Knowledge Through Fear

Author's Note: This essay was in response to how the quote "What doesn't kill me, makes me stronger." relates to Montag at the end of our last reading. For the opening I tried to do a fictional narrative and still add some text evidence because that has been some of my weak spots and I think I did an average job with that.

Fear. Angst. Frustration. Right, left, right, left. Your feet move swiftly across the gravel, weaving in and out of the thick trees, running for the haven without looking back. With each step strength, experience, confidence stream into your body acting as fuel in the chase of life and death. A slip, a fall, on the ground you moan. The darkness closes in and you start to go, along with all you've worked for, all you've gained. It falls to the floor and shatters to pieces, an impossible puzzle that you are left to fix, with only the knowledge that you have gained along the run. A philosopher in the world of robots, you are alone with no one to help you, yet with the fear there comes all that you have learned and it helps you start to make a dent in the monstrous challenge that lay before you. Montag and Faber, with only each other, they too try to pick up the pieces with the knowledge that they have learned and attempt to fit them together. It is in Fahrenheit 451 in which we learn that fear turns to knowledge and that fear is a necessity, or we would be lost in a world of mystery.

In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury teaches us many things throughout the text. One of the most striking things is that he puts an emphasis on how fear is one of the greatest teachers of all. With each mistake we learn to not do that anymore. With each crisis we figure out how to handle it, and once our faces are wrinkled with hardships it is then when we are all-knowing. If we run away from fear, we may be happy, but we won't know about the world around us. Embrace it, learn from it, because if you do not die from it, it will only make you stronger.

Montag experiences more fear than most of us can ever imagine. One against one hundred. An outcast against a society. With each day though, he rises above the society, for he has knowledge. His belief in literature and its capabilities gets him into trouble but comprehension of the world starts to overwhelm his formerly brain-washed mind. Understanding is what we really all strive for in Life and through Montag's struggles he gains it drop by drop.

"What doesn't kill me, makes me stronger." Friedrich Nietzsche understood how we should view Life. We should not cower away from it, but stand tall and bare the storm, for afterwards we will be better. We need fear in our lives, for we need knowledge and fear brings knowledge along with it. If we can stay strong, we can comprehend the trees and the birds that surround us, and do what the human species is intended to do. Live, the right way.

The Phoenix and the Turtle by William Shakespeare

About the Poem: The Phoenix and the Turtle  is an allegorical poem about the death of ideal love. When William Shakespeare wrote it was untitled until publishers gave it a name. The turtle in the title is actually a turtle dove, not the animal that has a shell. This poem has been considered one of Shakespeare's most obscure works and there have been many different interpretations of the poem's meaning. Also, this is not the whole version. Due to length and difficulty of poem I decided to cut it down to this portion of it.

Let the bird of loudest lay,̊

On the sole̊ Arabian tree,

Herald sad̊ and trumpet be,

To whose sound chaste wings obey.

But thou shrieking harbinger,

Foul precurrer ̊ of the fiend,

Augur of the fever's end,

To this troop come thou not near.

From this session interdict  ̊

Every fowl of tyrant wing

Save the eagle, feather'd king:

Keep the obsequy ̊ so strict.

Let the priest in surplice ̊ white

That defunctive ̊ music can,

Be the death-divining swan,

Lest the requiem lack his right.

And thou, treble-dated crow,

That thy sable ̊ gender mak'st

With the breath thou giv'st and tak'st,

'Mongst our mourners shalt thou go.

Here the anthem doth commence:—

Love and constancy is dead;

Phoenix and the turtle fled

In a mutual flame from hence.

So they loved, as love in twain

Had the essence but in one;

Two distincts, division none;

Number there in love was slain.

Hearts remote, yet not asunder;

Distance, and no space was seen

'Twixt the turtle and his queen:

But in them it were a wonder.

So between them love did shine,

That the turtle saw his right

Flaming in the phoenix' sight  ̊;

Either was the other's mine.

At the time Shakespeare wrote this people were getting very extravagant with their culture. Nature was a large part of their arts and everyday life during the time of Modern English. Shakespeare shows both the extravagance and nature in this poem. The way the language reads is over-the-top so it sounds sophisticated and exaggerated. For example, he once says " 'Mongst our mourners shalt thou go." The nature symbols are clear being that the poem is named after and birds are frequently referenced throughout the course of the poem. These are the two main signs of Modern England that are seen in the poem.

Veteran's Essay

Author's Note: This was my essay response to the prompt "Does Patriotism still matter?".

In America, we pride ourselves on our loyalty and love for our country. If we do not have any Patriotism, the United States of America isn’t the great country that all of our ancestors and soldiers have built it to be. We are raised to have Patriotism flow through our veins and it is as natural as the wind and sea. This country is fueled by Patriots and I believe that we will always have an endless supply of it as long as our country stays afloat.

Every day, every second of our day people dedicated to our beautiful country put their lives, everything that they have ever worked for on the line, just to maintain our freedom and try to get fellow countries the same. When you think about it, it is absolutely mind blowing that they would do that. That right there is real Patriotism that exists among us, and it really does matter.

Seeing those great Americans fills everyone around them with a sense of Patriotism too. When my great grandfather told stories to my family about serving in the war everyone was proud to be related to such a character, and then to think that there were thousands of other people like him serving our country was a wonderful feeling. Patriotism.

This country needs true Patriots to keep it special. We can find them in everyday people that just have an ever-burning love for red, white, and blue. We should cherish these people and make sure they know that what they are doing is helping this country and the pride of it. If we can all be true Patriots the U.S.A. will be stronger than ever and nothing, absolutely nothing, will break through our wall of love for the home of the brave.