Faulty Reasoning
Suicide is not a rational answer to man's suffering. Von Goethe himself exhorts his reader "to be a man and not follow Werther." It is hard to give Werther's character sympathy for a self-destructive tendency. Even Lotte can perceive his ruinous path: "Do you not sense that you are deceiving yourself and willing your own destruction?." Rather than being a man and admitting his culpability, he acts like a child. Werther's disposition supports his decision for taking his own life. It is not uncommon for an artist with ". . . a soft heart and a fiery imagination " to take their own life. Werther sees suicide as strength rather than weakness. In his argument with Albert over this question he states ". . . in my opinion it would be as misconceived to call a man cowardly for taking his own life as it would be to say a man who dies of a malignant fever was a coward."
Werther identifies with children and esteems himself for his charitable donations. He boasts to his friend that "[t]he common people of the town already know and love me, the children in particular." He is a daydreamer and, like a child, often over-dramatizes his troubles. In his March 16th letter he complains: "Everything is conspiring against me ." He stretches the truth and exaggerates reality. Months later he acknowledges that he does not suffer alone. "At times I say to myself: your fate is unique; consider other mortals as happy—none has ever been as tormented as you.—Then I read the work of an ancient poet and it is as if I were contemplating my own heart. I have so much to endure! Ah, have ever men before me been so miserable? ." Werther is aware of his self-absorption, but he cannot control his turbulent heart. He admits to ". ....
... middle of paper ...
...g by like the priest and tanking God like the Pharisee that you are not as other men. I have been intoxicated more than once, my passions have never been far off insanity, and I have no regrets: because I have come to realize, in my own way, that people have always felt a need to decry the extraordinary men who accomplish great things, things that seemed impossible, as intoxicated and insane. How intolerable it is in everyday life, too, to hear them say, the moment anyone does something remotely free of noble or out of the ordinary, "The fellow's drunk, he's off his head!" You should be ashamed of yourselves, you sensible people, you sages!'.
The type of insanity that drives Werther to the ultimate tantrum is an addiction to sorrow. It is a child's way of gaining victory. His unreasonable behavior does nothing to redeem him. His act is not noble, but pathetic.
As I read “Under the Influence: Paying the Price of My Father’s Booze” over and over again I began to realize that my cousin and my family fall into the same situation as Sanders’ did. The essay made me realize that my family is not the only one who has to face this difficulty throughout my whole life. Even though I am not twenty-one yet I know that I am not going to abuse alcohol the way that some people can because I know it can have a different effect on my body and mind unlike some people. I feel the same pain that Sanders’ has gone through losing his father to alcohol. There is always a part of me that wishes I could talk to my cousin and uncle and just ask them why, why did they do it?
... us all. We can all relate to it. Thus, drawing not only upon his personal experiences and emotion but also universal emotion as well as elegiac and pastoral traditions, Roethke reveals himself as not only a warm, caring instructor but also as an outstanding, and perhaps instinctive, poet.
During these times, domestic violence was commonplace and many blamed alcohol as the culprit. Reformers also noticed that alcohol decreased efficiency of labor and thought of alcohol as a menace to society because it left men irresponsible and lacking self control. One reformer, named Lyman Beecher, argued that the act of alcohol consumption was immoral and will destroy the nation. Document H depicts the progression of becoming a drunkard from a common m...
In the United States alcohol plays a key role in society. Alcohol is a euphoriant and depressant. Many Americans love to enjoy alcohol and it is quite accessible in most communities. In fact, the United States has high rates of alcoholism: half the population is considered regular drinkers or consumes 12 drinks per year (Black, 2010, p.xiv). However, for some people, alcohol can become addictive. When alcohol is consumed, it affects the brain which causes changes in behavior and mood. The Bible offers warnings about the effects of alcohol. One passage states, ?Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper? (Proverbs 23:31, New International Versions). In the end, if one is not careful, alcohol can lead to destruction. However, there are several programs that are offered in communities to help people deal with alcohol abuse. One common program is Alcohol Anonymous. The only requirement for attending Alcohol Anonymous meetings is for the member to have a desire to stop drinking.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe began writing The Sorrows of Young Werther in the early part of 1774. It was written during the Sturm and Drang period in Germany. Sturm and Drang, or more conventionally known as Storm and Stress, was an attempt by people in this period to free themselves from the strict rationalism of the enlightenment period. It is about a young man, Werther, who finds himself in an impossible situation. He is in love with a young woman named Charlotte. Despite knowing that Charlotte is already engaged to another man, Werther continues to ...
In this editorial from the Citizen-times, we are considering some issues about Iran and their uranium enrichment program. The foreign minister of Iran said that it would be against the ‘ways of Islamic thinking’ to produce weapons of mass destruction. Well, it should be against anyone’s ways of thinking to produce weapons of mass destruction. There are only a few reasons to make uranium, and most of them have to do with the making of explosives and types of weapons that create havoc and mayhem. So I’d have to say that one of the logical fallacies in this passage has to do with the foreign minister of Iran tiring to get us to believe that just because it’s ’against Islamic ways of thinking’, I’d have to say he needs to give us a little more information than that. Iran keeps tiring to tell us that the nuclear activities are peaceful. If I am correct, and I believe that I am, that anything to do with nuclear ‘activities’ probably wouldn’t fall into the peaceful category. I’m not too sure about the quote, “ Foreign Minister Kamel Kharrazi told reporters. "Iran is a promoter of the elimination of nuclear weapons around the world and, based on our ideology, on our Islamic thinking, it is forbidden to produce and use nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction." I think that I’d have to label this as a logical fallacy. Some of this quote might be true, but if anything, I think that Iran is just trying to get us to believe them so we will get off their case. They have had weapons of mass destruction before, so why wouldn’t they have them again? Although Iran keeps trying to convince us of this, the state of this nation still is convinced by mister Bush that Iran is ’’the world’s primary state in sponsoring of terror’’. I don’t really know how true this statement is, but I’m pretty sure that Bush is proposing a logical fallacy here when he says this.
...tic, young man to a jealous, suicidal lover are a prime example of Rousseau’s myth. His misinterpretation of Lotte’s behavior, and poor relationship with the aristocracy, brings about his demise. Had Werther’s sublime, natural being not been tainted by these unpleasant experiences, he may have not underwent these alterations, and may have lived.
...es Werther for his knowledge, while he believes he should instead be valued because of his emotions. Ataraxia is a Dionysian ideal as it is an emotive state of tranquility and freedom. Werther is content in acknowledging he does not know where his heart will take him, and in this he is not weighed down by things beyond his control. He demonstrates this by reading Homer and taking time to contemplate the world around him. Goethe’s drawings are inherently related to his novel The Sorrows of Young Werther as they were drawn as the book was written. Both art forms capture and appeal to the strong emotional senses of the Romantics. Many of the art forms run parallel to one another, which further illuminate each form individually, giving a greater sense of Goethe’s appeal to the aesthetic movement he helped establish in which emotions are to be untamed and fully embraced.
The Sufferings of Young Werther is an entirely epistolary novel, where Werther documents his every emotional experience. Each time he has an experience, he is swayed by an intense feeling, chronicles it, and sends it in a letter to his friend Wilhelm. This is an immediate and effective expression of his sentiment, characteristic of the power of sentimentalism. Because this novel is roughly autobiographical, it is a perfect reflection of emotional impact on humans. Goethe and W...
An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools.
This short novel, even though written almost 250 years ago, demonstrates that Werther's critique of society is still relevant in today's society. It does not matter whether one is an aristocrat or a low class worker, everybody at the end need "empathic love."7 As Goethe claims in page 64 of his work "Without doubt, the only thing that makes Man's life on earth essential and necessary is love."
First deep remark one can make about what Werther and Romeo has in common is their relationship with the subject of their insatiable love has multiple point in common. Werther fall in love with Lotter the second he saw her so as Romeo who fall in love with Juliet at the first sight. They both do not know anything at all about the women at the moment they acknowledge to themselves, they are in love with Lotte or Juliet. Romeo kisses Juliet before he even questions her identity. He affirms the first time he ever sees her that Juliet is holy and his lips are like the hands of a pilgrim. The imagery is really strong to describe this love born a few second ago. Just like Werther, at the same instant he described Lotte as an angel did not really know anything about her. The image of her is enough to convince him she is a saint and she posses all the quality an angel possesses. "An angel! -ROT! - Every man says that about his beloved, does he not? And yet I am unable to tell you how, and why, she is perfection itself; suffice to say that she has captivated me utterly. "( Goethe 36). Werther is later convinced Lotte is perfectly designed for him because they have some point in common. Werther is so happy to find out she reads the Vicar of Wak...
“The theme of unrequited love was introduced as early as 1774 by Goethe in his novel The Sorrows of Young Werther. The book ends with young Werther shooting himself… The suicide rate rose after the publication of the novel, and for a time the book was banned in Denmark and Norway…”
In 1774, Goethe shot to fame with the publication of his novel The Sorrows of Young Werther. On the strength of his reputation as the author of Werther, Goethe was invited to the court of Karl August, the Duke of Weimar. The duke, one of the most enlightened of the monarchs ruling over small parts of Ge...
Humans beings like to make things easier for ourselves. Therefore we take away the chance of thinking critically to provide an explanation for our questions because we often tend to fall victim to commonplace errors in thinking. There are three that are most utilized on a day-to-day basis. Three errors in thinking that are the most prosaic -- preferring stories to statistics, seeking to confirm, and arguing from ignorance -- can also be easily avoided.