Like the Creature in Frankenstein, the Marquis almost seems remorseful when he condemns his wife to death: ‘And it seemed to me he was in despair’ this along with the ‘terrible, guilty joy’ shows a kind of natural inclination to evil – though he knows that these acts are wrong he still on some level wants to commit them and enjoys them. However the Marquis’ knowledge that what he is doing is…
Being evil is one thing but acknowledging that you are is another. The second murderer says that conscience does not matter: "Let it go; there's few or none will entertain it" (1.4.116). By openly saying this, the murderer suggests that there are few who listen to and follow their conscience. The language he uses also hints that conscience is something that comes and goes. This seems to explain Clarence's earlier confession.…
Søren Kierkegaard is considered one of the great thinkers of recent times. A Dutch philosopher, theologian, and social critic, he rejected many the philosophies of his day. Kierkegaard’s focus was not so much on reason, but on experience and human existence. González (2010) describes Kierkegaard’s view that existence, “takes place in anguish, doubt, and despair” (p. 395). This emphasis on existence made him the founder of existentialism.…
Throughout the short story “Killings” by Andre Dubus one of the characters Richard Strout who murderer of Frank, who walks around town a free man. Someone may become easier to forgive for their actions if they commit a crime and feel bad and have remorse for their actions. On the other hand, they become unforgivable when they show no signs of remorse or do not feel bad. Richard killed Frank out of jealousy and has no remorse for his actions, and does not deserve forgiveness. “He was making it with my wife,” was the reasoning that he gave Matt, Frank’s father, for killing Frank (6).…
This podcast talks about Jesus Christ from a historical perspective through the book Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth and its author, Reza Aslan. This book dives into the historical perspective of Jesus of Nazareth and discusses Reza’s own religious journey. Religion is defined by the book to a a social institution involving beliefs and practices based on recognizing the sacred. There are several concepts from the lecture and book can be seen through this podcast. Religion is very complex as shown by Emile Durkheim thought of religion involves things that surpass the limits of our knowledge.…
In the reading we did for Tuesday, one interesting aspect was the remorse Paul feels after stabbing the French soldier. Paul was taking cover in a crater formed by a shell when a French soldier jumped in it to take cover. Paul quickly stabbed him, but then realized what he had done. He hears the man gurgling and watches his eyes open, and he wants to help him live. He fetches water for him, bandages his wounds, and tries to tell him that he's helping him.…
Guilt is a recurring theme in the novel, especially when it comes to Hans Hubermann when his life was spared in France during World War I thanks to Erik Vandenburg’s, whose life wasn’t spared. While World War I, Eric was in the army with him, the same group, and Eric is the reason Hans was able to stay behind when he suggested Hubermann to write a few dozen letters by coming up and saying his name along with “Immaculate handwriting, sir, immaculate” (Zuzak, 178). The rest of them got into a dangerous job that killed Eric. Thus, Hans is guilty because Eric could have stayed behind instead, and his life could’ve been spared instead of his, so he feels like he indirectly killed him.…
Throughout the novel of “The Damage Done” Warren Fellow’s experiences and hardships he finds himself faced with cause on-going anguish both mentally and physically. These aspects of his unjust life in prison and the events preceding convince Warren into believing that his punishment was not justified, or even remotely equal to his crimes that led to his arrest. There are multiple excerpts from book that can confirm and justify his beliefs of unjust incarceration. One of them includes a quote from page 137 that follows, “Suddenly, my punishment seemed way out of proportion and I couldn’t see the lesson that was to be learned. How much suffering was I to go through before the world agreed that I had paid my price?”…
“What would I have done?” This excerpt from the memoir of Simon Wiesenthal reveals a difficult time in his life when he was forced to make a difficult choice about the telling the truth and forgiving someone who has done wrong. He ends the excerpt by leaving the reader with a profound moral question: what would we have done? I would like to think of myself as a kind and forgiving person because no one has wronged me so severely that I felt I could punish them forever. However, if I were to mentally switch places with Simon Wiesenthal, and it was me that Karl was confessing his sins to, then I don’t know if I would have said anything to him either.…
Of all the feelings a person can feel, there’s but one feeling that can leave us in a state of shock, help us escape reality, commit deeds that we can’t endure, and corrupt our rationality of thinking. This is more commonly known as the emotion “guilt”, which is a feeling one feels after realizing they have done something unspeakable. The theme of guilt is clearly evident in Robertson Davies’ Fifth Business and William Shakespeare's Hamlet. Guilt is particularly used in both narratives to portray the true nature of characters in both narratives, by developing emotional tension in characters, contrasting the type of guilt felt by between characters and is also used to influence their decisions. First, characters throughout their respective novels have different types of guilt they feel and is often contrasted with other characters in the same narrative.…
Depression and Anxiety Through the Eyes of the Accused Living with depression and anxiety often causes feelings of guilt, helplessness, and can completely consume the person. Arthur Miller channels these intense emotions in The Crucible through the people of Salem’s fates due to the false accusations of witchcraft. The guilt, helplessness, and consumption the accused experience are all symbols of the effects of depression and anxiety. Depression is often a battle against self-hatred, burdensome feelings of guilt, and feelings of deserving to be punished. Elizabeth Proctor clearly demonstrates self-hatred when she takes responsibility for John Proctor’s affair without a doubt in her mind, blaming herself.…
Both Krakauer and Odysseus face guilt on their journeys. In this case, both men experience guilt and cope with their guilt in similar ways, but in other ways, both men respond differently. First time both men feel guilty, it’s about withholding information from their companions. There are many different examples, but I will be sharing a few. In the Odyssey, when Odysseus had to keep going on the boat, up ahead, there were two decisions that Odysseus had to make.…
Part of being human is discovering particular aspects in life. Arthur Miller states,” Betrayal is the only truth that sticks.” However it is not possible to recognize an isolated trait as being the only accepted truth. Betrayal is not the only truth that sticks, because mankind needs a strong bond that is established by family values, forgiveness, and morality.…
It so happens that in the Bible, God asked his son Jesus to die in order to put an end to people’s suffering. Jesus embraced this request with forgiveness, for the ones who sinned against him, and gratitude, to God for his blessings and the ending suffering. Forgiveness and gratitude can strengthen and heal people from many afflictions or trials presented to them. Similarly, in his 20th century novel, Cry, The Beloved Country, Alan Paton employs the use of anaphora in order to emphasize how through gratitude and forgiveness people can gain strength and be healed of afflictions and have peace.…
The Gnostic gospels have been the subject of much debate for centuries, especially regarding the Orthodox Church’s opposition to the validity of gospels outside of those canonized gospels of the New Testament. Author Elaine Pagels consolidated her research on this topic in the book titled The Gnostic Gospels. This text provides some insight into the struggles that helped shape beliefs of the Gnostics and the early Orthodox Church as they responded to attacks of heresy from one another. The purpose of this review is not an all-inclusive review of the entire book, but a focused look at two important chapters: one that addresses various interpretations of the resurrection of Christ and another that deals with the question of which church should…