One of the most recent humans our class has been observing is a man named Roger Ebert. Before reading this article: http://www.esquire.com/features/roger-ebert-0310, his name really meant nothing to me. I remembered him as "Ebert and Roeper," always mixing the name up in my head and concluding that they were one person. Also images of him nodding his head on TV, and me thinking it was some part of a comic act that was never so funny to me...
Well, I'm glad I never laughed at that TV bit...
The article informed its readers of Mr. Ebert's ongoing battle from cancer, which has involved several operations, including ones which removed his lower jaw and erasing his ability to speak, and ones which have left a portion of his throat completely exposed. Needless to say, everyday of his life is an ongoing battle with death.
Reading about his experiences only made me wonder, "why hasn't he given up yet?" This man can not talk or eat, show emotions openly, or even frown... His best friend died of cancer over 10 years ago and even if he wanted to complain, the only way he could would be through feverish typing onto his Macbook Pro. I know if I were in his position, well, there would be more articles of my early death than my prolonged struggle.
From these opposite perspectives regarding the article, I took away 3 things.
1. I may have been proven wrong from my last post, that is, the human spirit may only be prominent when you're staring death in the face.
2. Happiness is the most powerful emotion.
3. The human will to live should always be stronger than their wish to die.
This article gave me the inspiration to live happier, love harder, and to always speak up. You never know when you may have given up your last opportunity to smile.
Hannah, I just want to say that your style of writing is really cool. You get to point quickly and effectively and still keep me engaged :D
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I definitely agree with your 3rd point, that the will to live should be stronger than the wish to die. Unfortunatly, it's one of those "should" statments that are not always true. And in Roger Eberts position its positively amazing that he still has that will to live. He has such a strong spirit that maybe never would have been shown if it weren't for his current situation.
Hannah, I agree with Anushyia, you do have a really unique writing style, and I really like it. I also like how you wrote the three things you took away from the article, it shows that you really tried to comprehend what you were reading.
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