The Power of Negativity

Author’s Note: I am part of a new literature group with three gentlemen in my class reading the novel The Power and the Glory.  However, I am finding that reading the novel is a real struggle for me. The first three chapters continually made me frustrated at the negative viewpoints of society and their own life.  My goals for this piece are to share my frustration and to give a glimpse of how I view life.

“…that he really felt the correct emotions of love and joy and grief and hate.  He had always been a good man at zero hour.” In Captain Fellows’ eyes, life is not all about what’s wrong in society.  Instead, he sees life through a positive lens believing that each person can find can find good in their individual circumstances. In my life, I do not live a life of sadness assuming the worst in every situation. I do not exhibit a sense of negativity through the interactions of life.  I do not have a dystopic vision of the world where everyone lives in constant fear.  The belief that life serves no purpose other than to adhere to the failures of our human race is morally wrong.

Every person suffers through trials and tribulations; it is up to the individual to determine how to grow and develop to serve a greater purpose.  Why would someone continue to live a life if they are unhappy?  Each person has control over the direction of their life, and if a character is unhappy and is unable to change, it is no fault but their own.  The author exemplifies the struggles of the time while setting the background on Padre Jose with how unhappy he is by selling out and following the policy of the government, on the lieutenant and how he is consistently petulant and irritable, or on the whiskey priest battling the internal fight of good and evil.

Living a life of such negativity is the antithesis of my viewpoint on the world.  In my vision, everyone has power to succeed, to change, and to improve their life.  No matter the circumstances or the struggles, believing that everything can be viewed as an opportunity for change makes life more fulfilling.  Perseverating on the failures or the problems that society delivers will only weaken one’s conviction. 

While I understand that some, including the characters in this story, would see my vision as a form of utopia, I cannot fathom living such a dark, dreary life.  Each person has control over their existential experiences.  By consistently focusing on maintaining a positive aura, even through the difficult times, life’s vision will come to fruition.  

What Makes Life Worth Living?

Author's note: Earlier this school year, I took part in a literature group discussing the book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Our conversation shifted to a philosophical discussion debating the differences between logic and emotion and the relationship with love. My writing is a response to Madeline's.

“This makes us ponder how anyone could possibly live without emotion. My conclusion? It is impossible; emotion brings us closer to the things that make life worth living.” The thesis statement written by Madeline portrays her belief of the perceived disillusion of Christopher, a boy with autism. Emotion certainly has its place in abstract feelings and love, but stating that he lacks genuine empathy and emotion is unequivocally wrong. Christopher has emotions, but what he feels is emotion through logic.

Christopher understands emotions. He just sees emotions through a logical eye. For the sake of this argument, we will look at one of the most powerful emotions – love. Love has multiple definitions. Love can be used to describe unconditional feelings toward a spouse or a child I love my wife, to describe the joy of participating in a sport or an activity I love playing and watching football, to describe the enjoyment of food I love Culver’s double butterburger cheese. However, his definition of the word differs from all these definitions.

Christopher uses logic as a lens to understand emotion. Can someone describe a relationship with a spouse as companionship, as comfort, and as support systems while honestly saying they are living without love? Just because the relationship is solely logical and may not include emotion does not mean that the logical person could care less if the relationship ends.

Although Christopher’s autism makes it appear as though he does not understand emotion, he just does not view emotion in the same light as you or me. Christopher did not want the dog to die. Does this mean he loved the dog? To you and me, no. However, using Christopher’s definition of love and Christopher’s mind, losing the dog left a void in his heart. He loved that dog.