Robert Johnson's He

This book helped me put some of the situations and feelings that I have experienced in my life into perspective and with more meaning. I could relate to many of the subjects that this book covered and could understand where the author’s ideas originated. Not only can I see his ideas appearing in my own actions, but I also see them in males in their mid-forties to fifties. This observation supports the idea of us going from innocence to doubt and back to innocence. The first idea that stuck with me is the interpretation of the salmon and how it represented Christ.

Because my thoughts on religion and god are so unclear in my life, it led me to interpret the whole situation differently and with different symbolism that is more adjacent with my life. I could still comprehend what the author was trying to say, but I couldn’t relate to his interpretation. I can see how a boy might be introduced to something that is too powerful for him at the moment. The experience gives him a wound that is hard to recover from. For example, the act of making love is a wonderful thing if it is done in a pure environment. But, if a boy develops a relationship with an older woman and is not ready to lose his virginity, and the woman is pushing for it, he might enter into something that he is not ready to deal with.

When a boy is put into an uncomfortable situation like this, he could receive wounds that could last for a lifetime. He will have been scarred by this woman and carry around a wound that is hard to heal and could effect the rest of his life.The next thing that stuck with me is the theory of the Red knight and how it represents aggression. This explains how we enter the stage of aggression. I haven’t entered this stage yet, but there are a number of people in my life that have definitely been lingering in this area for a long time. I wait for the day when they move on.

One of my gymnastic coaches is still in the stage of aggression, although he seems to have harnessed it very well. He is working both as a lawyer and a coach. This combination is successful for him because he uses his aggression in court to help prove a point and in gym he really urges the kids on and pushes them just hard enough to get the most out of their workouts. I really admire him for his ability to manage his anger and never let it get the best of him, in spite of his high level of testo...

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...t well and sounded good? I would like to think that the numbers are like art in the sense that they affect us in different ways.

Like the three drops of blood brought up the love Parzival had for Cundwiramurs. Maybe humans used to be more in touch with their inner-side, and over time we have lost the ability to sense these emotions? This all might very well have something to do with how we are brought up in society and not only what we are told but also what we have been shown from day one. For instance if someone draws three sevens (777) in front of me the first thing that comes to mind is lining up three sevens at a casino slot machine and winning lots of money. Although I may never fully understand the meanings behind these numbers I will always have a sense of the great symbolism that they represent. Through the actions of Parzival we as human beings can strive to learn more about ourselves and hopefully begin to comprehend the actions of other. For the story of Parzival is like that of any boy’s common childhood and the stages they go through up to the persona of middle aged men.

Work Cited

Johnson, Robert, He, King of Prussia, Pa.: Religious Publishing co., 1977.