Forward Progress Of Society example essay topic

The ground shakes like distant thunder on the eve of a great storm as heavy machines carve the earth to do their unnatural bidding. It is called Progress. Destruction of something old, to be replaced by something new, whatever society deems invaluable... is destroyed. In Robert Lowell's "For the Union Dead", a gaudy new construction leaves behind the memories of an old aquarium and Colonel Shaw's Civil war relief to be forgotten.

Should progress be allowed to destroy tradition? No, we should learn from our past, not ignore it. The forward progress of society remains more important to society then their past that lives on in tradition. Tradition is something that has been passed down from years gone to the next generation.

It lives in buildings, stories, actions, pretty much everything we do. The old South Boston aquarium was a pinnacle of tradition to Robert Lowell. As a child he flourished there, allowing his imagination to roam free amongst the contained ocean. Years would pass, and time changes all. Now, several years later, the aquarium where Lowell fed his mind was now destroyed, being razed for a new underground parking lot.

"Behind their cage / Yellow dinosaur steam shovels were grunting / As they cropped up tons of mush and grass / To gouge their underworld garage". -Robert Lowell With such expressive words as cage, cropped, and gouge, it is clear that Lowell had a strong resentment for the disregard of such a traditional place. As is true with Colonel Shaw's Civil War relief, depicting the march of the Colonel and his 54th Black Regiment to their last battle at Fort Wagner. It is despicable that such a monument to our past could be so ignored.

"On St. Gauden's Civil war relief, / propped by a plank splint against the garage's earthquake". Lowell. Such a monumental depiction of brave men heading to their untimely death, fighting for a cause that defines America to this day, something that defines this countries tradition, held up by a 2 x 4 of progress. Progress would not remember the Soldiers that died, progress would not remember the sacrifices they made.

Lowell shows his bitterness through Colonel Shaw, saying that: "He has an angry wren like vigilance, / a greyhounds gentle tautness / He seems to wince at pleasure / and suffocate for privacy". -Robert Lowell It is as if Colonel Shaw is looking out over all that was laid out amongst his Relief, and was disgusted. Just like Lowell was. The memory of Colonel Shaw and his men was forgotten, surrounded by the horrors of progress. Progress brings about change. If you change something, you must destroy something that once was, to make it something that is now new.

You must sacrifice the memory of old and give way to the fast paced life of the future. Its something that cant be changed, however unfortunate. To destroy a Boston landmark to make way for the future in underground parking, so that society can have a place to park their new automobiles. To disregard the heritage of a nation with a "plank splint". All the society cares about is its own progress into the future, not the mistakes that it should learn from in its past. Lowell hates it, the instruments of progress are described as "Yellow Dinosaurs" that rip open the earth, shaking all that the society should value.

And for what? A couple hundred parking spots in the Boston Commons? Society should think more about what it was founded on, the men that died, and the places where society was raised. Progress is the future, but it should not be the destruction of the past. Society must embrace its past and live with its knowledge always fresh in our heads.

To forget our past will lead to the demise of this country. To forget our foundations, our scarifies, our Traditions, is to forget what society is. Lowell believed this, by showing us the M osler safe. Here was an add for a safe that had withstood the blast from the Hiroshima bomb in the Second World War and to Lowell's surprise, it was the only reminder of The Second World War in Boston. The earth will stop shaking soon, as the storms of progress pass for a short time. It is but a moment, as progress cannot be stopped.

The Aquarium of South Boston is now long gone, and with it the food for the imagination of today's youth. But it happens everywhere, a tradition from the past is forgotten, and new ones are implemented. It will go one like this till the end of days, when a forward progression is not possible. Society will not look back on its past, will not remember its forgotten ways.

But it will be a circle of unending rebuilding, and everything that was once progress, will soon be destroyed to make way for the new and improved. When will it end? Will it ever end? Maybe.

But for now, we all move forward, "A savage servility (that) slides by on grease.".