Truth Ideas Which Reflect Personal Belief

Truth: Ideas Which Reflect Personal Belief Essay, Research Paper

J. Douglas Boyd 11/4/99

Society, Literature, and Truth Period 5

Truth: Ideas Which Reflect Personal Belief

When a writer composes a piece of literature, his sole task should be to convey

the truth of the subject matter he is discussing, no matter what the medium of his writing

may be. A truthful idea for me is authenticated by my own, personal beliefs, but not one

idea can be truthful to all. Sophocles, George Orwell, Joseph Conrad, and W.H. Auden,

share what they believe to be truthful ideas with their audiences. Through a writers

ability to verbalize ideas, and with the use of their personal writing style, what is truthful

to that writer can be conveyed to that writers audience, it is up to the audience to decide

whether what the writer believes to be truthful is truthful to them.

Sophocles was a great teller of truth. This is shown to me in his plays Oedipus

and Antigone, Sophocles was able to put into words the true feelings of desperation

one may feel. Both Creon, from Antigone, and Oedipus were shown the truth of what

their lives have come to, for Creon, his poor judgment management led to the death of

some of his loved ones. Oedipus dealt with the horrid realization that his belief in the

idea that he was the controller of his own fate, was false, and that the oracle was correct.

Both of these tragic figures did not fully understand the drastic effects of what they had

brought upon themselves. I, at times, demonstrate some of Creon s poor judgment, and

lack of priority management. From what I accept as true from Sophocles tale, I learned

that I should think things through so as not to do anything that could later be detrimental.

Many people believe in fate, I personally do not, but I do believe in misery, and if

someone brings it upon themselves, they must deal with it accordingly, by whatever

means necessary. On occasion, I do some things that take less brain power than your

average bear, so to speak, and either bring myself to mild shame, or some other sort of

grief. Although I may not accept a main idea of Sophocles Oedipus Rex as truthful, I

do find that punishing myself can be more fruitful and result procuring than having

someone scoff in my face, or have someone else allot me a punishment.

George Orwell is another great writer who uses a unique style to show what he

believes as being truthful, and it just so happens that I agree with some of his truths. In

his short story, Shooting An Elephant, Orwell demonstrates the truth that, pardon my

French, the masses are asses, and the power of group pressure can be so overwhelming

it makes one exercise acts they would normally disapprove of. It is clear to see that

Orwell objects to killing the elephant, and he has reasons as to why the elephant should

not be killed. He reasons with himself, and the pressure of the natives causes him to act

restlessly, and kill the elephant. This killing could have avoided completely, had the

element of peer pressure been removed. I know that when I am given time, reasonable

cause to act or not act, and little outside pressure, I tend to act as wisely as I am able to.

When I am influenced by outside forces, I tend to act recklessly, and self preservation

takes a back-seat to doing what everyone expects of me, to act like an immature

seventeen year old male. In another example of Orwell s writing, Politics and the

English Language, he illustrates what I believe is going to lead to the downfall of

literature and all writing in general. It seems as though he poking fun at snotty professors

and politicians who use tremendous words to explain even the most trivial ideas, many of

these people incorporate several adjectives and nouns, with one verb in a sixty-seven

syllable sentence, containing eight words. So many, too many, politicians, professors,

and self righteous people with expanded vocabularies tend to commit these acts, and will

make our language quite pathetic and unusable. It is my own belief that the English

language will soon accompany Latin and Sanskrit in the dead language category. I am in

full agreement with Orwell in the truth of this matter, and in all honesty I think it is a dire

matter, and should be corrected. With the use of the style lacking, overwhelming

sentences, no point is reached, an author of these types of ideas or writings arrives at

vague answers, and does not do any convincing except convincing me that they are a

walking, talking, excellent-at-memorizing, Thesaurus. I find that Orwell writes with