One's Passions And Use Reason example essay topic

Traveling to places where you have never gone is very exciting. Life itself can be described in terms of a journey. There are pitfalls along the way that one must learn to avoid, dangers that must be talked about and exciting new things to learned. One of the ways authors talk about a journey is in a travel writing. Jonathon Swift and Wu Ch " eng-en used the travel writing to tell two different types of stories. The characterization of the minor character's of the Yahoo's and Pigsy in their respective stories, are similar in their view of how passions need to be controlled but very different in their reasons of why such passions are bad.

During the Enlightenment in Europe people were taught that the body is controlled by two opposite forces: passion and reason. Reason was employed to control the rashness of passion. Jean-Baptiste Moliere believed that one should try to moderate his or her passions so they don't take over one's life. People consider passion as very worldly. It shows an emphasis on our lives and the world around us. It screams, "This is important!" Passion is powerful.

We use it for emotions that are based on value-judgments. Whether it's love or hate, joy or anger, we experience it in response to what is important in our lives. Reason tempered the hot emotions of passion. People devoid of this tempering quality were thought to be on a spiraling path down. The Eastern cultures also had a similar point of view of on the idea of passion. The Buddhist religion teaches that passions must be controlled to achieve true nirvana.

In Gulliver's Travels the reader is taught about the danger of uncontrolled passion. This passion is represented by the actions of the Yahoo's. Presented to us as an uncivilized bunch, they have nothing even resembling reason. Yahoo's choose their leaders from the most uncouth and deformed. Whenever they feel the need they have sex or lounge in the dirt and mud.

Their passions make them worse than animals. Even the word yahoo in the Houyhnhnm language even means ill quality. In Monkey uncontrolled passion can not only make one worse than animals but also has the power to reduce the character to a animal state. Passions seem to turn the character Pigsy into less than human.

His character flaw makes him grow ugly. .".. His nose began to turn into a regular snout, his ears became larger and larger, and great bristles began to grow at the back of his neck". Pigsy like his name suggests resembles a pig.

His greediness has caused him to take the form of a animal. Pigsy's main interest is in satisfying his lusts. He symbolizes the physical appetites, brute strength, and lack of patience. When he becomes a priest it is because he must, not because he wants to. "For if we don't bring off this scripture business, I shall turn layman again and live with you as your son-in-law".

The purpose the two author's had for creating their minor character's are very different from each other. Swift's Yahoo's were used for a political purpose. Swift wanted to show the wrongness that prevailed in the English government. In the story Gulliver explains to his master about the English government and other governments in the same vicinity. He describes at length the practice of law, who can be considered as nobility, the realities of war and other human actions. "I endeavored to give him some ideas of the desire of power and riches; of the terrible effects of lust, intemperance, malice, and envy".

Because of his narration, Gulliver slowly comes to the realization that the Yahoo's were almost the same as the people he came from. He can see that he is all too easily controlled by passion and not very well by reason. "I could no longer deny that I was a real Yahoo, in every limb and feature". This satire filled discourse helps the author show what he feels is wrong with the world he lives in.

Wu Ch " eng-en did not use politics as his purpose, instead he wanted to show a religious point of view. Buddhism has respect for all things alive. There are a hierarchy of alive things from insects to Buddha's. All creatures human and beasts have good seeds and bad seeds within them, the whole goal of life is to cultivate the good seeds in order to acquire a higher level in the next life.

Buddhism believes in Karma. This is the belief that what you do will come back at you, good or bad. The Second Enlightenment of Buddhism teaches "that excessive desire begets suffering. The suffering of birth and death as well as the leading of a weary life are all caused by greed. Few desires along with no craving make our mind and body comfortable".

Pigsy is used as a example of the way one should not be. Pigsy's constant love of money and worldly possessions is not fitting of a Buddhist monk. His love of money allows him to be tricked and fooled". 'If I steal a treasure... I expect more than a petty, skunking share. The treasure must be mine'".

Passions in Monkey and Gulliver's Travel's are portrayed both in a similar way and yet different. In the two travel writings, even the minor characters are alive with the currents of passion. Through these stories we are shown that passions have the power to reduce the humanness in one's self. They prove to us that it is better to control one's passions and use reason when possible. However the reason for one to do for so is disputed. The reader is delighted with the characterization of the Yahoo's and Pigsy what ever the reason.

Bibliography

Ch " eng-en, Wu. Monkey. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Gen Ed. Sarah Lawall. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2002.
8-61. Hugo, Howard E., and Patricia Meyer Spaces. "The Enlightenment in Europe". Gen Ed. Sarah Lawall. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2002.
295-301. Prince, Lauren A. "All about the Buddhist faith". Buddhist History. web (5 Dec. 1999).
Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver's Travels. Gen Ed. Sarah Lawall. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2002.