Part 1-The Duel: The Value Of Honor

Everyone views human emotion and character differently. One important character trait is honor. Honor is having good morals, standards, values, and having great respect. Some people say that throughout time, honor has stayed consistent and others think that it has changed. The idea of honor has changed over time as well as being affected by culture. Honor in the past was very different than how it is viewed now. According to Brett McKay and Chris Hutcheson in their article An Affair of Honor- The Duel, “While dueling may seem barbaric to modern men, it was a ritual that made sense in a society in which the preservation of male honor was absolutely paramount” (Hutcheson & McKay). Because men thought so highly of their honor, they would do …show more content…
In the article Manly Honor: Part 1- What Is Honor? Brett McKay claims that, “Part of the decline of manhood in America and other Western countries can be traced in part to a lack of a positive notion and healthy appreciation of the kind of classic honor that compelled (and checked) our manly ancestors” (Mckay). In other words, society has a loss of recognition and gratitude when viewing honor and what it is worth. When it comes to honor, humanity is compared to children that will always take things for granted and never fully appreciate the things that once was meaningful. Brett and his wife Kate suggest that, “In large populations you can live out your whole life without anyone checking up on what you’re doing, much less judging your reputation as honorable and dishonorable” (McKay). As the population has expanded throughout time, it has become harder to recognize honor in daily activities. The difficulty in observing honor in each person has increased because of how largely the public has grown. In addition to being changed by time, honor is also affected by …show more content…
Honor is different in every country and has been affected by time and culture. In the past, men used to duel to protect their honor and were willing to do anything to defend it. In modern times, honor is not viewed as important as it was. As population grew, so did the difficulty to see the honor in people. Honor in America is largely focused on soldiers who are in the military and all that they do for their country. In Asian culture, they focus more on honoring and respecting their elders. In conclusion, honor has shown to be an important factor in everybody no matter the person, no matter the time in history, and no matter the country or culture you are apart