Throughout our lives, we 're told that knowledge is power. However, does knowledge alone achieve this? In the book, The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes, the main character, Tony, gains knowledge. In the beginning, he learns through his dependency on Adrian, his classmate. However, as he moves into his twenties, his learning stagnates. He 's peaceable to a point he seems spiritless but also too stubborn to change his original beliefs. It 's not until he wants to understand why Sarah, his ex-girlfriend 's mother, left him money and Adrian 's diary, that he actively pursues knowledge, helping him realize that his life may not be as black and white as he had thought. The evolution of Tony shows that a person needs to have an open mind in …show more content…
Consequently, he feels a need to find someone to be his role model, someone from whom he can learn. Adrian, being the most intelligent person in his class, immediately fills this void. Anything Adrian says is law. Although one of Tony 's greatest fears is that "Life wouldn 't turn out to be like Literature," he immediately accepts that it won 't turn out like he hopes due to Adrian 's nonchalant attitude towards his own broken home (Barnes 16). When asked what history is, Tony responds that "history is the lies of the victors" (17) . Yet, after Adrian gives his response, Tony immediately replaces his answer with Adrian 's. While Tony 's childish nature does allow him to learn many valuable lessons from Adrian, it results in a dependency that becomes detrimental to Tony. He yearns for someone 's approval. When Tony goes off to college, he admits that he "wanted [Adrian 's] attention, his approval," despite the fact that Adrian wasn 't involved (18). After Tony introduces Veronica, his girlfriend, to his friends, Adrian asks Tony if he actually needs his approval which Tony replies with, "yes, why the fuck shouldn 't I," proving Tony 's need for a congratulation even if it doesn 't involve others (25). Although he gains knowledge from his dependency on Adrian, it prevents him from becoming independent. Anything he learns requires the approval of another for him to recognize it as accurate. He needs confirmation to feel …show more content…
While avoiding conflict isn 't something negative, he does it to a point where it seems as if he has no will. During his conversation with Veronica, she accuses him of being "quite cowardly" to which he responds that he thinks that "it 's more that [he 's] peaceable" (26). He doesn 't defend himself or ponder why he is accused of this. When he thinks about Annie, his ex-girlfriend, the most powerful memory he has of her is about how it was "easy come, easy go" (32). This relationship is the only one that Tony wishes he had pursued. Tony appears to be fine with doing anything as long as it doesn 't require a lot of effort. This lack of self-motivation causes him to never learn anything beyond what is directly presented to him and even then, he only retains the information. He doesn 't do anything to help himself view the world more clearly or become a better person. He only learns how to agree with someone in order to avoid
In the end, Tony plays the role of both hero and villain. His wife, Marcela, represents both the whore and the virgin Mexican-American. The both prove unfaithful: Tony to America and Marcela to Mexico. Herein lays the schizophrenic world in which good and bad coexist across the borders of two emerging world countries struggling for control of land and culture. There’s a price to be paid for such human greed and unrealistic expectations. Ultimately it proves to be a place where virtue doesn’t remain intact and villains abound, even among the good guys!
In Bless Me Ultima, Tony embarks on a rocky journey to discover who he is and what he believes. Tony must make the transition from a naïve six year old boy to a mature man. His experiences continually call his basic beliefs into question, and chip away at his innocence. For example, when he witnesses the brutal death of Lupito, he starts to question many ideas; sin, good and evil, punishment, and his faith. He begins to see the world of man as violent and sometimes ruthless, not the friendly, loving world where he had previously resided. He even becomes concerned about his own father's salvation because of Gabrielle's involvement in Lupito's death and begins to see his father as less than perfect. Death continues to haunt him when Narciso, a good man, is killed defending Ultima, while Tenorio, an apparently evil man, is spared. These outcomes are not what he believes should have occurred and yet again, a piece of his innocence is stripped away as he sees life is not always fair. He is beginning to realize that he must define his own beliefs.
Another example of the evolution of Tony's sense of good and evil through the utilisation of setting is Tony's own home. To him, his home provided him with warmth and safety. This was due to the people who lived in the house. Antonio's father creates a sense of protection in the home. When Tenorio and his men come to he house to take Ultima away, Tony's father "would let no man invade his home" (pg 123). This gave Tony faith that as long as his father was around, he would be protected. Antonio's mother made home a loving and caring place to be. She would always baby Antonio and give him the affection he needed whenever he needed it. The morning after Tony had seen Lupito killed, Ultima tells Tony's mother not to be too hard on Antonio; he had a hard night last night. His mother puts her arms around Tony and holds him saying he "is only a boy, a baby yet" (Pg.28). The Virgin also makes the atmosphere of Antonio's home peaceful and protected. Tony loves the Virgin Mary because "she always forgave" (Pg. 42). Tony thought she was "full of a quiet, peaceful love" (Pg.42) which she filled the home with. The most important person who contributed to the goodness of Antonio's home was Ultima. She made Antonio feel as though her presence filled the home with safety, love, and a sense of security. When Tony saw Lupito get killed, it was Ultima who calmed him. Whenever he had a nightmare, Ultima was there to comfort Antonio and "[he] could sleep again" (Pg.
sick man of the curse. Tony’s father also tells him that “no greater magic can exist...but
Tony also stands up against a mob for Florence; everyone wants to punish Florence for "not believing in God" (214) and Tony pushes the crowd away and refuses to give Florence the penance that Florence does not deserve. Although Tony knows that he will be given the "Indian torture" (214), he still speaks up for his friend. Anaya often presents Tony as a dependent character, never wanting to "be away from the protection of [his] mother" (51); in fact, he's so close to his mother that it seems that he's going through Oedipus's Complex. Anaya actually does this to increase the impact of Tony's bravery. One might expect Tony to stay in his undercover bushes when Tenorio is standing so close; however, when Tony hears that Tenorio knows the way to kill Ultima, the thought to warn Ultima supercedes his fear and encourages his legs to pick up and run home (255).
Knowledge helps people make conclusions, lets them be skillful, smart, and keeps them aware. People gather knowledge through experience, whether it's from school, mistakes, witnessing a situation, or trying new activities out. Including in “Fahrenheit 451”, the author, Ray Bradbury does an amazing job in explaining and describing to his audience of how society results in a setting without reasonable amounts of knowledge. People in the society of “Fahrenheit 451” begin to lose common sense after the books are prohibited to keep. In the novel 451 Ray Bradbury warns the audience that without knowledge people are manipulated easily. In reality knowledge is the key to surviving.
Tony could’ve averted his death. If Tony had not wandered around in an alley late at night, and worn a Royal’s jacket, he would not have been stabbed and would still be alive. He was stabbed because he was a Royal, not because of his identity. He tried to be something he is not. People refused to help him because he was a part of the Royals. Also, if he wasn’t out late at night in an alley, he wouldn’t have been in a position to get stabbed. He went out late to get cigarettes, but the cigarettes could have waited another day. Although we don’t know it yet, decisions we make in our lives can come back to haunt
Tony saw through the prejudice though, he loved one of the PR's and when the Jets found out, they were ashamed. Tony's love for Maria was so real, he didn't care what happened. He died.Prejudice plagues this world now and forever, as long as there is a difference in people there will discrimination and prejudice.
The next major theory on how one obtains knowledge comes from David Hume’s Empiricism. Empiricism itself is the idea that all knowledge obtained is done so through senses or experiences throughout life. This theory itself clearly contrasts with rationalism as rationalists believe at no point that they should gain knowledge through senses/experiences. Furthermore, as an empiricist, he does not value anything that is not attained through experience. One of Hume’s beliefs is the idea that everyone is born with a mental “blank slate”. Because all knowledge we gain is thought to be gained through experience (which a newborn would have none at that point) the “slate” starts as blank and will filled in as the person learns through experiences. This
The foundation of valid knowledge depends on one’s personal understanding. To “know” means to understand or be aware. Everyone’s personal knowledge differs and the way we obtain and interpret our knowledge is usually through our spiritual beliefs. In order to gain knowledge I rely on the Word of God. The knowledge of God is the most valuable knowledge a human being can possess. The Word of God can be found in Scripture. Proverbs 2:6 tells us that the Lord gives us wisdom and that the wisdom of God results in knowledge and understanding. But it is also clear that simply being aware of God’s existence is not adequate; the knowledge of God must encompass the profound appreciation for Him and produce a loving and growing relationship with Him.
...lusion, the quest for more knowledge and power can only be perceived as bad if it twists and corrupts the mind. But in reality, it is indeed a good thing to gain more knowledge and the power that comes with it since development and human advancement cannot have come this far without it. Knowledge, a popular adage says, is power!
Knowledge can be defined as skills or expertise gained from books which is education or from experience. Individuals can be knowledgeable even if they didn’t go to school especially when they have some inborn skills and are employed to work in certain areas. Such people will gain self-knowledge from the experience (Cassidy, 2014). Basically, knowledge is a practical or a theoretical understanding of a concept, therefore knowledge can be gained through experience and books. However, most of the knowledge we gain is as a result of participation in real situations. We’ll start with the novel “The death of Evan llyich” to see how self-knowledge and outside knowledge relate and complement each other. Generally, this book is all about Ivan struggling
After a person is aware of their ignorance, they can seek knowledge by learning from others and discovering for themselves. Living a life where someone is constantly examining themselves is important because if they do not examine themselves, then they will not have knowledge about the things they do not know about themselves. Learning from others is a passive way of getting to know something because you are not trying to go out and experience it yourself and learn through experiences. Learning from others is crucial early on in a humans’ life. As humans grow up, they should start seeking more knowledge for themselves as opposed to learning from others because seeking knowledge for ourselves can help to get to the deeper truth about themselves or something else. In school, students often are learning from others instead of gaining knowledge themselves. When students start to discover knowledge themselves, they are trying to get to the truth and are interested in gaining knowledge about the
When I think about knowledge the first thing that comes to my mind is education. I believe that knowledge comes to people by their experiences in life. In other words, life is an instrument that leads me to gain knowledge. Many people consider that old people are wise because they have learned from good and bad experiences throughout their lives. Education requires work, dedication and faith to gain knowledge. We acquired knowledge through the guidance of from parents, role models, college/University teachers and life experiences.
If it cannot be experienced, then there is no real benefit of this knowledge. If there is no benefit, then logically, the knowledge is not valuable in terms of the individual purposes of any human. Therefore, the value of knowledge is diminished if it is not applied and it would be fair to say that the use with purpose is the only way to develop and maintain knowledge. Furthermore, how can any knowledge that cannot be used be useful? Indeed, if some information is not applicable to any aspects of a particular person’s life, then this person is extremely likely to forget it. This implies that the value of knowledge is relative to each individual knower and always depends on his/her own perspective. Therefore, the application does determine the value. Whereas, without application in the real world the knowledge is just a belief since it cannot be experienced and thus cannot be