World Literature Questions: I Have Visited Again, Sasha Uskov, Night - Essay Example

Alexander Pushkin's "I Have Visited Again" published in Russia in 1823 reflects the values of Romanticism of the period. The Romantic Period values the senses, feelings, and imagination over reason. There is an interest in the natural, the rural, and the mysterious. Set in a countryside town, the poem explores themes of nostalgia, nature, and unity. Pushkin evokes a yearning for the past as he recalls in vivid imagery the lakes, cornfields, and green meadows that surrounded the town. From the road that he used to tread on horseback under moonlit nights, the pine trees can be seen. Theses pine trees that dot the hills symbolize the author's connection to his past. The old pine trees have gone on and the young pine trees will live on to be seen by the next generation. The present unites the past and the future. The countryside, I believe, functions as a metaphor for the Russian culture's values and beliefs. Their culture emphasizes the importance of egalitarianism, conservatism, and communality. The countryside is nature at its most raw; there is an abundance of sunlight, water, and wind. In this setting, political, social, and economic differences seem to disappear. Every person enjoys a bath in the lake, a fruit from a tree, or a game of hunting or fishing without having to worry about anything. There is a sense of equality among people. The order and balance found in nature also reflect Russians preference for tradition and established norms. Finally, being one with nature means being one with the rest of the community. Nature is what gives life to a person that's why being in touch with nature necessarily connects each person with one another. "Unmarked Boxes" by 13th century Persian mystic poet Jalal al-Din Mohammad Rumi, on the other hand, talks about the cycle of life and the eventual union of the human spirit to the God. Everything that possess life, at one point, will have to abandon their old form in order to assume another form; a tree collapses, becomes part of the soil, then a sunflower plant grows from it. There isn't really death; instead there are just temporary breaks from the cycle of life. The cycle of life is something beyond any human control. Only God can dictate its flow from "unmarked box to unmarked box." This acknowledgement of the immutability of life is the first step in bringing the human spirit closer to God. As part of the circle of life, the human spirit in its finality is expected to be reunited with God the Creator. Written in the 13th century, this poem captures Persia's cultural elasticity, belief in one God, and Rumi's philosophies. Persians are described to be tolerant and accepting of other cultures. Hailing from different locations and affinities, Persia's 13th century inhabitants embraced their cultural differences. Like the cycle of life, Persians transcended cultural boundaries and moved as one nation. Cultural differences are not meant to divide Persians, instead it serves to strengthen and sustain the cultural life. This oneness enables Persian people to commune with one God. Their collective dreams and aspirations work towards the attainment of unity with God. Rumi, as expressed in his poem, believes in the desire of human beings to enjoin the Divine. For him, the experience of religion is a personal journey. 2. The memoir “Night” by Elie Wiesel is a subjective recollection of the author’s experience of the war. He weaves facts with subjective impressions to create a powerful and moving story. In one instance, the author refers to soldiers taking pleasure in the spectacle that their suffering has become. While it may be true that the soldiers laughed at their suffering, the labeling of that suffering as a spectacle emphasizes their roles as victims in the tragic drama that slowly unfolds. Objective writing, on the other hand, is free from any feeling and emotion. The objective writer is emotionally distant and detached from the subject being written about. Elie Wiesel, meanwhile, shows laces objective facts and events with metaphors and similes that infuses emotional power in the story. In another instance, he refers to the animalistic behavior of the people fighting for a crumb of bread. The seemingly trivial situation has become, for Wiesel, a matter of life and death. Reading the story makes me feel weak, depressed, and hopeless. The author exhibits good command of various rhetorical devices that serve to intensify the different emotions his memoir capture so well. He is able to bring past experiences and emotions into the present; I myself felt the extreme cold, weakness, and starvation the main characters felt. The entire story is laced with quite a number of statements that evoked feelings of hopelessness, dread, and despair. “We were all going to die here,” laments the author. This final statement is the sum of all the suffering they had encountered. In fact, they had metaphorically died the moment they accepted their defeat and succumbed to their suffering. Despite the painful hopelessness the author portrays, I think he also tries to evoke a sense of redemption, a sense of triumph for the human spirit. This is something that is not explicitly written by the author. The final sentence of the story, “We had arrived at Buchenwald,” shows the place of their redemption. After going through extreme cold and hunger, the main characters overcome the situation and emerge victorious. The obstacles they faced exposed their weaknesses as human beings and served to strengthen their spirit. It is sometimes necessary for the human spirit to suffer in order to achieve greatness in the end. 3. Sasha Uskov impresses upon me a picture of a misguided, insensitive, and delinquent young man. Growing up without parents to properly guide him, Sasha tends to exhibit aggressive behavior and lacks a sense of accountability. After explaining himself in front of his uncles, he suddenly felt the urge to lash out his hatred for his Colonel uncle through hurtful words. He wanted to “tear the Colonel to pieces, to say something rude...to think of something violent...” This quote shows in glaring terms the deep-seated hatred Sasha holds against his uncle, and his desire to express it in words and actions. This is how Sasha reacts to a person (and a relative, at that) who points out his mistakes and tells him to amend his wrong actions. Those wrong actions, he says, are brought about by circumstances. Therefore, he can't be held accountable for them. Sasha also exudes a general state of insensitivity. While listening to the conversation of his uncles next door, he “felt neither terror nor shame...it made absolutely no difference to him whether they forgave him or not.” Feeling not a slightest tinge of shame or guilt for a mistake shows how insensitive a person is. Lacking a sense of accountability, it is not surprising that Sasha finds himself unworthy of all the reprimanding he gets from his uncles. He thinks he is innocent, after all. This also explains why he couldn't care less if he doesn't receive the forgiveness of his uncles. When the Colonel's wife broke to tears and begged for him to amend his ways, he just “shrugged his shoulders” because he “could not understand her tears...” Sasha failed to recognize the concern showed by his family towards his welfare. He can't understand that it is more about his well-being than the false promissory note his family is currently arguing about. His delinquent tendencies get exposed in the last paragraphs of the story. After receiving forgiveness and agreeing to work in the country with uncle Ivan, the thought of party drinking with friends and women suddenly crosses his mind. He doesn't have money, however, so he forces his uncle to give him cash. Without repentance or remorse of any sort, Sasha is back to his old ways. He threatens his uncle and leaves him terrified. “Yes, I am a criminal” is what he thinks of himself. The disobedience and lack of respect for authority reaches its peak. It appears that Sasha is heading in the wrong direction. I initially thought of Sasha as a kind-hearted young man who happened to commit a mistake he felt sorry for. As I read through the story, however, the true nature of Sasha's character set in. Scratching off the young, free-spirited, and easygoing facade of Sasha, we are left with a picture of a fragile soul needing acceptance, guidance, and love. He compensates for this lack by being emotionally-detached, insensitive, and disobedient to his family. What Sasha has become, I believe, is a result of growing up without proper parental nurturing. Sasha might be right; he could be innocent, after all. Read More