Human Condition - Essay

Human Condition - Essay

  • Submitted By: reindeer
  • Date Submitted: 10/04/2011 2:06 AM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 942
  • Page: 4
  • Views: 338

The human condition refers to the ongoing emotions, experiences, needs, desires and values that are common to all humans. This idea encompasses the value of memory to humans and the need for companionship that is experienced by all. Although many poets, artists, authors, playwrights and composers throughout history have associated the human condition with man’s desire to seek meaning and purpose in life, the extent of this is very little in the poems Spring Hail and Widower in The Country by Les Murray, Lois Lowry’s novel The Giver, and Truman Capote’s short story Miriam.
In her novel, The Giver, Lois Lowry explores the value and importance of memory to humans through use of setting , plot and characters. Jonas lives in a society where colour, music, love, choice, pain, suffering and all memories of such things have been entirely removed. As he receives memories and begins to learn about the distant past, the reader discovers the importance that memory plays in one’s life. This unique setting of the novel allows the reader to understand what life would be like without memories, thus helping Lowry in emphasising memory’s importance. Jonas is constantly juxtaposed to the characters around him, and his knowledge and wisdom allow the reader to see how limited the lives of his family and friends are. “But Lily had not felt anger, Jonas realised now” is an example of how the people around Jonas are living “half-lives” and not experiencing what Jonas is. “He had never before felt anything as meaningful as the memory” is another example of how memories enable Jonas to live a richer, fuller and more meaningful life.
The ability of memory to make one’s life richer and more meaningful is also explored in Les Murray’s poem Spring Hail. The repeated stanza “This is for spring and hail, that you may remember: for a boy long ago, and a pony that could fly” is one that celebrates the past by bringing back childhood memories, and with its nostalgic tone, emphasises the...

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