On October
17,2012, I attended the event “Rethinking Service” given by Reverend Canon Dr.
Samuel Wells. He focused on the issues
of service. Dr. Wells began with a story
of a married couple. The wife falls in
love with another man and the husband yearns for a connection and unity. Therefore, he tries to murder them. This short story relates to service because
Dr. Wells said that overall service is not about doing for others, it is about
being with them. With this idea, Dr.
Wells’ thoughts on service can relate to Frankenstein
by Mary Shelley and the two poems by Langston Hughes, “Formula” and “Old Walt”.
In Frankenstein there are many themes that occur during the first half
of the novel. However, the most
relatable theme that might not be found as important is closeness and
connection to family. There are a few
examples that portray family. After
losing his mother, Victor loses all connection with his family. Perhaps losing someone so close to him was
too much to handle while being surrounded by people who cared about him. He resorted to being completely devoted to
his schoolwork. This forced him to push
his loved ones out of his head and forget about them. It was not until another loss in the family,
the death of his brother, did he venture back to his roots. At this time he decided to abandon his
studies and go home, realizing how important being with family is. Frankenstein
relates to Dr. Wells’ ideas because he comes to realize that being with others
is the most important thing. Dr. Wells emphasized
that being with others is a more profound way of service.
In the poem “Formula” by Langston
Hughes the main theme is one of sadness and pain. The speaker says that poetry is not always
blissful, lively, and happy. It can also
be painful and full of sorrow. Poetry is
not meant to paint a picture of the perfect pain free world; it is suppose to
have real meaning and depth. The
feelings of pain and sadness relate to Dr. Wells’ way of thinking because he
specifically states that in these times of pain and sorrow being with those who
need you is the greatest service. People
need to feel supported during times of need, and Dr. Wells is in a way also
saying that life is not always happy, we need to support and be with each other
through the pain.
In the poem “Old Walt” by Langston
Hughes the theme is searching or longing.
The speaker is looking for adventure and excitement. The use of repetition portrays how
discovering something is the main idea that the speaker will not give up
on. The poem as a whole describes Walt
Whitman and how he acted and what he wanted out of life. This work relates to Dr. Wells’ thoughts
because it touches on the idea of service for others. Aside from being with others, service is
doing for others. This relates to doing
for others because discoveries and adventure are open to everyone. Experiences can be shared, and with that can
bring service opportunities for others.
Doing for others is also important because without for there cannot be a
with.
The literary works of Frankenstein, “Formula” and “Old Walt”
all have their own ways of connecting to service. Dr. Wells gave a wonderful presentation on
bringing service into your life without realizing it and the two different
words that truly describe service. Each
literary work brings service into a new light such as, family, pain, and
adventure. I am very involved with
service at home and I am a member of Operation SMILE and Relay for Life here at
Loyola. Service is a very important part
of life because it makes you feel like you made a difference every time. To think that being with others rather than
doing for them is of more importance was a little difficult to understand at
first. Once I thought about I realized
that its always what one does for others, its just knowing that someone is
there that gets them through anything. “Rethinking
Service” definitely made me literally rethink what service means in general and
to me.
No comments:
Post a Comment