Just Insanity example essay topic

INFOrmal Essay (Ver. 1.3) Joe Lee October 9, 1998 After moving experience a night ago, when I attended the showing and the discussion - the lecture, if you will - of the movie Night and Fog I have truly, without even a hint of an ironic tone, made great revelations to myself. In the discussion, mention was made to the fact that many, after watching the movie, will want to put the haunting images of the Holocaust away in the deepest of hidden chambers in our minds. Or, in the words of the lecturer, 'under the bed. ' This statement, however, is one I must argue because, to be brutally honest, I would never put pictures of dead, decaying bodies under my bed. If someone forcefully put them under my bed, I would move and sleep somewhere far away.

Faraway from the bed, and most importantly, far from the person who forcefully put the pictures under it because he is clearly ill in some fundamental way. I think it's a healthy sign to want to put aside pictures of dead, decaying bodies that once housed tortured souls and broken spirits. I wish not to speak generally about any group, but I believe that, as humans, we will all initially react in this manner. [Take me, for instance. I want nothing more at the moment but to wipe the pictures from my head, but for anyone as sensitive to these things as I am, it is quite impossible. For now, I can only pretend not to remember anything, although, just in writing this I am admitting to it and any attempts to deny it from this point on would be fruitless.

That of course, as I'm sure Dave would agree, is a lie, I actually don't remember anything because I was asleep half the time the movie was shown, and during the lecture my mind was preoccupied with studying for my upcoming computer science quiz so, it's actually quite fruitful.] The reason I reacted this way after the movie is because it reminded me of how cruel we can be to each other. Having been taught to try to see things as others may be seeing it, I have - I don't know why I'm admitting this - deeply set fears that one day I might see something that is generally accepted as wrong (take this paper, for instance) in such a way that it seems right. After much thought in this matter, it seems only reasonable that for one to do something evil, the person must not perceive of what he is doing as evil. Someone who is truly insane does not know it. Otherwise, wouldn't he change? I feel uneasy making such statements because if it is true then there is no such thing as responsibility - just insanity.

I hate to immediately contradict myself, but there is also the possibility that insanity is just a ploy to play tricks on the minds of those who believe they are 'normal. ' One may say, 'I'm anything but normal,' but I find it hard to believe that anyone can absolutely, without a doubt believe something like that. So, in short, insanity doesn't exist. And those who act 'insanely " are just acting irresponsibly.

So it is the responsibility of every man - person, if you will - on earth to fully understand what is wrong and to actually do something about it. The understanding part is easy it's the doing something about it that's difficult because of the limitations of any one person's power. I must admit, I have not a clue as to what I would doin doing something about something wrong. Actually doing something would require energy, and I am a part of the Oakes community, thus energy would be applied to Oakes to make it more vibrant. Depending on what wrong I were to do something about righting, I could be breaking a static friction. And if we take the laws of physics as an analogy, as soon as we break the static friction, we are held back only by a relatively small kinetic friction.

So, as soon as we have broken the static friction, we can start gaining momentum to actually make a sizeable dent in what we " re aiming for, which is presumably to correct something evil. Elie Wiesel, in writing his accounts in Night has fulfilled his responsibility of helping to right a wrong. It is wrong not to be informed of the evils that lurk among us, so Wiesel has informed us and, according to his memoirs in is autobiography, Memoirs All Rivers Run to the Sea he did much more. When he gained a stable life, in the comfort of his new environment, he did not forget the wrong he saw, and he actually did more than just write to inform people of what he saw. He focused most of his energy into looking beyond his own sufferings to help others. Such can be seen in the efforts he has made and is still currently making to teach the Tibetans how to keep their culture and memory alive in exile, when it's religion is threatened.

Before this Wiesel attended and took an active part in Summit Conferences to help stop genocide in such places as India, Armenia, and Jerusalem before it was recaptured, years ago. Such travels, though stressful and energy consuming, it is very stimulating and can be, in a sense, fun. This is what we need at Oakes to make it a vibrant, healthy, and stimulating environment. To take an active part in efforts to right wrongs. The energy we put into our efforts in the college will make it vibrant and at the same time.

The activity forces us to be alert, so our minds are always working, and thus we keep ourselves healthy through these exercises. There are many problems to tackle, too many to count. The more we do, the more we find there's more to it than we first thought. This provides us with a stimulus. Learning not only what is happening around us that is wrong, but also understanding it will help keep us 'sane " and help us grow.