Author's Note: A reflection on the quote "What doesn't kill me, makes me stronger" by Friedrich Nietzsche and how it relates to Montag's actions recently in the book.
Pain and strength. Two words of quite different meanings, yet, there isn't one without the other, as demonstrated in Friedrich Nietzsche's quote, "What doesn't kill me, makes me stronger." Life cannot exist without pain, or it would be meaningless. In Fahrenheit 451 Montag experiences this daily. He is trying to choose between being numb, or feeling; living a meaningful life. As a result, Montag uses the pain to make his life serve a purpose.
In Montag's world, there was only confusion and hurt, a hollow inside him, empty for so long he did not know what was to belong in its place, and then there was the fire,burning and destroying; killing. Montag was lost in a life where he felt he didn't belong - but then he met Clarisse McClellan. She was so innocent and full of life; she was so much different than Mildred. She made him feel, made him laugh -- a sound he had not heard in a long time. Her ideas introduced him to a whole new world, a world free of the confusion, and hurt, a world free of burning. Most importantly, she introduced him to a world with something to replace the missing part of his soul: love.
The world Montag was living in was so completely void of emotion that Montag himself was numb.This pain was the only thing that kept Montag sane, for it was all that he could feel. Without the pain that Montag experienced he would not have lived.Clarisse awakened the side of him that can finally feel, and the numb melted away; he started to see that there are many different kinds and forms of feeling, such as love, as well as different ways to live life. The pain he experienced before he met Clarisse has made him a man that does not just walk around, letting himself be carried to and fro, not feeling. Instead, it let him see the world with new eyes. Montag is breaking free of his chains, and coming out into the sun, ready to live a life full of meaning.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Standing Against the Wind
You are running. Running, running…Time is counted by how many steps you take... How many breaths you take... All around you there is smoke and debris; images of your fellow comrades that have fallen flash by you as you continue running. Yet, you see nothing but the American flag, waving high at the top of a pole, waving for freedom and liberty; justice. That flag is the reason you keep running. That flag is what makes you a Patriot for life. That flag still stands, and as long as it does, so will the country and the millions of people being the wind to make it wave.
My grandfather, Delmar Clark Khonke, told me of the wars that he fought in, all of them as courageous and full of bravery as the next. Also within the stories my grandfather relived was the grief and sadness that lingered in the air with every gunshot. Yet, knowing that death is a possibility, brave people with big hearts, like my grandfather, still give the safety of themselves for our country. That is pure Patriotism. This patriotism stays within the lives of everyone, whether it is someone taking their last heroic breath and the American flag is placed upon their casket as a symbol of their honor, or it is someone placing a rose upon that casket; our patriotism will never truly fade.
As a child, I was told that the American flag should hang outside every house, that it flies over all the United States and that it shall never, ever touch the ground. Now, as a young adult, things have not changed. Our American flag still flies all over our country, our houses wear red stripes; blue and white stars, and our flag hangs proudly, high above the ground. Over the years I have learned that this is what Patriotism is. It is the flag that flies against the wind. It is the flag that lasts through hardship, and it is the flag that reminds us every day of the millions of people that make that flag fly. For as long as that flag is seen standing against the wind, the rain, and the hardship, our country will be standing behind it.
My grandfather, Delmar Clark Khonke, told me of the wars that he fought in, all of them as courageous and full of bravery as the next. Also within the stories my grandfather relived was the grief and sadness that lingered in the air with every gunshot. Yet, knowing that death is a possibility, brave people with big hearts, like my grandfather, still give the safety of themselves for our country. That is pure Patriotism. This patriotism stays within the lives of everyone, whether it is someone taking their last heroic breath and the American flag is placed upon their casket as a symbol of their honor, or it is someone placing a rose upon that casket; our patriotism will never truly fade.
As a child, I was told that the American flag should hang outside every house, that it flies over all the United States and that it shall never, ever touch the ground. Now, as a young adult, things have not changed. Our American flag still flies all over our country, our houses wear red stripes; blue and white stars, and our flag hangs proudly, high above the ground. Over the years I have learned that this is what Patriotism is. It is the flag that flies against the wind. It is the flag that lasts through hardship, and it is the flag that reminds us every day of the millions of people that make that flag fly. For as long as that flag is seen standing against the wind, the rain, and the hardship, our country will be standing behind it.
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