Who Knows What Is Truly Right

The article The Challenge of Cultural Relativism presents an interesting view on the world. It questions who knows what is truly right and poses a theory that no one is truly correct. It takes examples from history throughout the ages. One is a culture that does not eat cows, even in famine. Many see it as a crazy thought, but in their belief it makes perfect sense. They believed that humans past on to be cows, so in turn cows could be deceased family and friends. This applies to cultures and society throughout the world, no matter where or what beliefs. This can even be taken into today's society. With how the world is grown and expanded in knowledge, we as a people take most things for granted. But in truth all or none of it could be true. I completely agree with the idea that we don't know what is right one hundred percent. For example I have always wondered about color blind people. We are told if we are color blind that we differ from the normal human being and how they should see. I think that this is wrong in that we do not know what is really how a human should look or function. It could be possible that we were supposed to be color blind and that those who have 'normal' eyesight are supernatural and different. I believe that people should see the world more like this so that we can be open to eachothers ideas and not have a constant battle of who is right. 

Are Our Heroes Who They Appear To Be

The tragic play of Hamlet brings up an interesting point of view when looking at our heroes. That is if they truly are a hero or if they were just a normal person that ended up in a heroic position. Many have gone either way with it and it is up to the individual reader to decide for themselves. As for those who think our heroes are truly heroes, it is pretty simple. They view the heroes actions as being all mighty and above everyone else. Also this fact is given since they were automatically givted with whatever power it is. On the other hand there are those believe those heroes are only ordinary beings. They think that these people have come by this position by fate or chance and had notheing to do with getting there. To me this hero type resembles Hamlet. His father's death is what brings about all of the challenges he faces, therefor he did not go to face them with his own porpoise. His purpose is only a reaction to an earlier event. For me this makes the person less of a hero and more of a reactionary person. I think that a hero should have their own plan set out that cannot be affected by others. For example if Hamlet had decided to go on his own before his father's death and fight for something, I would see it as being a true hero. But since he only did it as a reaction to death, he puts himself in a normal person's spot where they would react to a death of their own. This is almost like a downgrade for me as the "hero" does what the average human being would do. 

Heroes Through The Ages

Heroes of society have been told and heard of for hundreds of years. Weather the people are in rejoice or despair, they always have a figure that they look up to. Although there has always been a constant hero throughout time, the defenition that society puts on these figures changes tremendously. Going back to Beowulf, the society had viewed him as a great hero, while we today may not find that in him. In the society of that time, many were peasants or soldiers. Since they were considered weak and defenseless, so they developed a hero to look up to. In this case, Beowulf was described as having great strength and power over people. These were admirable characteristics that gave the people someone to look up to and strive to be. This is the main feature of a hero, though, throughout any time period. As seen in modern times, we still have this strong hero represented by superheroes, but there are also those who are average people doing special deeds in our world. Today's society now bases heroes more on morals than brute force. This is because the world looks down upon mass killing and murders and looks for what a person can do for the good of humanity. This can be found in superheroes, although they possess unnatural abilities. For example Superman has tremendous strength that would be related to that of Beowulf, but he is only out to save people in the world from danger. But the fate of the world does not rest in fiction. But those everyday people who serve and protect the people of the world. A very important event in the United States history would be 9/11. The men and women who helped save all they could no matter what happened are the heroes we look up to today. These acts of selflessness and strength are what we see in a hero today, much as did the people on Beowulfs time see him. 

A Howard Roark In All Of Us

In the world we live in, growing up seems to get harder and harder. Toward the end of high school, we are faces with decisions that could change our lives forever. One of the biggest is college.  Choosing if we do or not, if so where, when, and for what majors. This all will go toward where our lives will go. Other decisions that go along with it are what to do with our time. This includes balancing family, friends, work, sports, school, and time to just relax. Our ability to make it through these challenges so that we can enjoy ourselves the most determined on our mindset on life. If it has no direction, we will not get anywhere with ourselves. But if we think about what we want and not about the rest of the world, we have a chance to come out as our own being. This way of life was show in The Fountainhead. It is found in the character Howard Roark. He goes through his life at the extreme end of this thought. He does not care about anyone, anything, or any goal except his own. This enabled him to take his life in the direction he wanted, without anyone else to worry about. He always made decisions for his own gain. Roark put himself ahead of everything else, and even if his decisions put him in a hard spot, he still did it if that is what he wanted. I think that a little bit of this personality in ourselves can help us make it through life a little easier. Now this does not mean that we should not care about people in our lives that we love and cherish. It is the other side, though, that is the most meaningful. We should always have our goals in mind and not allow them to bend or even break for someone else's needs. This is especially important when making decisions like college and jobs. These are in fact the same ones Roark faced in the novel, and because he kept his own ideas and goals he made them successful. As long as we keep a little part of this in ourselves, we should be able to be who we want to be in the world.