Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Anthony Mahfood

February 14, 2011

Understanding Literature

Dr. Ellis

Change

In the poem “God’s Grandeur” by Gerard Manley Hopkins, Hopkins is upset that men are not respecting God’s wishes. He goes on to say that as the generations continue they are following in the same footsteps as before. As the poem continues it is clear that Hopkins believes that society is taking away the spiritual connection between people and their God. Towards the end the mood changes for the better when he says that God will forgive and this is not the end. He finished the poem with an exclamation mark and then bright wings; this gives hope and finishes the poem on a positive note.

In the poem “Happiness” by Jane Hirshfield it is clear that she believes that God gave us nature to teach us how to act. For instance, in the Bible he gave Adam and Eve the garden but he used nature and the snake/devil to test them. She believes that all happiness comes from nature and that if we follow God’s rules then we will be happy forever.

The short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor is a very cruel story and portrays the evil of men and also the stubbornness. In the story a family plans on traveling to Florida for their vacation even after they have been warned that there are killers on the loose. However, they are stubborn and still decide to go. On their way there, they crash and are captured by the Misfits, a group of killers who take them all into separate parts of the woods. They are all killed immediately but the grandma manages to bargain her way by talking about God. However in the end but as she tried to touch and console the man, he kills her.

These stories all relate because they all speak about sinning. God gave us this earth to live on to praise and glorify him, but to often we disobey His commandments. This week I did not go to my community service because it hasn’t started yet but I did go to Connecticut to see my best friend Greg Kelly. Greg is really sick with a heart condition. Greg Kelly was a student at Loyola and also my best friend, I roomed with Greg for two years at boarding school. Father Jack also came along with a few other of Greg’s friends. We had a house mass for Greg’s recovery and spent time with him talking and making jokes with him and just being there for him. We were there to brighten his outlook on a bleak situation and let him know that things will get better. I found this appropriate to relate with the poems and short story because just as in the short story in on second you can be dead so you need to make every moment count. In the poem “Happiness”, Jane shows the life that God wants us to live and in the poem “God’s Grandeur”, Hopkins show the life that many people are living that needs to change.

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