Month: December 2008

The question of whether ignorance is bliss is a very interesting idea and question. The idea behind it is as follows: would you rather live a life of luxury and glory not knowing what you have done to others to get their? Or would you rather know how you got all of your luxuries in life and who you had to roll over to get their?

After going through this English class I have come to realize that to be a truly humble person you must know how you got to the situation where you are, to simple appreciate what you have. For example a king such as Gilgamesh was so full of himself and did not care about anyone but himself until he met Inkidu. Since they had such a strong relationship Gilgamesh thought that they were indestructible. Until Gilgameshes worst nightmares came to life, Inkidu was cursed and died a painful death. After this occurrence I believe this humbled Gilgamesh, without this experience he would have never gone on hid long and epic journey to become a good leader. Without that experience he would have never gotten an everlasting legacy that he dreamed about his whole life.

After reading many of these stories this semester I came to realize how unbelievable and brilliant the authors were of their time. How theses people understood what they wrote hundreds of years ago would really be relevant today, that is what ignorance is bliss is about. How these people wrote their ideas down on paper not knowing what kind of impact it would have on the world hundreds of years later. It just amazes me that this is the case today with these stories.

Finally coming to end I have realized that their are certain times where you want to be in the “know” and other times when you just want to ride out the glory not knowing how you got there. That is the beauty of life and the beauty of free will. A person cannot appreciate their luxuries if they do not know how fortunate they are compared to other people living in much worse conditions. A friend of mine is going to Uganda over vacation to help sick children in a village . He does not need to do this, he is doing it because he wants to learn and possibly appreciate what kind of life he lives compared to less fortunate people. Being the good person he is , wanting to help any which way he can, paying out of pocket to experience this. Their are good people in this world even though ignorance is truly bliss.

The question, wheather or no Don Quixote is a noble hero or a fool is a very intresting question.  He happens to be both in the same.  To himself he wants to be a hero living out a dream from his past.  To the reader he is absolutely ridiculous.  A person cannot just become a hero because they want too, it is sometimes out of their control.  Its like falling in love, you are not suppose to look for it because if you do you are hopeless and it will never come to you.  Love catches you when you least expect it, in Don Quixote’s case he is doing it all wrong.  The quote ” O lady of beauty, he said, strength and vigor of this fainting heart of mine!  Now is the time to turn the eyes of your greatness upon this captive knight of yours who must face so formidable an adventure.”(Cervantes, 2690) explains my point very well.  He is telling this women that he is must leave and go on an adventure, but not mentioning any reason to go on this so called adventure.  So, as one of the readers of this story I find Don Quixote a total fool.