These dangers are produced by our history. They rest on the fact that in order to conquer this continent, the particular aloneness of which I speak—the aloneness in which one discovers that life is tragic, and therefore unutterably beautiful—could not be permitted. And that this prohibition is typical of all emergent nations will be proved, I have no doubt, in many ways during the next fifty years. This continent now is conquered, but our habits and our fears remain. And, in the same way that to become a social human being one modifies and suppresses and, ultimately, without great courage, lies to oneself about all one’s interior, uncharted chaos, so have we, as a nation, modified or suppressed and lied about all the darker forces in our history.
The Dalai Lama talks about “Compassion”. The way to understand compassion in this situation does not mean forgiveness or to forget what the murderer did and let him free. Here, compassion means to put aside the feelings we have for the one related to us and become impartial to listen to the reasons the murderer has to have killed this person. This impartiality would help us not to follow what The Torah suggests. The Torah suggests the death of a murderer.
Unfortunately the answer is one which bear a great deal of weight, yes there will always be a minority whom don’t agree with current laws; whether these laws are just or unjust, humankind’s evil will cause them to rebel, because what is just to one may be unjust to another. My fellow oppressed man, here lies the ultimate problem. When humankind cannot agree on a core set of laws that are just, there will always be oppression of some kind taking
Reading Portfolio: Personal Response “Assisted suicide: A right or a wrong?” Even as I read about this controversial issue about euthanasia, it saddens me that people would want to argue whether it should be legal to choose to end their lives. But of course, they have their reasons too. Supporters of the legalization of euthanasia reason mainly on the basis that every person should have the freedom of choice to do whatever he wants with his body life, which includes controlling his own death and being given the right to maximum happiness that he can get. I think the arguments for euthanasia have a point; imagine and put yourself in the shoes of a terminally and critically ill person that suffers excruciating pain 24 hours a day, 7 days
He pointed out that the war was a waste, and they were only there for their country, not for the unnecessary killing and also that fighting and killing is mentally tolling. He captures all of this when he writes one of last lines, “War is brutish, inglorious, and a terrible waste. Combat leaves and indelible mark on those who are focused to endure it. The only redeeming factors were my comrades’ incredible bravery and their devotion to each other. Marine Corps training taught us to kill efficiently and to try to survive.
Creating Killers In the book, “The Good Soldiers” ,David Finkel demonstrates how the war creates killing machines out of otherwise normal human beings. The soldiers abhorrence for their conditions and the violence of war evolves into a hatred for the Iraqis. It is a sequence of revulsion and violence that leads to an unstable army ready and overjoyed to kill. These conditions create the ailing men and women that they become, a killing force with serious mental instability. The soldiers live and fight in terrible conditions.
Charles Yale Harrison’s novel “Generals die in bed” directly depicts the catastrophic dehumanization of soldiers in war through each and every one of his characters. Dehumanization is the process of losing altruistic or individual qualities, as may occur in some psychotic states or in environments that produce emotional trauma and may be influenced by external forces. The environment and external forces in Harrison’s novel were the trenches. From the beginning of the novel the men are normal civilians, with morals and righteous beliefs who show great respect for their fellow man. Yet soon after they are stationed on the western front these men are transformed into barbaric killers whom resent and show very little mercy for their fellow man
Central to Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery is the theme of injustice. In both texts, the theme of injustice is present, due to societies failure to question superstitious beliefs and tradition resulting in inhumane treatments. The societies in both texts, adhere on tradition and superstitious beliefs regardless of the harmful effects it may cause. Fundamentally, it portrays human kind’s vagueness concerning the purpose of their actions, being more alarmed about tradition and rituals. Failure to this, leads to harsh penalties and measures towards the main characters, John Proctor and Tessie Hutchinson.
These two themes show the ugly side of war. Insanity among the soldiers and the way they view each other is very unusual. The soldiers can’t conform to one another or follow a common set of rules. The reader also sees that regardless of his mental state, Yossarian can’t be discharged. The theme of death, is one that is against war.
Die for your country Moral contradiction in a moral principle: utilitarianism. Homicide can be an appalling achievement, but while killing under utilitarianism jurisdiction of war can dismiss the horrific matters of taking lives. When putting death in a context of “dying for your country” the direness of the situation transforms into an admirable one. Propaganda, and the sociological aspects of not going to war, utterly employs all men into the army in complete blindness of reality. This is portrayed through WW1, in books such as Quite on the Western Front.