Peace Vs. Freedom

Kevin O’Connor
Rumination # 6
April 18, 2011
Peace vs. Freedom
Sir Thomas More has provided his audience with a discourse plagued with binaries, where the reader is presented with two contradictory sides to humanity. The title itself when defined can be construed as an unobtainable ideal, a concept that More seems to agree with. Yet it is the author’s intention to present a fantasized construction of a perfect society, in an attempt to mediate the dichotomy of personal freedom and social obligation. For More, the two concepts can never coincide with one another, forcing the reader to recognize the tradeoffs when one direction is preferred over another. The narrative constructed, through which Raphael goes to live amongst the natives of Utopia, serves the purpose of creating an objective look into a world where personal freedom is compromised in favor of peaceful cohabitation. It is through Raphael’s eyes that More is able to create a cost-benefit analysis, where Raphael’s observations determine the effectiveness of a collective society.
A particular point of interest in the narrative is the characterization of the natives, who at first glance seem to live entirely peaceful lives. There’s an important distinction that must be made between the citizens themselves, and the slaves they keep in their homes. The role of the slave is to carry out the duties the citizen feels outside of their decency. It is the function of the slave to deal with the uglier sides of life, sparing the citizen any such indecency. In doing so, the slave is able to insure that the idealistic qualities of the citizen remain intact. The act of slaughtering animals for the consumption of the societal whole is deemed unclean and even sadistic, the act itself bearing a heavy weight on the individual involved. Yet citizens willingly sacrifice these slaves, whom they have determined to be criminals or foreigners, so that their idealized selves may be preserved. It is through this act that the loss of freedom is first realized, freedom removed from the slaves in order to preserve the peaceful lives of citizens.
The citizens themselves appear to be better off, yet through the goals of the collective these individuals have become desensitized to the world around them. Their relationships with the slaves seem to be devoid of the compassion they strive for in their own lives, as they willingly assign the duty of slaughtering livestock to their slaves. The society rules that its citizens are permitted to perform euthanasia, but in doing so it has created a state where individuals are spared the pain of death. But pain functions as a central part to the human experience, euthanasia cheating the citizens of what it means to feel completely human. The banning of premarital sex is similar to euthanasia, in that it has cut off the citizen from feeling any sort of valid emotion. The citizens are described as if they were comatose, their desire for peace having deprived them of the range of emotions synonymous with the human condition.

Letter Entry to Bob

Dear Bob,
My dream was always to win the Nobel Prize. I wanted to enter into a field where I felt I could benefit humanity, further improving the quality of life for individuals. These improvements couldn't just be on a small scale, but had to revolutionize the world as we know it. But the other day I read about Richard F. Heck and the speech he was coming to deliver to our great university.
I had always thought of the University of Delaware as being a small school, and because of this I felt it limited in producing individuals who could change the world. I began to read about Heck, and his work for palladium catalyzed cross coupling in organic synthesis, remarking on how something so small could impact our lives. They awarded this man the Nobel Prize for Science, and because of this I plan to see him speak.

Drayton's To The Virginian Voyage

Kevin O’Connor

British Literature

April 4, 2011

Rumination # 5

To The Virginian Voyage

            Drayton’s Ode epitomizes the travel narrative in that it refers to foreign locals, yet does not confine itself to a single space. It rejects the notion of time, claiming instead that the voyage should be look at as a process, an odyssey that the individual can get lost in. Drayton opens the poem by commending those who go off in search of new sights and smells, identifying their cause of pursuit as the highest ideal. In the lines, “Whilst loit’ring hinds/ Lurk here at home, with shame,” (lines 5-6), Drayton condemns the passivity to which some simply remain at home, fearful of leaving the lives they have become conditioned to. It’s to these individuals that Drayton commends the ode, entreating them at once to take to the sea.

            The progression of the ode sees a glorification of the sea, lauding its vastness as an almost grand mystical experience. Drayton addresses the British nation as a whole, not in name, but their decision to remain rooted in the same spot for so long. His urging of them to go to sea is viewed by Drayton as being a commitment. With the lines, “With vows as strong as the wind that blows you,” (lines 11-12) Drayton describes the overwhelming impact of travel, calling it an experience that once undergone leaves a lasting impression on the voyager. The poet realizes the apprehensions of those unwilling to travel such a vast distance, referencing the many perils that could potentially be encountered along the way. In the lines, “You need not fear/ So absolute the deep,” (lines 17-18), the poet hints at the universal aspect at the sea, and that although many greet it with a sense of trepidation voyagers should look on its vastness as a calming effect.

            It isn’t until hallway through the poem that Drayton hints at a destination, wanting instead for the reader to be drawn into the concept of the voyage itself. With the lines, “To get the pearl and gold/ And ours to hold, Virginia,” (lines 21-23) Drayton builds a metaphor that bridges the sea and land, referring to the pearl from the oyster and gold from the mines. These lines carry with them the sense of exploration lauded by Drayton, as the pursuit of these two valuables calls for exploration and excavation. The goal of these passages is to create a sense of dichotomy between land and sea, Drayton claiming that you can’t have one without the other. When as the smell/ Of that delicious land/ Above the sea flows,” (lines 43-45), Drayton begins to recognize the allure of land, when previously he referred to the enticing aspect of the sea. It’s through these lines that the poet is able to create a sense of restlessness, invoking the idea that humanity is on the constant move for greener pastures. It is through these constant explorations that humanity both finds and loses itself, always torn between the two.