Differing perspectives is what defines humanity. The way in which different individuals absorb and interpret information in ways unique from one another indicates the complexity and intricacy of human nature. One’s view of the world depends on one’s circumstances and experiences.
One’s circumstances shape one’s identity and thus, shape one’s worldview as well. Amy Tan’s novel The Joy Luck Club tells the story of four Chinese women and their Chinese-American daughters. It explores the role of one’s circumstances in developing one’s perspective; the American-born daughters having grown up in circumstances much different than their mothers. The daughters’ Chinese culture combined with their American upbringing creates cultural conflict and for …show more content…
Within the poem “Muséee des Beaux Arts”, Auden provides insight on how ones’ experiences—or lack thereof—impacts one’s outlook on life: “How, when the aged are reverently, passionately waiting / For the miraculous birth, there always must be / Children who did not specially want it to happen, skating / On a pond at the edge of the wood” (5-8). The description of the “aged” and their “wait” for death implies that these indivuduals have experienced hardship throughout their lives, and therefore see all the faults in life. Thus, they long to escape this world which they view as meaningless existence solely characterized by suffering and unhappiness. Subsequently, the speaker creates a stark contrast between young and old, describing how children—who have not experienced as much suffering—are disenchanted with the idea of death. This demonstrates the essential role of experiences on one’s world perspective in that experiences in suffering alters the way one regards the world and what it has to offer. Through this, Auden presents the concept of a balance of suffering and happiness between the young and the old; a cyclical process of suffering versus happiness and experience versus inexperience that is also seen in The Joy Luck
One’s circumstances shape one’s identity and thus, shape one’s worldview as well. Amy Tan’s novel The Joy Luck Club tells the story of four Chinese women and their Chinese-American daughters. It explores the role of one’s circumstances in developing one’s perspective; the American-born daughters having grown up in circumstances much different than their mothers. The daughters’ Chinese culture combined with their American upbringing creates cultural conflict and for …show more content…
Within the poem “Muséee des Beaux Arts”, Auden provides insight on how ones’ experiences—or lack thereof—impacts one’s outlook on life: “How, when the aged are reverently, passionately waiting / For the miraculous birth, there always must be / Children who did not specially want it to happen, skating / On a pond at the edge of the wood” (5-8). The description of the “aged” and their “wait” for death implies that these indivuduals have experienced hardship throughout their lives, and therefore see all the faults in life. Thus, they long to escape this world which they view as meaningless existence solely characterized by suffering and unhappiness. Subsequently, the speaker creates a stark contrast between young and old, describing how children—who have not experienced as much suffering—are disenchanted with the idea of death. This demonstrates the essential role of experiences on one’s world perspective in that experiences in suffering alters the way one regards the world and what it has to offer. Through this, Auden presents the concept of a balance of suffering and happiness between the young and the old; a cyclical process of suffering versus happiness and experience versus inexperience that is also seen in The Joy Luck