Alright, well honesty always is the best policy. I didn't read An Essay on Man before class Tuesday and didn't intend to. However, at the prodding of Anna, my lovely roommate I decided to read it just for fun. And oh was I surprised at how much I enjoyed it! There were quite a few things that gripped my attention. The first would be the tendency in man to be discontent in the matter of his own being created.
"Presumptuous Man! the reason wouldst thou find,
Why formed so weak, so little, and so blind?
First, if thou canst, the harder reason guess,
Why formed no weaker, blinder, and no less?"
II.35
This was incredibly humbling to me. Just the other day I was talking with a friend who stated that someone or something (what, I cannot recall) was ugly. On a sudden whim to be facetious I flippantly commented that he was "insulting God". Inevitably this led to conversation about how many times we call something ugly, insufficient, undesirable, etc. Every time we do so we are (despite my sarcasm) insulting the creativity of the Creator. Furthermore, when we desire ourselves to be one way or another that is not in any way how we were created, we spit in the face of God. To question why we are created as we are is one thing. But we must not let this questioning develop into a spirit of discontentment or a desire to be anything other than what we were created to be. When God created us He saw that we were good.
The next thing that grabbed my attention was the statement in Canto IV which says, "Yet cry, If Man's unhappy, God's unjust". How often do we blame God for everything? There have been times in my life where a situation was absolutely rotten for everyone else, but because I benefitted I praised god and rejoiced in the circumstance. But if the situation turned for the better of the rest and dashed my plans, I blamed Him and called the situation terrible. god's justice does not depend on one man's reaction or desire. God is justice and what He judges is good. Pope also says in Canto VI that man seems to be "please with nothing, if not blessed with all". Many times I have allowed myself to fall into a terrible, unappreciative mood because I didn't get every single thing that I wanted.
Lucy Beth-- I loved it too! Even after class I wanted to keep reading it; each time I catch something new.
ReplyDeleteWhat a valid point, and much like I was thinking in my post: we are exactly in the position that we were meant to be. I love that you took it a step further to say that it is even an insult to God to say something is not as good as the standards we think it should be.
It almost seems to lead back to The Rape of the Lock by challenging us to not merely look on the outward appearance, but for true depth and purpose. Our true purpose gives us significance--not who we appear to be, not what we accomplish, not who we associate with. I think that is something Belinda got caught up in.
We, as humans, aren't very bright, are we? We insult one another and act as if we rule the world when we really have no clue. We aren't all-knowing. We can't see God's entire plan for our lives or the lives of others. We rank ourselves high above everything, but then we have the audacity to blame God when something goes wrong.
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