Meaning Of Respect Research Paper

Respect - a word we hear a lot in today’s society. We have all heard the quotations coming in a profusion from your teachers, parents, and friends - “treat others the way you want to be treated,” or “you must give respect to get it.” As our society grows and develops, respect, and displaying respect for all, namely, is becoming increasingly onerous as the true meaning behind this preeminent word is becoming obsolete. Respect, and having it for yourself and towards others, starts with the basic principles that build us and make us who we are, including responsibility, dignity, honesty, and humility. Once we learn how these principles aid in making us better individuals, we can apply these paramount values into our daily lives, and the way …show more content…
In many cases, reading literature that has principles grounded in honesty, respect, dignity, and responsibility often helps us gain insight on the significance of respect for all, and how fictional situations in novels often pertain with the same foundations that we encounter in real life. The Harry Potter series, for examples, can be perceived as a work worthy of being the epitome of characters grounded in respect, equality, and honor fighting against some of the characters representing hatred, fear, and discrimination. As Harry fights against Lord Voldemort and his followers, a person grounded in beliefs of the discrimination and riddance of those whom he perceived to be subordinate to himself, I, and many readers of this series, have found that principles of respect are one of the fundamental bases upon which the novels rest upon. Aspects of our society are reflected in the novel, including the corruption and hatred that can be fueled from the majority - or “popular opinion,” and how it is often hard to find how to stand up and do the right thing. What this series, as well as all literature, teaches us, is that we must stand up to do the right thing, even if opportunities are bleak, and apply the morality of the principles that are the building blocks of a better society into our lives. One of the most important lines from the Harry Potter series was said by Sirius Black, Harry Potter’s godfather, and it was when he spoke: “If you want to know what a man’s like, look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals” that the true meaning of respect became evident in the novels. It also serves to show that our choices show more about who we are than our abilities, and the way we treat those who are preconceived as inferior shows a great deal about ourselves. By learning that everyone has a place in our society, we