Surely, you have encountered some form of suffering and/or evil during your time on this earth. Did this encounter happen to strengthen you? Perhaps it even created beauty; out of this seemingly, senseless suffering? Maybe not all suffering and evil is senseless…maybe so? Annie Dillard’s shot at the problem of evil and suffering in “Holy the Firm” is the built by the concept of beautiful suffering. The ideology behind Dillard’s concept of “beautiful suffering” is that God is like an artist who allows suffering (or burning) upon his creations. According to Dillard, God allows this suffering as a part of his mysterious art form; in order for physical and/or mental evolvement. Thus, the creation results in a unique beauty in preparation for placement …show more content…
“Holiness holds forth in time” (Dillard 11) because of this, every single aspect of the life has a divinity (or God) to it. With this connection, Dillard temporarily sooths her concern of evil by relating her life troubles to that of a moth as a unique beauty eventually arrives from its suffering. Annie celebrates the divine presence in all of the listed creatures by using observant vision while, she rejoices at her sense of being a creation of God. Dillard acknowledges the presence of God through the day as she characterizes it a miniature God, who accompanies her to the mountains. Dillard seeks to make sense of a universe flooded with suffering following her recognition and stalking of the divine threw all aspects of …show more content…
This seemingly senseless act of sudden evil and heart striking suffering leads the author to challenge her supposedly all loving God. Annie begins a deep criticism about God and suffering as she wonders if humans are left in this world to suffer abandoned to days (Dillard 43). The author goes further in her criticism by questioning if Christ’s incarnation was powerless and if God is possibly powerless to care for us (Dillard 43). Despite this criticism of God, Dillard carries a passionate and contradictory relationship with God in faith of a higher plan and environment as she declares “a life without sacrifice is abomination” (Dillard 72). Dillard along with sacrifice; seeks to locate a seemingly lost answer to a mysterious problem to which she cannot seem to answer and/or comprehend. “The answer must be, I think, that beauty and grace are preformed to whether or not we will or sense them. The least we can do is try to be there” (Dillard, Annie “Pilgrim at Tinker Creek”) because “love is greater than knowledge” (Dillard
" The Clique," by Lisi Harrison is based on the life of 4 very wealthy girls and a girl that comes to live in their neighborhood, Claire. Claire is not as wealthy as all the other girls, Massie, Kristen, Dylan and Alicia. Massie 's parent own a guest home and that is where the new girl Claire moves in with her family. In the book Claire tries so hard to be a part of Massie 's clique, but the girls do not really like her.
In the short story “Both Sides of the Fence,” by Teresa Bateman, the main character, Alberto, conveys the theme that you must look on both sides of a fence in order to making decisions through his thoughts, actions, and speech. In this story, Alberto attempts to prevent people in his pueblo from benefiting from his tree that was left for him by his family. As the story progresses, he suspects his neighbor from purloining his apples, but then realizes his wrongdoings and his foolishness. Through his character transitions, Alberto helps reveal the them that he has to consider both sides of the argument in order to put up a proper argument.
In today’s modern world, many students in high school are striving to be the best, and sometimes to get there, students compete against each other which than of course brings on the pressure and stress of not only keeping up with classes but making it to the top of the class and becoming valedictorian. They will do anything to reach the top, sometimes even cheating to surpass fellow students. Although Margaret Talbot acknowledges the other arguments that becoming a valedictorian is great and should not be gotten rid of in her article “Best in Class”, she conveys the message that competition for valedictorian is unnecessary through her use of diction and testimonies. Talbot uses strong diction to show the reader that the competition for valedictorian
And if God is God, why is He letting us suffer?” (1) The lifelong quest for answers to these questions shaped his theology
The general argument made by Elizabeth Weil in her work “The woman who walked 10,000 miles” is that an explorer should be a person who has struggled throughout their lives, have taken risks and are brave enough to battle against nature. More specifically, Elizabeth Weil 's argues that the difference between Robert Falcon Scott and Sarah Marquis whom are explorers is that Sarah Marquis sets herself up based on her desires and wanting accomplishments not wanting to cause herself troubles and chasing the idea of sufferfest. Elizabeth Weil 's writes “The word explorer suggests a morally superior pioneer, a man or woman who braves the battle against nature to discover terrain implying a self indulgent adrenaline junkie who scares love
With their brawls in faith, hope, God, and within themselves, both individuals show a side of themselves to the world that they never have before. Immaculée and Elie undergo how suffering can strengthen faith and how overcoming doubts are essential to surviving horrific experiences.
The Fish by Elizabeth Bishop At first glance an untrained eye would perceive “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop as a repugnant, gruesome, and revolting poem about nothing more than a pitiful, dying fish in a murky pond. Undoubtedly, the complexity of life, paired with the will of a Savior is going to be misunderstood, just like the fish. As a result, many people see any action and situation as the perfect will of God, but God does not advertise suffering; He takes the suffering man caused and molds it to a positive.
Faith and Forgiveness “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly father will forgive you” (Matthew 6:14). In the book Unbroken written by Laura Hillenbrand, Louie Zamperini is a troubled kid, who discovers his love for running. After becoming an Olympic champion, Louie finds himself fighting for his life in World War II. He is a changed man when he returns home.
In “Best in Class”, Margaret Talbot reveals the stressful lives of students in high school. The majority can relate to her essay since most have endured this unforgiving time in life. The main point Talbot debates is the competition for valedictorian. The author shows that being valedictorian is a respectable honor; however, in recent years it has been corrupted and should be modified by implementing passionate pathos and understanding persona. Talbot is able to use great pathos to advance her message regarding valedictorian.
Only emptiness. I turned and looked at the statue of the Virgin. She was smiling, her outstretched arms offering forgiveness to all” (221). Yet again we repeatedly see Tony turning to The Virgin when he doesn’t receive what he wants from God. When God doesn’t answer him like Tony had always expected, he starts to question his belief and philosophy of the Catholic God, furthermore discovering his own truths.
The short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is revolved around many distortions that the author O’Connor creates to build meaning within the story. The novel presents characters that are characterized through many different symbols that result in an uncanny feeling for the reader. O’Connor’s “place” is the distortion in the story that causes conflict, creating the uncanny feeling in the story. O’Connor’s “place” also represents a different variety of symbols, creating the necessary meaning of the psychological realism. O’Connor utilizes distortion to create meaning in the story within her characters who represent the conflicts within the Catholic Church and dramatizes it with a complicated sense of humor.
Annie Dillard’s short story, “The Deer at Providencia”, is about how she handled her emotions in different scenarios. The message that Dillard is trying to tell the reader is that life isn’t possible without suffering. Annie was mature enough to understand that sometimes suffering is necessary in order for another being to benefit. The first half of the story was about Annie’s reaction when she saw the deer that was trapped. To the surprise of her companions, she “looked detached, or hard, or calm, or focused, while [she] felt very old and energetic” (Dillard 70).
In the two short stories, “Young Goodman Brown,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and “The Prodigal Son,” by St. Luke there is a parallel struggle of faith. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, “Young Goodman Brown” is a very dark tale of mystery and deceit that surrounds a young man’s test of true faith in his battle against the evil one. In the parable of “The Prodigal Son,” Christ gives the reader a picture of God’s unfailing love toward His children and His ever constant surrounding presence. Faith is tested in each of these stories and the choice becomes to either succumb to this evil world, turn to God, or perhaps something else altogether. Although each story differs in climactic endings, both protagonists in each story reflect the struggle of one’s very soul by their reluctance to fully submit to God.
“The deep truth is that our human suffering need not be an obstacle to the joy and peace we so desire, but can become, instead, the means to it. The great secret of the spiritual life, the life of the Beloved Sons and daughters of God, is that everything we live, be it gladness or sadness, joy or pain, health or illness, can all be part of the journey toward the full realization of our humanity” Henri
Carole Patemen’s The Sexual Contract digs deep into contract theory and its downfalls, especially focusing on the issues at hand in the social, employment, marriage, prostitution and surrogate contracts. Through a feminist perspective, Pateman revisits and analyses the views of the classic contract theorists Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau, as well as Robert Filmer and Freud and how their views on sex greatly effected the foundations of contract theory. To Pateman, “the original contract is a sexual-social contract.” (1) Through The Sexual Contract Pateman attempts to unmask the sexual contract from hiding and show the effect it has on many of the contracts we take part in today.