through tragedy, chaos, and/or despair?
There is a point in every person's life when they feel as if the world is against them and nothing can go their way. They can't find an ounce of happiness around them and happiness doesn't exist. As for their outlook on life, being positive and trying to find the good in situations isn't an option. There isn't a point where of accepting the situation put forth. So, you have to wonder what can help motivate a person to continue on living through their tough times; living in general and living a fulfilling life. If they can't depend on family or lean on a friend's shoulder, what pushes them to keep on going?
One of my friends was caught in the middle of this position. She couldn't find the light at the end of the tunnel after her brother passed away unexpectedly. Though she tried and though she had loving friends surrounding her left and right, she couldn't get rid of the pain. For her, she felt no motivation to continue on living through her despair. I can't help but wonder what could have motivated her? What could have been said to her to make her realize that was not the answer? Personally in my life I have ups and downs of chaos and tragedy, but I ultimately end up finding a motivation to keep on chugging along. For me, it's knowing I am loved and there are people there for me. I know that having a positive attitude and trying to find the good in situations will get me through whatever is happening at the moment. I know that settling with what is happening around me is not the answer and that it can be fixed by moving on and dealing with it.
The song "Stand" by Rascal Flatts describes how even when times are brutal and you feel like there is no way out, you have to find that inner strength within to stand up to the situation and deal with it to continue on living. Also, the movie "The Blind Side" is a story of a boy who is homeless and gets taken care of by another family. Though he had an unfortunate upbringing and was exposed to gang violence as a young boy, he chooses to make the best of his new life and try to become happy by learning to trust and love.
In Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Hamlet debates with himself several times whether or not it is worth it for him to continue living. He has lost his father and his one love. Due to the ghost of his father, he acts crazy ultimately becoming a little crazy because he knows his mother was unfaithful and his uncle murdered his father. His motivation to continue on living was his urge to avenge his father's death. He also continued living because of his love towards Ophelia.
Oedipus Rex
For a king who killed his father, married his mother, and banished himself from his own land, life seems pretty hectic and tragic. Especially when one is born with a fate such as his, how does he find motivation to live? Tiresias says to Oedipus that "a man should live only for the present day" (line 932). Oedipus was a strong-willed person who always put his people first. His tragic flaw was being to rational. When he heard there was a curse he made a punishment for whoever killed Laios immediately without hesitation. Throughout his journey to discover the murderer, he realizes it is himself. His mother reacts to this discovery by killing herself as she finds all of her actions unforgivable. Oedipus knows he put this on himself. For his children and himself, he continues to live with this shame knowing he is banished because of his strength as a leader. His motivation to live was found deep within the little bit of strength he had left to endure the punishment he gave.
Henry IV, Part 1
In William Shakespeare's play, Hal undergoes much confusion. Stuck between his friends and his role as a leader, he doesn't know what to do. Though he endures no chaos or tragedy, he still goes through despair. He is stuck between his past and present when it comes to his father. Hal knows that Henry IV is disappointed in him as he does not act like a leader, but his peers are extremely close to him. His motivation was proving to his father he could be a leader and remain friends with his crew. He realizes that when he does prove himself he may not be able to continue living the lifestyle, but he can still be their friends while leading a nation. Even if Hal is befriending them, he doesn't banish them which is good. His decisions that he has to make cause him to go through despair, but his motivation to succeed pushes him through it all.
Crime and Punishment
In this novel by Fyodor Dostoevesky, the main character Rodya murders two women for his own philosophy. Surrounded by guilt, he struggles to find redemption from his actions. His motivation to live is his one love, Sonya. Seeing her and falling in love becomes his redemption of his murders. Though he doesn't contemplate suicide, he constantly argues with himself whether or not to confess his crimes. If not for Sonya though, who knows what Rodya would have done with his life. Relating the the world, for people sometimes their actions can cause strife for themselves and others, but redemption can relieve them of the pain to achieve happiness once again.
The Stranger
In a world of conformity, who is entitled to say who is normal and isn't? Mersualt, the main character of the book, is seen as an outcast in society. This is due to his inability to show emotions. Murdering an Arab for no reason except for the pressure of the sun, Meursault has no defense for himself when it comes to his trial. Showing no emotion for the death of his mom at her funeral, society questions his existence amongst them. Society fears that because he doesn't react to anything, that he could be a threat. His emotions don't show because he tells the truth and is based off honesty, something society isn't used too. Being sentenced to the guillotine, Meursault has nothing left. But then again, Meursault doesn't need anything to begin with. There is not a moment where Meursault feels the need to stop living because he never begins to live in the first place. His one motivation to live is that there was nothing else for him to do besides that and there isn't a reason not too. At the end of the novel he says, "I felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again".Beloved
In Beloved, by Toni Morrison, Sethe is a former slave who murders three of her four children to keep them away from the horrors of slavery. Her daugher Denver and her new love Paul D are her only relationships left after being shunned by the community for this act of crime. Living with this regret, Sethe cannot move on from her past. Beloved constantly haunts their home and eventually appears outside their house a womanly spirit. Beloved basically manipulates Sethe into losing her conscience and she alters the relatinships around Sethe. So, how does Sethe live through all this chaos of tragedy in her life? Ironically even though Beloved is the problem in the novel, she is what keeps Sethe alive until Sethe is released from her grasp and realizes she can live without Beloved. The memory of her murder baby depresses her, but keeps her living for the thought of not losing Denver like she lost Beloved. Most importantly when Beloved appears in the novel as a human, she is what brings happiness to Sethe because she feels like Beloved is her happiness. Beloved is Sethe's "good thing" in life. It takes until Beloved disappears and Paul D. returns to their home that Sethe knows her happiness doesn't come from her past or her baby, it comes from the present and her family.
Salughterhouse-Five
What is interesting about the main character in this book, Billy Pilgrim, is that he doesn't ever seem to encounter reality. He doesn't experience a positive in life becasue he is surrounded by the negative. Traveling back in forth in time causes him to develop different relationships that he can't connect with. To me, it seems as if people push and pull Billy instead of letting him make decisions and act on his own. He is like a puppet, everyone else lives for him as he focuses on the saddness of life around him. Since he doesn't seem to wake up from his dream-like state of traveling between the Tralfamadorians, the past, and the present, he doesn't need motivation to live because he doesn't stop simply going through the movements of life put in front of him. In a way if a motivation had to be found, it could be the simple human quality of curiosity about the situation he travels too. So it goes. :)
