Okay I have two questions about certain quotes from the book that i don't fully understand. One is about "seeing all of life without observing it". What does this mean exactly?
And then the other is "expression is founded on the finite occasion. It is the activity of infinitude impressing itself on its environment".
8 comments:
the second quote is simply stating that one way or another, an expression is made at any given moment
The first quote means seeing something (in this case life itself) pass happen but not really thing about it or what its singnificance is or what it means. Grendel describes his childhood as being this way.
I think the first quote is saying that you need to take your emotions and past experiences with you, and not just observing and watching life play out.
I believe that the first quote “seeing all of life without observing it” means that sometimes you can go through life only going through the motions. You are not really taking apart in it or realizing what is going on around you. You might physically be there, but not in the mind set. Without “showing up” you don’t realize what you are seeing or missing. This is how Grendel describes his childhood.
I believe that the first quote means that Grendel watched life, but did not look at the finer details, or try to look for the reason why. He just saw it. And the second one means expressing yourself is something that happens at a given moment, but leaves a lasting impression (ex destroying stuff).
The first quote "seeing all life without observing it" I believe goes a bit deeper, but also a bit shallower than has yet been suggested. First, we can accept that observation is the act of examining or witnessing something, whether it be an event, an individual, or an object, through the use of the senses. Typically, the word "observe" or any roots thereof are only used in the context of literal events in which the subject physically experiences the object in some way. We can certainly suppose that Grendel has observed some life, such as any of his many ventures out into the wilderness or to Herot etc. However, there is no way that Grendel has observed all of life; if he were to do so, he would have to have experienced, through one sense or another, every facet of life everywhere. Now we move to the other verb in the sentence, which provides the confusion which the sentence brings. It says that Grendel "sees all life." Though seeing something typically involves the physical phenomena of sight, "seeing" often has the connotation of perception or understanding. If someone were to explain something to you, and suddenly you get what they were explaining, you might say "I see...", but you would never say "I observe." I believe that this difference is what Gardner bases this quote off of. Essentially, he is indicating that Grendel has come to a general understanding of the nature of all of life, even though he has only physically observed a small portion of it.
The second quote I think is a little bit easier.... Essentially, the dragon is indicating that expression is what constitutes significance, for mere existence is finite, and limited, but expression is infinite. It's the idea that though a person may die, and their material existence may fade into all other existence, the ideas and truths which they express are not limited or tied to the material world. It's the belief that expressed thoughts are not doomed like all other matter to fade into the background of the sameness of the cycle of existence, but rather may stand as truths or nontruths throughout or even beyond existence. The environment is temporary, the expression is limitless.
I think that in the first quote the author is trying to convey that by "seeing all of life without observing it", you are just going through the motions of life. The emotions that are related to the motions are not evident and therefore you are not fully experiencing life.
The first quote was basically explained in class today. Grendel tends to live life with the assumption that he is not dependent of the world. Yes, he is physically on the earth. But things only happen if he makes them happen. He is only going through the motions of life without actually experiencing emotion or any sense of actually being alive. He feels alone and out of place. Perhaps this is why he lives life without actually observing it. It is not anything interesting to him.
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