Nigel Hunter
10/17/13
EN 101.16
Paul Dunbar’s epigram starts out with
a serious conversation about faith and the afterlife but concludes with a sense
of humor that pokes fun at the question of heaven and hell which in turn
changes the tone of the epigram. The tone set in Countee Cullen’s Tableau is contradictory to the humor at
the end of Paul Dunabar’s epigram, it is a serious topic about racial harmony
and how the youth may perhaps have a better understanding of what it means to
love everyone for who they are. Both of these tie into the first half of Mary
Shelley’s Frankenstein which deals
with the question of Victors morals when he creates this monster and his inability
to accept the monster for who he is simply due to appearance.
“If there
were not, where would my neighbors go?” Paul Dunbar suggests that when dealing
with the question of the afterlife, one only thinks of themselves. Everyone else
is deemed as unmoral and will not make it to heaven. Dunbar suggest that people
only think that they themselves are moral and no one else’s morals compare to
theirs. Every person believes that they should be in the front of the line at
heavens gates. This ties into Mary
Shelly’s Frankenstein when questioning
Victor morals and his choice to create this monster. Victor may see himself as
moral but fails to understand the horrific deed he has done in attempting to
play god by creating life itself, and then going on to despise his own creation
of life.
“Oblivious
to look and word, They pass, and see no wonder”, Countee Cullen paints a harmonious
society in which the color of one’s skin has no meaning. The two people in
Cullen’s poem are young and are not affected by the issue of race despite societies
opinions which is stunned by “The black boy and the white, Locked arm in arm
they cross the way.” Cullen implies that this is what the natural behavior of
humans should be towards each other when dealing with each other’s differences,
which is best depicted through the young age of the children. This poem ties
into Shelly’s Frankenstein in the way
that Victor rejects his own creation solely because of its appearance. Victor
is unable to accept what his monster looks like on the outside and in turn
causes this “monster” to truly become what it is by murdering several people
and destroying everything Victor values in his life.
The theme of
these three works of literature tie into the event I attended on Wednesday
evening at the chapel. This was my second time attending a prayer service at
the chapel. Like the previous, this service was a scripture based meditation.
While I am not a religious person, I was able to get something out of the
meditation. This was only my second religious event I have ever attended so
while I was not able to follow all of the scripture, I do think the readings we
did this week for class tied into an aspect of the service. Question of our own
morals, and harmony amongst all people tied into this Wednesday evening
service. The meditation itself also had me questioning my own morals and the
theme of Dunbar’s book that suggest that perhaps we aren’t as moral as we think
we are and that there is always room for moral improvement. I’m glad I was able
to benefit from this experience and attended another religious event on campus.
No comments:
Post a Comment