George Gray

963 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Fear and its effects

George Gray

“George Gray” is a poem about a man who missed out on many of life’s opportunities because he was so afraid of failure that he did not even try. He passed up love because he was afraid of being hurt, ambition because he dreaded all the changes that came with it and sorrow because he feared the pain. The poem begins with “George” staring at his own gravestone and realizing that there was nothing special to be said about him because he had done nothing with his life. He looked back on his life and realized that it would be so much harder then to regain all of his missed opportunities. The whole poem was a metaphor using a boat to represent “George’s” life and at the end, he let the boat sail freely and be guided by the winds of destiny. He regretted all of the opportunities that he had missed and by the time he realized that he never lived his life, it was too late to live it to its fullest. Therefore, life should be lived to its fullest so that when it is over, there are no regrets.

So many people have ideas of things they want to do, whether they be business-related, something that scares them or even just asking someone else out on a date. Everyone has ideas about how they want to live their lives, but most people never wind up following through. They are so afraid of failure or of looking bad that they run from any kind of challenge. Then later in life, when they realize that they had all these opportunities and never took ad...

Show More
Related

  • The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz

    1713 Words  | 4 Pages

    One’s life is a personal venture. From the day of birth, people set goals and

    Read More

  • Themes in The Boat by Alistair MacLeod

    1028 Words  | 3 Pages

    The story describes the protagonist who is coming of age as torn between the two worlds which he loves equally, represented by his mother and his father. He is now mature and is reflecting on his life and the difficulty of his childhood as a fisherman. Despite becoming a university professor and achieving his father’s dream, he feels lonely and regretful since, “No one waits at the base of the stairs and no boat rides restlessly in the waters of the pier” (MacLeod 261). Like his father, the narrator thinks about what his life could have been like if he had chosen another path. Now, with the wisdom and experience that comes from aging and the passing of time, he is trying to make sense of his own life and accept that he could not please everyone. The turmoil in his mind makes the narrator say, “I wished that the two things I loved so dearly did not exclude each other in a manner that was so blunt and too clear” (MacLeod 273). Once a decision is made, it is sometimes better to leave the past and focus on the present and future. The memories of the narrator’s family, the boat and the rural community in which he spent the beginning of his life made the narrator the person who he is today, but it is just a part of him, and should not consume his present.

    Read More

  • Dialectical Journals- Things Fall Apart

    2594 Words  | 6 Pages

    I think that what the author was trying to imply in this passage was that in his personal experience, he has noticed that many people take many things for granted and that they don’t live their lives according to what they want and need to do. So much is wasted during one’s lifetime, and people just allow their lives to pass them by.

    Read More

  • Personal Synthesis: A Personal Analysis Of 'Chuck Nolan'

    1142 Words  | 3 Pages

    This was one of the main aspects that brought me to this crossroad that I am at now and that I faced at the beginning of my college career. When I decided to go to college I wanted to be a doctor, so that is how I started out. Looking at the challenges ahead of me on that path I did some research and decided to change paths and pursue a career in Health Services. In health services I can still help people the way I like and it also fits into my plan for myself. With what makes me myself I look at the crossroad I am at now and all I think to do is to keep moving forward and straight. Looking back is a different me and going left or right provides many new challenges, so forward is my only option. Even though I will run into many other crossroads and challenges on my current path, I feel the way I am put together I can overcome anything that comes my

    Read More

  • What Is a Life Worth: Steve Jobs

    559 Words  | 2 Pages

    Living every day like it is your last is good way to live. He wanted to know what his life was worth. So he decided to make something of it. He went to Stanford dropped out, best decision of his life, then started up his own company. He realized that one day you can be the richest man on earth then th...

    Read More

  • The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism

    775 Words  | 2 Pages

     Dukkha is the first of the four noble truths of Buddhism. The word means suffering, but just

    Read More

  • An Adventure in Paris by Guy De Maupassant

    893 Words  | 2 Pages

    ​In the short story “An Adventure in Paris” by Guy De Maupassant an unnamed woman seeks for adventure, love, and excitement. An unnamed narrator starts to explain the inner nature and curiosity of a woman. The story transitions to the point of view of an unnamed lawyer’s wife which allows us to see her deepest desire to travel to Paris and be part of the lavishing life she has seen in the magazines. To escape her regular routine she makes a plan to go to Paris; however, her family members are only middle class and cannot help her fulfill her desire to live the life of a celebrity, fame, and fashion. Just when her trip seems to be monotonous she comes across the chance to live the life of an extravagant person. This chance happens when she meets Jean Varin, a wealthy author, in a store wanting to purchase a Japanese figurine. When Varin decides that the figurine is too expensive the lawyer’s wife steps up to buy the figurine which causes Varin to notice her. She flirtatiously invites herself into Varin’s daily activities which intrigue Varin. As the day closes she invites herself to Varin’s house and has an affair with Varin; however, she doesn’t feel she is satisfied because of his many needs. She anxiously waits till morning to come so that she can leave which only confuses Varin. When Varin asks her why she is leaving after all they have been through she states that she wanted to know what depravity felt like; however, it was not what she expected. The central idea of the story is about a woman’s psychological desire for romance, adventure, and an opulent lifestyle that leads to curiosity and the immoral act of adultery.

    Read More

  • Are Violent Video Games a Cause of the Bad Behavior in Children?

    984 Words  | 2 Pages

    The allegation that videogames cause violent behavior in children has been present as long as videogames themselves. Some researchers said that the Sandy Hook shooter, Adam Lanza, was one intense gamer. “Seung-Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech Shooter was seen by his roomates as odd because he never joined them in video games.”(Beresin) This debate will continue to go on in this country as long as there are horrific crimes that occur. There is much written in the research regarding this issue, and many differing views. The research that is presented in the next few paragraphs supports the theory that it is not the graphic video games that produce aggressive behavior, but other factors in a child’s life that create violent actions.

    Read More

  • Self-Motivation, Rewarding, And The Importance Of Downing

    1296 Words  | 3 Pages

    Lewis Carroll is quoted on the margins of page 86 saying that, “One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. “Which road do I take?” she asked. “Where do you want to go?” was his response. “I don’t know,” Alice answered. “Then,” said the cat, “it doesn’t matter.”” This quote demonstrates that without clear goals or plan for what you want you want to do with your life, you can get lost easily. I already have a life plan, others might not be as far along with their life goals, as I am, but that is not a bad thing, it just means that they have some searching to do. Being able to know what you want to do with your life, and how to get there, is an important thing to figure out, as soon as you can figure out what you want to do with your life. Discovering what you want to do in your life is often a good source of motivation to reaching your goals, whenever I start to struggle or fall behind in class I start to think about what is at stake for my future, and I ask the question, “what would I do with my life, if I couldn’t be a doctor?” Being able to have clear goals of what I want to do in my life allows me to look to the goals I have set for myself in life as a source of motivation, and work as hard as I can to reach them, even against all odds. There is good goal setting guideline that On Course

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of The Video Game Industry

    1458 Words  | 3 Pages

    Due to the availability of news and media in today’s technologically advanced society, many people are aware of the violent acts that are committed every day all throughout the world. In addition, the technological advances of today’s society have continued to fuel one of the most successful industries of the present day: the video game industry. Many people have been eager to blame the video game industry for the violent acts that are committed throughout the world because the video game industry has continued to target an audience that seemingly craves an increasing amount of violence, and they criticize the video game industry for its complete lack of restrictions on the sale of violent video games to teenagers. However, although some experts believe that playing violent video games may perpetuate a violent disposition in a teenager, it has been demonstrated that

    Read More

  • Gray's “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”

    2194 Words  | 5 Pages

    “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” is a poem composed by Thomas Gray over a period of ten years. Beginning shortly after the death of his close friend Richard West in 1742, “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” was first published in 1751. This poem’s use of dubbal entendre may lead the intended audience away from the overall theme of death, mourning, loss, despair and sadness; however, this poem clearly uses several literary devices to convey the author’s feelings toward the death of his friend Richard West, his beloved mother, aunt and those fallen soldiers of the Civil War. This essay will discuss how Gray uses that symbolism and dubbal entendre throughout the poem to convey the inevitability of death, mourning, conflict within self, finding virtue in one’s life, dealing with one’s misfortunes and giving recognition to those who would otherwise seem insignificant.

    Read More

  • Effect of Video Game Violence on Children and Teens

    1699 Words  | 4 Pages

    Violent video games can lead to aggressive and violent behavior in children and adolescents. “Violent media increase aggression by teaching observers how to aggress, by priming aggressive cognition (including previously learned aggressive scripts and aggressive perceptual schemata), by increasing arousal, or by creating an aggressive state” (Anderson and Bushman 355). As more children are becoming exposed violence in video games in the recent years, violence in schools and other locations where children are prominent has increased. “A national crime victimization survey compiled and maintained by the United States Department of Justice, shows that overall crime rates in United States society have fallen. Simultaneously, school- based studies reveal that many violent behaviors have increased among children and adolescents” (“Causes of School Violence” 1). Exposure to violence in video games can lead to aggressive behavior, desensitization, and an increase in crimes committed by children and teens in our society.

    Read More

  • The Negative Impact Of Video Games And Violence In Society

    1453 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to David Raven’s article, scientists believe that war games such as Call of Duty, Destiny and Halo boost brain power more than brain training games because the quick reactions used in the game help improve problem solving techniques. In his article, Dr Shawn Green, a scientist, states that action games that feature quick moving targets that come in and out of view have positive cognitive impacts. He also states that action games have been associated with improving attention skills, brain processing and cognitive functions. As stated by the Statesman (AsiaNet), research has shown that playing video games may strengthen a range of cognitive skills such as “spatial navigation, reasoning, memory and perception” (“Shooter video games”). In the article, it is also stated that “A 2013 meta-analysis found that playing shooter video games improved a player’s capacity to think about objects in three dimensions, just as well as academic courses” which essentially puts video games and academic learning in the same direction. Ultimately, the nature of video games has always involved learning, although with research, it leads us to believe further that video games have a significant impact on our cognitive

    Read More

  • Determination: Personal Narrative Analysis

    264 Words  | 1 Pages

    The story of my life would simply be titled "determination". Throughout my life I have always been determined to get what I want. I was never a child that asked mom and dad for something and got it, I worked for it. From a young age my mother made me do chores around the house in order to go outside and play with my friends. As I got older, nothing go easier, chores turned into jobs, and my income turned into my alliance. However, one thing that I did realize is that working without passion is not very enjoyable. I began working at a Restaurant as a host, which is not the most glamorous job out there. Fortunately, the Restaurant I worked at was looking for a new local marketing team. Once I heard what the job entailed I jumped on the opportunity;

    Read More

  • Violent Video Games Essay

    1496 Words  | 3 Pages

    “About 76% of parents agree that violent video games does increase aggressive behavior among you teens and children. Arguments say that violent games cause more bulling and fighting in schools (Do violent video games contribute to youth violence).” These young teens and children act out as the carteries form the violent video games. They want to be though and to be the person everyone is afraid of or the popular person.

    Read More

More about George Gray

Open Document