24 July 2012
Connections
In the process of writing my essay I did a lot of research on what the poem The Second Coming was really pertaining too. I found it so interesting that Achebe took this ancient ideas of Yeats' poem and translated them into a story. The poem actually scared me a little bit with its dark tone at the end. It just ends with this unanswered question of: Is the beast going to take down society? If you think about it, still today we have a million beasts in our lives that could awaken at any moment and change our lives completely.
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6 comments:
I like your angle there Sammy. I agree that there is a lot of conflict building up among people today and it could at any moment be unleashed as that beast that Yeats mentioned. I think the poem and the novel really coincide to display that religion is a huge barrier among men and there has always been a struggle to accept each others' and live in peace.
I read a bit about Yeats' philosophy also when I was writing my essay, and what really struck me about Yeats' poem was how calmly he spoke about the future. He believed that the world he knew was coming to an end and that chaos and violence would spread throughout the world, yet when he talks about it he seems almost tranquil, as if he's just accepted the fate of the world. I thought his tone was really strange.
I also found the poem to be a bit dark. I read about Yeats' unique ideas about the universe and the future and it helped me understand his style and voice more easily. This abrupt ending is definitely meant to create some questions in the readers' head but is a bit eerie because they are all unanswered. It just cuts off and leaves the reader to worry about who or what this "beast" is.
The beast is essentially the avatar of society for the next cycle. It is going to wreck society, and then rebuild society around itself.
I agree with your comments and thoughts Sami. All of the research I did on the poem helped me connect to the book. This new understanding helped guide me to realizing the authors intention.
Yes! I was unsettled too, Sami! I found it intriguing how he calmly stated that chaos will come about the world, like he was positive it is coming. Was he right or wrong? Perhaps! Look at all the conflict in the world today such as terrorism, rebellions, corruption etc. Could this be enough of the "chaos" he was predicting?
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