Dr. Faustus

In our discussion in class today about Dr. Faustus' quest for knowledge, I found it interesting how certain things paralleled with the Bible.  For instance, Caleb brought up a good point about how Faustus was tempted by Satan to take the knowledge that Satan could offer, just like Eve was tempted by Satan to take the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  And I think it is really important to recognize that Faustus, as well as Eve, made the choice to do what they did.  Satan did not force them to do anything and neither did God.  Satan's tempting was very sly, in my opinion, because he made the Seven Deadly Sins look funny and not horrible, and he offered Faustus all this power that came along with the knowledge; but he did not show Faustus how miserable Hell would be for him.  Therefore, as Caleb and Pat said, Faustus looked like a fool at the end because he thought he was gaining all of this knowledge and yet he did not even search for the knowledge of the consequences for selling his soul to the devil.  I do feel as if knowledge can be very very dangerous, but ignorance can be just as dangerous I suppose - like in Faustus' case.  Then again, if he hadn't been in such a dire need to obtain more knowledge, his ignorance would not have been dangerous and led to his damnation.  I am sure that Faustus took time to figure out how to get the knowledge that he wanted, but I do not believe he took enough time to think through the consequences of his action.  So I believe this can relate to our human nature in that when we desperately want something and we see an opportunity to finally get it, we rush into it without thinking it through.  If we think it through, we may realize that it is something we do not really want.  I also found it interesting how some people in class sympathized with Faustus, which I have a hard time doing since he chose to give his soul to the devil.  If the devil had forced him into doing it, I would have probably pitied him more.  I think I had trouble sympathizing with him partly because last night I read in 1 John 2 about the antichrist.  The antichrist can be anyone who denies Jesus Christ.  Therefore, as Faustus sold his soul to the devil, I believe this was him denying God and becoming an antichrist.  Due to that, I have a hard time seeing him as a victim even though that probably isn't how it should be.  Then again, Faustus isn't a real person...

The Fat Fish

"...the sort of fish that a good fisherman puts back into the water so that it may grow fatter and be one day worth cooking and eating" is said in Viriginia Woolf's essay "A Room of One's Own."  This quote has been floating around in my head since we read it in class, and I have been thinking about it.  What if that fish is a thought? And I am the fisherman.  As I am sitting on the side of my pond with a fishing pole in hand, I pull out a tiny fish. It is little, new, a baby fish.  My options are to keep it and mess with it so that it eventually dies, let it go so that it can grow up and grow fatter to one day be worth eating, or I could let it go and forget about it all together.  If that fish is a thought, then those options apply to our thoughts as well.  Many people would have that thought and just mess with it too soon, over think it, and then it will not be worth anything anymore.  Or the person may let it go because it is assumed that the thought will never become anything and then it will soon be forgotten.  But the people who let it go, they will nourish it and allow that thought to grow and become perfect for eating, or perfect to act out.  Then one day, when the time is right, they will go back to the pond, catch that fish, and have a filling dinner - come back to that thought that has grown into more and have this idea that will work out for the best.  My concern is for those who just let that fish go, not to allow it to grow, but to forget it because they think it won't become anything.  For whatever reason, I connect this with Albert Einstein.  What if he had had all of his genius thoughts and just forgot about them?  Where would our science and math be now?  What would have happened as a result?  Instead though, he let his thoughts grow, he developed his thoughts.  Now, we have E =mc^2 and more because he did not let it go and just forget about it!  The society we live in plays it safe.  When someone has a big dream, we think he is crazy.  We say, "He will never be able to do that."  Why do we tear down the dreams before they have the time to grow?  Why do we not encourage the person?  We can help that "fish" grow!  We can nourish it, contribute to its growth, and then one day, it will make a wonderful "dinner."  Our society needs to be more encouraging, push the growth of that one fish that may look so tiny, and allow it to become just right for eating instead of killing it as soon as it is pulled out of the pond.

The World of Differing Women

Women are treated differently depending on the culture of the area.  In some places, they are equal where as in others they are considered property.  Although US people struggle a lot with pride, especially when men think they can do a job better than women, we are fairly good at keeping men and women on equal terms.  In A Thousand Splendid Suns, it is seen that this is not necessarily true everywhere.  Women are treated as property in Afghanistan.  They have little choice in who they marry, that is their parents decision.  Their purpose in this society is to cook dinner, clean, give their husbands children, and do whatever their husband commands.  They cannot have a job and cannot show their faces in public because it is their husband's property.  Because of this, Mariam starts to depend on her husband for her happiness.  If he praises her, she has a good day.  If he is in a bad mood, she is too.  All she wants to do is please her husband, but as time goes by and she does not produce any children, it gets harder and harder for her to do.  Therefore, they both are miserable.  I believe this is probably still true in the Middle East countries of Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq.  From the pictures that I see, the women are always covered up.  This hints that they are still considered their husband's property.  They also cannot have an education like that offered to women in the US.  Since they are considered property, most of them are abused and mistreated.  That is not fair to these women.  The men of the Middle East are underestimating their potential and their power.  The women could help contribute to their countries in ways that could give them a step up and possibly compete with the other countries of the world.  Despite this, the men won't give them a chance.  Plus if the women wanted to try to advance in the world, they would be abused and/or killed.  If the woman gets sick of being abused and tries to escape, she will definitely be killed if her husband catches her.  This is not right or fair.  I believe women have just as much right as men do to an education, jobs, and happiness.  According to Plato's Cave though, if a woman from the Middle East were to go to the US to get an education and realized the potential of women, she would most likely try to bring it back to her people.  However, they would not accept it and would reject her from their society either by abusing or shunning her.  The women would be too scared to fight for it, even if they thought what the educated woman said was true, because the men have had power for so long that they can't imagine a change.  Plus the change is illegal over there.  So now the woman, if still alive, does not belong in the Middle East because she is educated and doesn't quite fit in with the Americans because we are judgemental towards the Middle East.  This would discourage anyone from trying to gain an education and/or freedom.  It should not be like that.