Human Life: A Cycle?

I do not believe that human life is like a cycle. We are faced with new experiences everyday. These small everyday things contribute to our growth as a whole.  I think human life is more like a mountain climb. When we are young, we are climbing up the hill. We get grow and get stronger each day. There may be obstacles on our road to the top of the mountain, but once we overcome them, we are one step closer in reaching the top. This is just like our life. There are just some times in our life that we will face difficulties and have a hard time moving forward, however, if we keep at what we do, the challenges will eventually pass. I believe we get to the top of that mountain at in our 20s and 30s. This is when out body is the strongest. This is also the point when most people begin a new life as an individual and not under the care of their parents. After we pass the peak, it gets to the downhill. Our body functions may weaken. We become more likely to forget things. By the end of the mountain climb, life ends. We have left a trail on the life mountain we climbed. After that, it is time to take a rest.

Natural Cycles

One year. Four Seasons. Twelve Months. 365 Days. 52 weeks. Sunrise. Sunset. Nature goes in cycles of repeated patterns. Although time never stops, time frames are grouped into cycles of similar pattern. The living and death of organisms can be seen as a cycle as a whole. An animal is born. It grows and reproduces, creating new life, then is dies. Some species may become extinct. Although that is the end of the cycle for that specific species, it does not end the cycle as a whole. New species can be developed, which starts a whole new cycle.

The recurring cycles of life and death will always be there. Nothing can last forever except for time. Time will continue on as cycles are repeated and as the world change. If something happens to exist forever, cycles will be disrupted. In this way, the cycles of life and death actually brings order to the world. The existence of these cycles does not disturb me. Knowing that nothing will last forever only shows how tiny we are to the world, the universe and time. Although some people may think that we have conquered nature in our current technologically advanced state, nature is so great that it can never be conquered. Who knows? The era of our species might be coming to an end!

A Realistic View of Life

As we get older, our view towards to would and our future changes. It becomes less idealistic and most often, less colorful and happy. When we grow older, we learn to face the many difficulties of real life. I learn to come on concept with real problems that we have to resolve in order to go on. 
In the past, I thought of my future as full of possibilities. I could be anyone I wanted. When I am watching TV or a performance, I imagine myself as a performer or and dancer. When I go to the doctors and see how they can heal others, I see myself growing up as a doctor. Other times, I would want to be an artist because I like to draw and to create things. For me, the hard part in coming into realistic terms is the choosing. I have to choose one specific career and one specific future. I cannot be an actor or a doctor or an artist whenever I felt like it. I can only choose one.
There are also a lot more life lessons that I have learned that have changed me. I now know that  the intensions of people are not always just to make the world a better place. There are complicated things like jealousy, selfishness, and many others that does not make everyone angelic figures that only wish to do good.

Comparing Characters

In the Rad Badge of Courage, two of Henry's friend seems to argue pretty often. The reason for this is that these two characters are pretty different people. Jim, or the tall soldier is the more modest and honest type. He wouldn't say things that he doesn't believe in. Wilson, a character that changes throughout the story, started out as a loud and overly confident person. When Jim announces that they were going to go to a battle the next day, Wilson did not believe him. He argues that they were told to prepare to fight for many times, but they have not been to a single battle. Jim, however, strongly believe in what he heard because he thinks the sources were trustworthy. 
Another difference between the two characters is their attitudes towards war before the battle. When asked if he might run from a battle Jim, the more down to earth of the two, said "if a whole lot of boys started and run, why I s'pose I'd start and run... But if everybody was a-standing and a-fighting, why, I'd stand and fight." Wilson, on the other hand said, "I s'pose I'll do well as the rest. I'm going to try like thunder" and laughed at the idea of running away from battle. From what they say, it is evident that Wilson is more sure of himself than Jim.

Henry's Relationship

Jim Conklin, or the tall soldier, was Henry’s childhood friend that came to war with him. He is in the same regiment as Henry. Although he dies early on in the story, Jim taught Henry several things. Jim comforts Henry when he replied honestly to Henry’s question: when asked whether he would run away if most of the soldiers were retreating, he honestly replied that he would do the same. However, he id his best and was very brave when fighting his first and last battle. By the end of the battle, he was wounded badly and died. In these ways, Jim Conklin represents the ideal soldier, brave and honest.

Wilson, also known as the loud solder, is full of confidence. He is loud and argumentative and speaks out about whatever he believes in. Although he seemed really brave, he does show a sign of weakness and a fear of death right before the battle. He gave Henry a letter he wrote for his family is he was to die in the battle. He also shows that he cares about Henry and their friendship. He was worried and quickly yelled for assistance when Henry came back with a wound on his head.

The tattered solder is a good-natured man that annoys Henry with his questions. The only reason why his questions annoy Henry is because Henry feels guilty. He tries to be nice and start conversation, but Henry takes it the wrong way because he ran away from the battle.

Conscience

Conscious is that voice inside you that tells you what is right and what is wrong. For example, when you are young and you go to your friend’s house. You see your friend’s doll or robot lying here on the floor. You really like it, but you don’t take it. What is stopping you? Yes, it is conscience that stops you. You might say that it is only because you don’t want to get in trouble, but deep down inside it is because we can tell what is morally right from wrong.

 Lets say that you actually did steal the toy and manage to get away with it from being caught. You will never feel right when you play with the doll. There will be this voice that reminds you that the toy is not yours. Even if it is the best toy in the world, it will loose its fun. Eventually, you would want to return the toy. This is all caused by the guilt you feel, and the guilt is caused by the conscience in you.

In the Red Badge of Courage, Henry struggles with his conscience because he did not stay and fight the battle. He tried hard to convince himself that what he did was right, but he is still worried and uncomfortable. What is the need to convince himself? If he truly believed that what he did was right, he would feel good in what he did. All of this comes down in conscience.

The Dark Side

The Dark Romanticism came out of romanticism and transcendentalism. Many thought of dark romanticism as the opposite of transcendentalism but in fact, they have the same basic ideas. Both ideas values expression of strong emotion and imagination. The difference is that they focus on different aspects of emotion and imagination. Romanticism and transcendentalism are a lot more optimistic. They are about the positive things in life, like the innocence and heroic characteristics of people and the beauty of nature.  The transcendentalists talk about achieving the human perfection. Dark romantics have a more negative view towards the world. Their works focus on the conflict between good and evil, effects of guilt and sin, the destructive underside of appearances and even madness. Some of the leading dark romantic writers are Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Herman Melville. In Nathaniel Hawthorn's famous novel, the Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale suffers from sin and his own guilt. He is a minister and tortures himself for his secret sin. Many of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories are also really dark. Many of his stories talk about mad people or describing people that are about to get killed. I think the scariest part of his stories is the anxiousness and fearful tone. To me, dark romanticism is just like scary stories but at a deeper and more thoughtful level.