St Lyon's Story Analysis

Saint Julien’s story tells us that only those people who whole-heartedly accept their solitariness and embrace it are able to survive it. Acceptance is, therefore, the first step towards the journey. Those people who learn to live with the fact that they are alone and abandoned are able to find solace even in loneliness. Saint Julien embraced what fell upon him. He embraced the hatred, his loneliness, and the fact that everybody hated him. And even then, he did not become passive. He continued to live for all, and tried to help anyone he could. He found the quest of his life. In the beginning, he worked for his own pleasures, and then he worked for others and found pleasure in doing so. He found a meaning for himself, and the reason to continue living. His love and endurance …show more content…
Rilke has transformed into a different story which he feels to be the true one. He has seen it to be as different from what we all know it to be. In Rilke’s eyes, the prodigal son is not wasteful but he has encountered his fear. He fears to be loved, he fears to be oppressed by the love of his family, of his dogs, and of everyone around him. He fears it, so he runs away because he cannot live like this anymore. He has encountered his existence. He is now out there in search for an answer. He travels around, and comes to terms with his fear. He comes to understand that it is hard to be loved, and the beloved feels suffocated in such love. However, he feels that there is only one who can love him and yet will not oppress him in any way. He is talking about God who is capable to love us but at the same time, lets us be ourselves. He lets us complete our search, our quest, and then, comes for us. Until then, he lets us continue our journey to the absolute. The prodigal son, however, does not yet want to be loved. He wants to create himself first. He wants to be in the absolute sense. It is because of this that the text ends with the