The Worthless Sacrifice
The pursuit of happiness drives many forward, this develops the greed within their minds. At times, this greed may cause them to lose everything. In the excerpt, from Home Place, by Guy Vanderhaege, the compromise and pursuit of happiness is explored and developed, through the two main characters Gil and Ronald. Ronald ventures forward for more enjoyment, and Gil has already attained his joy, but compromises for his son.
Everyone has their treasured place, for Gil Maclean this was the farm. Gil Maclean “felt more present in the land than he did in his own flesh,”(Paragraph 4). Through this we can assume his land was more valuable to him than his own life, yet he still gives his property to Ronald. The author develops
The definition of compassion: sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others. As this definition shows compassion shows concern for other that every person would love to have. In The Chosen written by Chaim Potok, Mr. Potok really presents compassion in his book. Not only does he display compassion in one of his character but in every single one he gives them compassion that is expressed in different ways. He goes into detail example of compassion with each of his characters and really emphasizes the true meaning of compassion. Three main character that he shows compassion through in different ways are, Reuven, Mr. Malter and Reb Sanders.
“Money doesn’t buy happiness.” Most children learn this proverb and immediately try to disprove it, or simply do not believe it. However, age allows one to see the truth in this phrase. In My Antonia, a novel by Willa Cather, the protagonist, Jim Burden, reflects on his childhood in the American frontier. Despite achieving wealth and an elevated social position, benefits most associate with attaining the American Dream, Jim Burden eventually realizes that true success, and happiness, is found in strong emotional connections.
People place judgment on one another every day based on differences. Sometimes it is done subconsciously; sometimes it is done on purpose. In the book The House of Sand and Fog, by Andre Dubus III, two different cultures were represented; Kathy represented the culture of the western civilization, whereas Behrani represented the culture of Persians. People judge one another based on unimportant things, and get judged based on those same things as well. Two cultures were used to amplify how different their cultures were from one another. Throughout the book cultures vocalized what they did not like about the other cultures by placing judgment on people based on ethnicity, appearance, and status; despite how different the cultures were, they had something in common, negative judgment. In a world where there is so much diversity, the only way for all cultures to get along is to place judgments aside and accept the differences.
An Imperfect Offering is a powerful personal memoir from a James Orbinski, a Canadian who has spent most of his adult life in front-line humanitarian work in the world's worst conflict zones. Despite its dark chapters, it is also a hopeful story about the emergence of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) as a new and independent agent of civil society, and the possibilities of making the world a better place. In “An Imperfect Offering”, James Orbinski tells the story of people who have been harmed by war, and humanitarian workers who have come to heal them when possible. He engages in deep reflection on the nature of humanitarian response and the many threats to this most human activity. He has sharp criticism for governments who act to cause suffering or to prevent its relief. He asks, “How am I able to be in relation to the suffering of others?” His life as a doctor, and a humanitarian worker illustrates this answer. Accordingly, the books main thesis is that humanitarianism is about the struggle to create space to be fully human. However, he illustrates how this struggle is becoming increasingly difficult with the imperfect offering of politics, which has resulted in the blurring of boundaries between humanitarian assistance and the political objectives of military intervention.
"When a trout rising to a fly gets hooked on a line and finds himself unable to swim about freely, he begins with a fight which results in struggles and splashes and sometimes an escape. Often, of course, the situation is too tough for him."
In many instances, people make sacrifices for the people around them to survive. In The True Story of Hansel and Gretel, written by Louise Murphy, Magda and the Stepmother both sacrifice their lives. In Night, by Elie Wiesel, in many cases, Elie protects his father by making sacrifices. Both novels share the same controlling idea of survival. Each of the characters make focus on morality by making sacrifices for their loved ones and putting others before them in order to survive the harsh times during the war.
The struggle between happiness and society shows a society where true happiness has been forfeited to form a perfect order.
Humans are born with pursuits: some search for fame, some go after money, some seek achievements in professional fields, and some only wish their lives to be content . If one wants to become content with life, one should alter one’s old ways of living and embrace new things. Both in Cathy Jewison’s The Prospector’s Trail and Eva Lis Wuorio’s The Singing Silence, the main characters used to be dissatisfied with life. In search for true happiness, they begin to try things that they have never experienced before. At the end, the two protagonists find that their new activities can bring them happiness, and they start to live satisfying lives.
The philosopher Aristotle once wrote, “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.” This famous quote compels people to question the significance of their joy, and whether it truly represents purposeful lives they want to live. Ray Bradbury, a contemporary author, also tackles this question in his book, Fahrenheit 451, which deals heavily with society's view of happiness in the future. Through several main characters, Bradbury portrays the two branches of happiness: one as a lifeless path, heading nowhere, seeking no worry, while the other embraces pure human experience intertwined together to reveal truth and knowledge.
Happiness plays an important and necessary role in the lives of people around the world. In America, happiness has been engrained in our national consciousness since Thomas Jefferson penned these famous words in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Jefferson). Since then, Americans have been engaged in that act: pursuing happiness. The problem however, as Ray Bradbury demonstrates in his novel Fahrenheit 451, is that those things which make us happy initially may eventually lead to our downfall. By examining Guy Montag, the protagonist in Fahrenheit 451, and the world he lives in we can gain valuable insights to direct us in our own pursuit of happiness. From Montag and other characters we will learn how physical, emotional, and spiritual happiness can drastically affect our lives. We must ask ourselves what our lives, words, and actions are worth. We should hope that our words are not meaningless, “as wind in dried grass” (Eliot).
In today’s society, sacrifices play a big role in our everyday lives. They range from small, such as sacrificing that piece of cake to keep you feeling healthier and a little better about yourself, to big sacrifices such as a firefighter sacrificing his life for a complete stranger. At the end of the day, they all all make a difference for better or for worse. In the play “The Crucible”, many various sacrifices were made during the process of exposing the possible witchcraft that was going on in Salem. These sacrifices were a result of fear. People were afraid that they would be accused of witchcraft and would do anything to avoid being pinned. A few of the sacrifices that were made were people 's lives, the happiness
Greene, Jack; Pursuits of Happiness; University of North Carolina Press; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; 1988.
Within the real world individuals constantly ask: Does money actually equal happiness? Money doesn’t equal happiness, money equals superiority or privilege and happiness equals desire. Similarly, in Scott Fitzgerald's’ The Great Gatsby, Tom, Daisy and Gatsby portray money equals superiority and happiness equal desire by the actions they chose to make as well as their deep sentiments.
Every character in the novel has moments of feeling happy and endures a moment where they believe that they are about to achieve their dreams. Naturally everyone dreams of being a better person, having better things and in 1920’s America, the scheme of get rich quick. However each character had their dreams crushed in the novel mainly because of social and economical situations and their dream of happiness becomes a ‘dead dream’ leading them back to their ‘shallow lives’ or no life at all.
The pursuit for happiness has been a quest for man throughout the ages. In his ethics, Aristotle argues that happiness is the only thing that the rational man desires for its own sake, thus, making it good and natural. Although he lists three types of life for man, enjoyment, statesman, and contemplative, it is the philosopher whom is happiest of all due to his understanding and appreciation of reason. Aristotle’s version of happiness is not perceived to include wealth, honor, or trivial