The concept of strength informs the political landscape in the United States, especially within Republican and conservative circles. Heroes of the Fourth Turning by Will Arbery is an exploration of these different types of strengths and weaknesses within American conservatism, as well as within the privileged personal lives of its characters, most of whom attended a private, Catholic school in the middle of Wyoming. The problem with this Transfiguration College of Wyoming, as suggested by Heroes of the Fourth Turning, is the ideological and emotional weakness that the school taught its students. Teresa’s reactionary politics lead her to an inconsistent, narrow, and exclusionary worldview. This can be seen when she scolds Emily during their argument, telling her that “Liberals are empathy
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She claims that “We all have a labyrinth in there” (28), a nuanced understanding of what it must be like to be another person. Emily also thinks that people who are involved with Planned Parenthood aren’t “evil” (54) unlike Teresa. She’s able to comprehend a world without a right side and a wrong side. In Emily’s worldview, good people can do bad things and remain good people. She allows room for mistakes and nuances. Emily understands imperfection far better than Teresa, since she’s experienced it. Due to experiencing chronic pain, Emily must be able to find the good in the bad. She exhibits a greater strength in dealing with pain than any other character while going to the effort of being the peacekeeper. She remains consistent in that all she truly wants is for everyone to get along. She has a greater capacity for empathy because she’s experienced more suffering in her life, she’s in a slightly less privileged position than Teresa or Kevin due to her chronic pain. In short, Emily is ideologically consistent due to her lack of association with the school, as well as her
She claims that “We all have a labyrinth in there” (28), a nuanced understanding of what it must be like to be another person. Emily also thinks that people who are involved with Planned Parenthood aren’t “evil” (54) unlike Teresa. She’s able to comprehend a world without a right side and a wrong side. In Emily’s worldview, good people can do bad things and remain good people. She allows room for mistakes and nuances. Emily understands imperfection far better than Teresa, since she’s experienced it. Due to experiencing chronic pain, Emily must be able to find the good in the bad. She exhibits a greater strength in dealing with pain than any other character while going to the effort of being the peacekeeper. She remains consistent in that all she truly wants is for everyone to get along. She has a greater capacity for empathy because she’s experienced more suffering in her life, she’s in a slightly less privileged position than Teresa or Kevin due to her chronic pain. In short, Emily is ideologically consistent due to her lack of association with the school, as well as her