Unchanging Human Nature: A Study of Weaknesses and Strengths

A Message on Human Nature and Its Weaknesses “Human nature will not change. In any future great national trial, compared with the men of this, we shall have as weak and as strong, as silly and as wise, as bad and as good. Let us therefore study the incidents in this philosophy to learn the wisdom from and none of them as wrongs will be avenged.” Abraham Lincoln dictates that human nature is not able to change, but it won’t stop the goal of trying to perfect those flaws until the “future great national trial’’.For example, Odysseus until the end of The Odyssey, when he changed and acknowledged his flaws . What Homer shows us about human nature through Odysseus’s relationships is that humans are inconsiderate, disloyal, and self-centered.

The most obvious example throughout the book is Odysseus's stubbornness not to praise the gods after winning the Trojan War. This shows that humans don’t consider anyone when great things happen and take credit for themselves. Inconsideration is also shown when Odysseus chooses not to listen to his shipmates tell Odysseus to stop provoking Polyphemus. A shipmate warns Odysseus by insisting,”Godsake, Captain! / Why bait the beast again? Let him alone!” (248-29), yet Odysseus kept on making fun of Polyphemus. What Homer is trying to show us is that people get so caught up in the happiness of winning, that it’s hard to remember that sometime one isn’t the only one who does all the work and to recognize the others the also

Since one can’t change one’s nature then one should learn from it in order to become better people. We will always be disloyal, self-centered, and inconsiderate, even if we don’t notice at times. Homer shows us all of these faults through Odysseus’s relationships. Inconsideration is shown when Odysseus doesn’t listen to advice given to him or recognizing others that helped him win challenges, overcome temptations, etc. Homer shows us disloyalty when Odysseus was unfaithful to his wife and forgetting about his dead friends. Most importantly, Homer shows us that we are self-centered through Odysseus blaming others for his own mistakes and by taking all credit for victories. Yet, at the end, when he recognized all of his weaknesses, Odysseus became a better and understanding