The Myth of Perfection
Perfection is a much sought-after quality, yet is completely impossible to
obtain. Because we do not have a clear definition of what perfection truly is,
when a person attempts to become "perfect", they are usually transforming into
what seems to be perfect to . In both "A Doll's House" and "The Metamorphosis",
we see that human beings cannot achieve a state of total perfection. When
Gregor Samsa, from "the Metamorphosis", attempts to be the perfect provider that
his family expects him to be, he inadvertently turns his life into an insectoid
existence. Likewise, when Nora from "A Doll's House" tries to live up to her
husband's expectations of a perfect wife, she builds up enough self-hate to
leave everything that she loves and start an entirely new life. Striving to be
this ideal person, like attempting to acquire any other impossible goal, is
damaging to the characters in both cases. The fortunes of these characters
illustrate the harm in attempting to achieve these impossible objectives.
As human beings, we have no conception of any absolute values, such as
perfection and imperfection or hot and cold. We can only perceive changes or
comparisons based on what we already know. Through experience, we can tell what
is hotter or colder, but never actually tell what the absolutes are. This is a
central aspect of what makes perfection impossible to achieve. What exactly is
perfection? Seeing as we have no inherent knowledge of what is perfect or
imperfect, these ideals are usually set by the expectations of others who are in
positions of control over us. Therein lies one of the fundamental dangers in
attempting to achieve perfection. When the aims and goals of our lives are
governed by an outside force, we are transferring a great amount of power over
ourselves to someone else who may not have the best intentions.
Those who have power over us, in most circumstances, will use it to their own
benefit. This is Gregor Samsa's main problem. He transfers control of his life
over to his family, who hardly had the best intentions for Gregor's well-being.
They merely wanted a way to get money and food to support themselves. With
Gregor working, his father has an excuse to continue doing nothing, and allows
the family to remain stagnant at the level that they are at. Directly and
indirectly, his family enforces the view that a son should work to support his
family and not himself. They did this by showing love and commending Gregor
when he brought them food and money, showing him that this was their idea of
“Hail to The Goodness and to the Supreme Compassionate Director, most true, most powerful, most benevolent...We exist to please him” (Levitin 3). To most, this statement seems like one set by a cruel dictator. However, in The Goodness Gene, a 253 page scientific-fiction novel, author Sonia Levitin creates a world where this creed is the basic “motto” of the world. The setting is located 300 years into the future, where a man by the name of Hayli (who is referred to by the world as the Supreme Compassionate Director), has taken control of the world to make it a perfect environment. Hayli’s son, Will, is the main character who, after a trip outside of his isolated community, realizes that the world his “father” created was not really as perfect as it seemed, while also discovering why he was created. The title, The Goodness Gene, really symbolizes the clash of man and its society in the book.
When somebody abuses a great amount of power, that individual can lose all their power. The struggle against someone who abuses power is perfectly depicted in the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey. When someone abuses their power, they can impose certain feelings and actions onto others. If someone tries to conceal their personality, . Finally, if someone abuses power and is constantly challenged by another individual who is trying to take the power abuser’s power away from them, the power abuser will always be frightened of his or her challenger. When someone abuses power and takes full control, they can lose all their power and respect quickly.
those in power must do to keep you under control that is what the will
Power is a very interesting thing to hold. Many good-natured men have been destroyed by power and turned away from their morals as a result. When giving a man absolute power, it’s ingrained in the human brain to take it to a new level. This ideal is present in every type of government, regardless of if it’s a dictatorship or a government supported by autonomy. Modern day government suffers from this power hungry greed. Power is an element of human life and often leads to temptation because mankind thirsts for control, and that’s what power grants.
Michael Sandel is a distinguished political philosopher and a professor at Harvard University. Sandel is best known for his best known for his critique of John Rawls's A Theory of Justice. While he is an acclaimed professor if government, he has also delved deeply into the ethics of biotechnology. At Harvard, Sandel has taught a course called "Ethics, Biotechnology, and the Future of Human Nature" and from 2002 to 2005 he served on the President’s Council on Bioethics (Harvard University Department of Government, 2013). In 2007, Sandel published his book, The Case Against Perfection: Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering, in which he explains unethical implications biotechnology has and may have in the near future regarding genetic engineering.
Black Swan is a movie of a ballet that portrays ones struggle to surpass the restrictions that one has established to reach perfection. The main character is a hardworking, moral, daughter to a prideful controlling mother, who wants nothing but success; she finds that the only way for her to get that success must lose herself by turn in to an immoral, envious, super competitive person that ends up battling with her inner being, between what is right and what is wrong as she strives to become the lead role in the ballet. The movie conveys that to archive ones desires that one must let go of control and lose one’s self. Her Director conveys this in what he says "When I look at you, all I see is the white swan", he says. “Perfection is not just about control, it’s about letting go."
would enjoy his or her work because he or she was "made" or trained for it when
The most powerful individuals or groups of individuals determine the rights and truths of a society. This sounds a bit discouraging to the powerless folks of the general public. It sounds hopeless and immoral. It sounds too real to be real…like something a friend said the other day (roughly translated), “Even your mother won’t feed you until you ask.” Some would say that average people do have power, but only in large groups. This is more offending! It would mean, firstly, that I do not have any power, because I would need a tail in the form of a group; and, secondly, that I am not unique, because I am being roped into a lasso with countless others.
A Supremely Perfect Being is one who is Omnipotent, Transcendent, Omniscient, Omnipresent and Omni benevolent. However, these attributes in cohere with each other for many reasons, such as Omniscience and Omnipotence. The meaning of Incoherency is when there is a lack of logical organisation in the way something is thought out or expressed that makes it difficult to understand, for example it is difficult to understand a bachelor to be a married man. To say a Supremely Perfect Being is Omnipotent (all-powerful) brings the consequence that they can do everything including the logically impossible such us bring it about that two plus two equals four, or make a four-sided triangle. Let’s assume the Paradox of the Stone, if a Supremely Perfect Being is Omnipotent, then they could create a stone too heavy, that even they could not lift.
The desire for power is prevalent in our day to day life from wanting control over little insignificant aspects to control over others. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is
As a twenty-first century academic, historical authors such as Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Dickenson, and Thoreau are praised for groundbreaking style and concepts; Historical events such as 9/11, the American Revolution, and the Holocaust are accepted as customary and influence our culture as well as writing. These influential roots of modern culture shape contemporary writing in the form of various allusions that bring meaningful connotations, contributing to a greater theme. Allusions incorporate notable anecdotes, figures, and historical events into a written piece. However, allusions vary from culture to culture and between time periods. An allusion to Tom the Tiger may be common knowledge in the town of Wheaton, but the allusion would be completely trivial to someone in Luxembourg without the background knowledge of the school mascot. Likewise, William Shakespeare’s allusions tailored towards a sixteenth century audience are often times overlooked by a modern audience despite the literary device’s development towards a greater theme. In order to fully grasp Shakespeare’s motive for his plays, twenty-first century pupils must delve into Shakespeare’s allusions. Shakespeare utilizes allusions throughout A Midsummer Night’s Dream in order to bridge the gap between human and divine by epitomizing mortal successes and humanizing the divine, in the hopes of motivating individuals to reach their full potential.
Power is a very important factor of everyday life. Throughout the ages, from kings to presidents, and even before that mankind has always b...
Emma struggles with trusting herself in front of the entire class. Because of this, she is not able to prove that she can in fact read fluently to the class. Emma’s current academic goal would be, “Given reading passages at the fifth-grade level, Emma will read fluently.” In order for one to reach this, the student must recognize these three things. First, how to improve their self-esteem. Second, it is okay to fail. Third, to try their best and do it proudly no matter how unique they feel. It seems as though the issue does not fall in the child’s ability to read, but instead, their ability to speak up. This can reach across the entire population of the classroom. Students, children and even adults will feel inferior to others and in return
Power has been defined as the psychological relations over another to get them to do what you want them to do. We are exposed to forms of power from the time of birth. Our parents exercise power over us to behave in a way they deem appropriate. In school, teachers use their power to help us learn. When we enter the work world the power of our boss motivates us to perform and desire to move up the corporate ladder so that we too can intimidate someone with power one day. In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness Kurtz had a power over the jungle and its people that was inexplicable.
Some theorists believe that ‘power is everywhere: not because it embraces everything, but because it comes from everywhere… power is not an institution, nor a structure, nor possession. It is the name we give to a complex strategic situation in a particular society. (Foucault, 1990: 93) This is because power is present in each individual and in every relationship. It is defined as the ability of a group to get another group to take some form of desired action, usually by consensual power and sometimes by force. (Holmes, Hughes &Julian, 2007) There have been a number of differing views on ‘power over’ the many years in which it has been studied. Theorist such as Anthony Gidden in his works on structuration theory attempts to integrate basic structural analyses and agency-centred traditions. According to this, people are free to act, but they must also use and replicate fundamental structures of power by and through their own actions. Power is wielded and maintained by how one ‘makes a difference’ and based on their decisions and actions, if one fails to exercise power, that is to ‘make a difference’ then power is lost. (Giddens: 1984: 14) However, more recent theorists have revisited older conceptions including the power one has over another and within the decision-making processes, and power, as the ability to set specific, wanted agendas. To put it simply, power is the ability to get others to do something they wouldn’t otherwise do. In the political arena, therefore, power is the ability to make or influence decisions that other people are bound by.