through and amidst their suffering, are transformed by hope. Both characters of the different selections are now optimistic and ready to meet life and whatever beauty it has in store for them. It is a fact that it is extremely hard to recognize beauty in the midst of suffering, especially blindness. Nevertheless, through insight gained from John Milton’s “On His Blindness” and D. H. Lawrence’s “The Blind Man,” one can say that this is not impossible. Suffering may cause pain and may quell all signs of hope, but, through the examples of the poet in “On His Blindness” and Maurice Pervin in “The Blind Man,” suffering can in fact teach one three bare essentials in life: humility, compassion and renewed hope. Whatever one is suffering from at the moment, one must recognize that it is a chance to admit his human weakness and to be able to come to terms with himself. This demonstration of humility will then elicit compassion from other people or, just like in Milton’s “On His Blindness,” from God Himself. Compassion then melts down the suffering and pain, thus instilling hope in the man and in the process transforming him. This man with a renewed hope has now broken free from the suffering that used to hold him in bondage, and with hope he begins to see things differently and he is happy to continue living his life amidst the suffering and in complete happiness. Both works of John Milton and D. H. Lawrence may have been written centuries apart but they both remind us of one thing – that our difficulties and suffering are never an excuse for us to give up on life, and that, in the midst of pain, there is always hope. Top of Form Bottom of Form Works Cited Jernigan, Kenneth. “Blindness: Is Literature Against Us?” 1974. National Federation of the Blind of Tennessee. 15 Aug 2011. www.nfb-tennessee.org/jernigan/banquet74.doc Jurich, Marilyn. “Seeing the Eye in the Darkness of Being: Unfacing the Trickster with Poetry, Science, Literature and Memoir.” Trickster’s Way 1:2 (2002): 1-18. Web. 14 Aug 2011. Lawrence, D. H. “The Blind Man.” 2011. ReadBookOnline.net. 15 Aug 2011. Milton, John. “On His Blindness.” 2002. Poetry Archive. 15 Aug 2011. NIV Holy Bible. Textbook Ed., Michigan: Zondervan Publishing, 1980. Rector, John M. “The Paradoxical Nature of Sin: Exploration on the Nature and Uses of Falling Short in Life.’” Association of Mormon Counselors and Psychotherapists Journal 27 (2002): 1-11. Web. 15 Aug 2011. Read More