Adversity In The Second Coming Essay

In his poem, “The Second Coming”, William Yeats demonstrates the idea adversity plays a heavy role in influencing an individual’s identity. “The Second Coming” develops the idea that an individual’s identity will be affected negatively when faced with adversity. In other words, when the speaker realizes that the world around him is in ruins, he beings believe that it cannot be saved. Firstly, due to the first world war, many tragic scenes are witnessed such as the lives of innocent people being lost which causes the speaker to believe that the same event will happen in the future. Secondly, although the speaker possesses a small hope that things will change for the better, he cannot help but envision more terrible images such as vultures waiting

to eat the dead. Similar to the speaker, I have also believed that things will never get better due to the adverse effect that a past event had on me. With this poem, Yeats showcases the idea that adversity plays a large role in shaping an individual's identity.
As a result of the first world war, the speaker witnesses many terrible scenes such as a “blood-dimmed tide [that] is loosed, and everywhere” (Yeats, 1919, l. 5), causing him to believe that the world is coming to an end and there is no saving it. Due to all of the terrible things that the speaker has witnessed, he begins to predict that the future will hold the same, if not worse of a fate. The speaker predicts that more innocent people will suffer due to other people’s violent actions although they have no relation to the actual cause, similar to how a baby could be “vexed to nightmare[s] by a rocking cradle” (l. 20). Due to the adversity that the speaker is facing, his identity as an individual is slowly compromised, causing him to possess a very pessimistic view on life. Predictions of a sphinx with a menacing look in its eyes as it moved toward Bethlehem are easily visualized by the speaker due to the mark that the adversity that he had experienced during and after WWI, causing him to believe that the world will only continue to spiral down into further chaos.
As expected with battles, displays of horror such as blood shed and the loss of lives is seen by people. Due to these displays, some people suffer mentally and cannot get the terrible images out of their heads no matter how hard they try to because of the impact created by the visual adversity they had witnessed as demonstrated by the speaker of “The Second Coming”.
As much as the speaker wants to believe that “some revelation is at hand; / Surely the Second Coming is at hand” (ll. 9-10), he cannot due to the impact that the first world war had on him mentally. The war caused the speaker to witness the world fall apart as “anarchy [was] loosed upon the world” (l. 4) and innocent people being killed by the hands of those fighting in the war. The violent images overpower all of his thoughts and forced him to be stuck in a mindset that can only produce dreadful predictions in the speaker’s mind due to his identity as an individual being controlled by the adversity he had faced due to the war. With the influence of adversity on his mind and imagination, the speaker has visions of unpleasant events happening in the future, forcing him to believe that the world cannot be salvaged. No matter how hard the speaker tries to hold onto the idea of there being hope of salvation for the world, he cannot because his mind has been overcome by the past adversity he had experienced in the past, causing him to have dark visions such as “ shadows of the indignant desert birds” (l. 17). Due to how heavily affected the speaker is by the adversity he faced, he cannot help but reflect its effects through his own thoughts because his identity as an individual has been poisoned by the unfortunate events he had witnessed.
After an individual has encountered adversity, their mind forces them to believe that more terrible things are bound to happen in the future rather than hold onto any hope for the better due to the effect that the adversity had on their identity as an individual as demonstrated by the speaker in “The Second Coming”.

Similar to the speaker, I have also believed that only the worst possible outcome is possible in the future due to the adverse effect that a car accident had on me. Although I had completed many driving lessons with an instructor, I believed that the same fate was bound to happen again if I drove. Due to this fear, I have developed a fear of driving as well as a fear for the spot where we were hit. Although the chances of the same fate happening again are slim, the worry of being hit again still resides in my mind, causing my heart to race when driving or passing the location of the accident. The adversity caused by the other driver hitting our car was so significant, that my identity as an individual has been tainted with fear due to the fact that when faced with adversity, an individual’s identity will be affected negatively. If the other driver hadn’t gotten out of their car and possessed “A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun” ( l. 15), then the adverse effects left on my mind wouldn’t be as dire due to the fact that she had no sense of remorse for being at fault for the accident. However, due to her lack of regret and the adversity she caused, my identity as an individual has been and still is infected with fear and

negativity.