The Man and The Echo by William Yeats seemed
familiar even though I have never read the poem before. Lately I have been
questioning college and what I want to take from it and sometimes it seems like
I am wasting my time. I think I could be working and making money instead
of paying the expensive tuition just to do work for free. I realize that
education is important, but sometimes it seems like I should just give up. The
poem does not necessarily say who the echo is portraying. In class we said the
echo was the world or universe, but in my case and when I read the poem, I
thought the echo was a conscience. I feel like our consciences are responsible
for judging whether we feel we are on the right path or not.
The reason I feel it ended so abruptly is because
our conscience can only be in deep thought for a short while before we
eventually just let things be. I can constantly question what I want from life,
but in the end, it is just easier to go with the flow and let things happen
without scrutinizing if I made a right or wrong decision. Sometimes I think
people become depressed when they scrutinize their lives too much. This is why
his conscience was basically telling him to give up, but as soon as a small
distraction happened, his thoughts stopped. If we try to just live without
questioning everything, then we will live in a better way.
I agree with you in that we need to have some basic, unquestioned principles and beliefs that we hold onto. If we don't, then we question everything and we are not happy, since that is a life lived without a firm, stable foundation of inner belief. At the same time, there are certain things we have to question, otherwise we won't learn from mistakes and we could be controlled by what others tell us. I think life needs to be lived somewhere on a fine balance between questioning and not questioning.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your take on this poem and connected it to yourself. I never even realized that it could be thought of in this way. I agree with Priya in that we have to question things to reassure ourselves that we made the right decision and then go from that point.
ReplyDeleteAs an exteremely organized and self-concious individual, I have never been able to just go with the flow or leave things unquestioned. I believe it is in our nature as human beings to question almost everything we do to get to where we are. If we do not question our actions or reflect on them, I think most of us would be headed down a slow path of destruction as everything decision would be made on impulse. Thus, I don't think we would live in a better way without questioning.
ReplyDeleteNonetheless, I think life can be a little boring and stressful if we do not do some things on impulse. Like taking a vacation from work I think is good for the soul! Everyone needs a break from reality at times, but if we are always taking this break, things could become a mess!