Violence In Julius Caesar Essay

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In William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Cassius, a main character, discussed the integral role of humanity's decisions when he said, "The fault...is not in our stars, but in ourselves"(I.ii.139-141). Within a modern context, Cassius's viewpoint is secular as it demands that all of us, not fate, are in direct control of the courses for our lives. However, this assertion is also countercultural as our society seems to ingrain itself in the norm of scapegoating, where humanity points fingers at individuals/groups through whom we can dump our anger and rage for our societal plagues. Scapegoating is prevalent today, not only as we continue to blame Islam for international terrorism, but also as we blame Hispanics for being rapists and drug lords, …show more content…

From the creation of mankind until now, it has been common for man to fall prey to raw emotions like anger and envy. Even Cain and Abel involved a man who was so angry and envious that he found it necessary to commit fratricide. In making ourselves victims, we allow these emotions to cloud judgement. Is this why violence starts so early in adolescence? For example, according to the CDC Fact Sheet on Youth Violence (2012), homicide is the second leading cause of death for youth aged 15-24. Juveniles under the age of 18 were responsible for 13.7% of crimes related to violence. As our society glorifies violence through entertainment like Grand Theft Auto and The Walking Dead, we inadvertently encourage youth to be prideful in their raw emotions. Does our culture look to violence as a form of security and comfort? According to Vox's Infographic from America's Gun Problem, the United States has some of the highest gun homicide rates in the world as opposed to countries like Sweden, Finland, and Canada! Unfortunately, our culture has adopted violence as a natural routine that we refuse to progress without. If our society is going to rehabilitate, then we must recognize the issues that are both our spitefulness and

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