Love and Other Impossible Pursuits

appears frustrated with Ablabius and the errors that he was spreading, but there seems to be an underlying tone of love and a desire for restoration that is woven into the rebukes and arguments given throughout the letter. The primary error that Gregory addresses is that God supposedly must exist either as one person or three; that is, that the concept of the Trinity is either impossible, or that it is, in fact, a polytheistic construct. Gregory makes four basic arguments in response to this…

Frankenstein was a man obsessed. By the age of thirteen, his fascination with finding the key to immortality had already overtaken his thoughts. In this pursuit, he viewed himself as one of the greatest scientists, equal to Isaac Newton and his successors. He believed he could not fail: any inadequacy would be attributed to his lack of experience. He ultimately isolated himself to work solely on his experiments, as “[his] mind was filled with one thought, one conception, one purpose,” (49)…

students, unavailability to the public and the rise of public education. In the novel, Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, the main protagonist Holden Caulfield is expelled from three prep schools. He experiences difficulty in academics, harassment from other students, and is unable to truly fit in socially. This may leave some to think, are prep schools truly effective? Would Holden have benefitted more in a public school environment? Before the availability of public education in America was…

anti-heroes actions or through the actions they witness. Upon these events, the anti-hero experiences a revelation that everyone, including himself, is grappling with their survival. Although the anti-hero tries to live a noble life, he finds it impossible to accomplish. In Double Indemnity, James M. Cain uses the Noir genre convention of the anti-hero to illuminate the idea that a noble figure cannot exist in the corrupt environment because the environment forces one to commit ignoble acts for…

Aristotle states, “For each of these friends has a different virtue and a different function, and there are different because of love. Hence the ways of loving are different, and so are the friendships” (1158b: 15-20). This quotation is important because it presents a new understanding of friendship. Through this quotation, Aristotle’s explains that friendship is love, which means love is the absolute form of happiness. Similarly, Sir Francis Bacon explains that a fruit of friendship is the key…

freedom? The heart of Spinoza’s case for understanding ethics lies within our pursuit of our passions. The extract first begins with Spinoza saying that slavery is when we do not have power over our moderation of passions, and that passions are controlled by some external cause. He goes on to say that what we do have control over is our virtue and reason, which can only be acted upon from the laws of our own nature. In other words, the whole point of virtue is for self-preservation, because…

learn to endure what we cannot avoid” (Montaigne 835), concluding men should be content simply with living. Philosophy is noted as an important tool, but there is great responsibility with life, and he stresses God never commanded any man to guide other with their reason. Montaigne asserts life as a human being is, “not only the fundamental, but the most illustrious of your occupations” (Montaigne 850). His solution is, “Greatness of soul is not so much pressing upward and forward as knowing how…

readers of Gatsby’s life. Gatsby is a wealthy man living in West Egg who is known for his extravagant parties. As Nick gets to know Gatsby, he begins to see the loneliness that hides within Gatsby. Five years before Nick meets Gatsby, Gatsby has a love affair with a woman named Daisy. As the novel continues, it becomes clear that Gatsby is still holding onto a false sense of hope that he and Daisy will be together again. In the novel, Gatsby, Daisy, and Nick are driven by a deep desire to be…

The case with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is an extremely clear example of how these boxes are an easy way to theorise about characters, but when it comes to practice, it is impossible to make them fit in a way they align with the preconceptions made. Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde are not in the good or evil categories, instead both exist within each of them. Dr. Jekyll is supposed to be good, however, he does create Mr. Hyde, a creature…

Witnessing the magical moments of the child’s first smile, first word, first step, and so on; learning to love small moments with the kids; having time to create the special bond between fathers and children; becoming the go-to parents whenever they need to be comforted. Stay-at-home husbands have the opportunity to see all these amazing things that they would…