Feb. 15

This week we had to read Gerad Manley Hopkin’s poem “God’s Grandeur” and Jane Hirshfiled’s poem “Happiness.” Along with that we had to read the short story written by Flannery O’Connor “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” Each reading takes us into a theme of appreciation.

In Gerad Manley Hopkin’s poem “God’s Grandeur” the poem talks about the lack of appreciation we have developed over the years for what God had given us. The beginning of the poem discusses how we as humans no longer appreciate what we have. We take advantage of it, and use up the earth’s resources without thinking of the repercussions.

In Jane Hirshfield’s poem she discusses the storie of St. Francis and how he came about to realize the beauty of the world. The poem talks about how St. Francis used wildlife to teach us lessons and how that’s how God intended it to be. In the long run, the poem is about how we should appreciate nature and that we should live peacefully with it.

In Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” the topic of familiy is brought up. The grandmother is stuck in the world she grew up in. She is stuck in the old customs and does not realize that the traditions and the way people act have changed drastically. The grandmother finds it hard to appreciate these things and gets very angry with her family. Then when The Misfits threatened her life, she quickly resorts to complimenting the man and saying that he looks like a good person. She resorts to using her faith and the Misfit states that if people always feared their lives than maybe the world would be a more religious place. We do not appreciate our faith or the life we are given, until the end is very near.

The event I attended was the Student Directed One Acts. Each of the plays, with the exception of a few, have an underlying message that can help people grow in life. One of the plays, A Chalky White Substance, talks about how civilization is a man eat man world. And people will hurt anyone to get the upper hand in society. This relates perfectly with what poems and reading we read today. Because it shows how people don’t appreciate what we have and we are constantly trying to get something better, and by doing this we are ruing civilization.