k, let me start by saying i feel like shit right now, and writing a coherent essay is barely within my grasp.
does this make sense? nevermind the fact that the first 3 paragraphs absolutely suck balls.
In today’s radically different, ever changing age, very few things continue to withstand the test of time. Of these few, none have stood as strongly or as perfectly as Henry David Thoreau’s famed metaphoric aphorism, “Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.” This message is one that still rings true today, regardless of the changes of our world.
Thoreau’s message accurately describes the actions that define us, the choices and decisions we make daily. When applied to a certain situation, the message is broadcast loud and clear. If one were to apply the aphorism to monetary concerns, he’d see that Thoreau was correct. Rather than fishing for money, the man is attempting to catch the means to support those who are dear to him.
As well, the metaphor can be wrapped around the struggles of love and still hold true. In this case, a man may believe that he’s fishing for the perfect wife, when in all actuality he’s looking for the perfect life of love and happiness. Or, he may be fishing and not realize that the eel or squid or lobster he just caught is just as life sustaining as that fish he originally sought.
Thoreau’s aphorism does not have to deal with the struggles of life alone, however. It can be applied to the less complicated dilemmas, like which flavor of ice cream one should purchase. In this case, the would-be ice cream eater would discover a tasty pie and decide to eat it instead, although for this he would have to fully understand the aphorism.
In my personal experience, however, Thoreau’s quote is best applied to those complicated, difficult situations, such as school and education. We spend hours and hours toiling away like slaves over our education, hoping and struggling and fighting for that top grade and the chance to go to college. In reality, however, what we are attempting to achieve is not a grade, but bigger. Its bigger than school, its bigger than our future career. No, what we are attempting to achieve with all of our hard work is the guaranteed security of our future happiness. In this case, we strangle our belief of fishing for fish, when in reality our vice grip should be placed around something much bigger.
Or, if one prefers, it could be applied to the concept of friendship. As we move through life, friends are made, friends are lost. It so happens that for each friend we lose, we tend to make another. As such, we are, in essence, fishing for friends. These friends represent the fish and it is in fact not friends we fish for, but who we will become years from now. Each friend we gain, each one we lose, molds and shapes our very being into a new person, a new player in the game of life. This is the bigger something we’re after, the very essence of Thoreau’s message.
Although Thoreau’s quote stands up to the most grueling tests of time in most cases, it occasionally falls short. In fact, one needs only to look towards the humble homemaker to discern this. As the basis of Thoreau’s proverb is as such, the homemaker defies any and all logical reasoning’s based off of it. The homemaker is fishing for one idea among many, one often taken for granted: a strong, safe, comfortable living environment for himself and those he loves. As such, it can be argued that among other things, Thoreau’s quote can not be looked upon as a failsafe. Rather, it must be viewed as simply human, as, like the man who birthed it, it has shortcomings.
Despite these shortcomings, for one to simply shrug his shoulders and reject it as fallacy would be paramount to dismissing the holocaust. The aphorism is a window through which one can glimpse what defines man as man. As many spend their entire lifetimes searching for this definition, to tear it asunder and discard it can be described only as ludicrous.
Although it is arguable that Thoreau’s aphorism has no real meaning in a society void of morals and true, defined goals, reality states otherwise. It is in this situation that the quote is most at home, for it is these shallow goals that become fish, and the deeper, defined goals that men find themselves truly going after.
In life, we face choices, and we create and nurture goals based off of these choices. Thoreau’s aphorism directly describes the situations in which we find ourselves daily, in which we see our fish morph into lobsters, which we can then raise and nurture until the time is ripe.
does this make sense? nevermind the fact that the first 3 paragraphs absolutely suck balls.
In today’s radically different, ever changing age, very few things continue to withstand the test of time. Of these few, none have stood as strongly or as perfectly as Henry David Thoreau’s famed metaphoric aphorism, “Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.” This message is one that still rings true today, regardless of the changes of our world.
Thoreau’s message accurately describes the actions that define us, the choices and decisions we make daily. When applied to a certain situation, the message is broadcast loud and clear. If one were to apply the aphorism to monetary concerns, he’d see that Thoreau was correct. Rather than fishing for money, the man is attempting to catch the means to support those who are dear to him.
As well, the metaphor can be wrapped around the struggles of love and still hold true. In this case, a man may believe that he’s fishing for the perfect wife, when in all actuality he’s looking for the perfect life of love and happiness. Or, he may be fishing and not realize that the eel or squid or lobster he just caught is just as life sustaining as that fish he originally sought.
Thoreau’s aphorism does not have to deal with the struggles of life alone, however. It can be applied to the less complicated dilemmas, like which flavor of ice cream one should purchase. In this case, the would-be ice cream eater would discover a tasty pie and decide to eat it instead, although for this he would have to fully understand the aphorism.
In my personal experience, however, Thoreau’s quote is best applied to those complicated, difficult situations, such as school and education. We spend hours and hours toiling away like slaves over our education, hoping and struggling and fighting for that top grade and the chance to go to college. In reality, however, what we are attempting to achieve is not a grade, but bigger. Its bigger than school, its bigger than our future career. No, what we are attempting to achieve with all of our hard work is the guaranteed security of our future happiness. In this case, we strangle our belief of fishing for fish, when in reality our vice grip should be placed around something much bigger.
Or, if one prefers, it could be applied to the concept of friendship. As we move through life, friends are made, friends are lost. It so happens that for each friend we lose, we tend to make another. As such, we are, in essence, fishing for friends. These friends represent the fish and it is in fact not friends we fish for, but who we will become years from now. Each friend we gain, each one we lose, molds and shapes our very being into a new person, a new player in the game of life. This is the bigger something we’re after, the very essence of Thoreau’s message.
Although Thoreau’s quote stands up to the most grueling tests of time in most cases, it occasionally falls short. In fact, one needs only to look towards the humble homemaker to discern this. As the basis of Thoreau’s proverb is as such, the homemaker defies any and all logical reasoning’s based off of it. The homemaker is fishing for one idea among many, one often taken for granted: a strong, safe, comfortable living environment for himself and those he loves. As such, it can be argued that among other things, Thoreau’s quote can not be looked upon as a failsafe. Rather, it must be viewed as simply human, as, like the man who birthed it, it has shortcomings.
Despite these shortcomings, for one to simply shrug his shoulders and reject it as fallacy would be paramount to dismissing the holocaust. The aphorism is a window through which one can glimpse what defines man as man. As many spend their entire lifetimes searching for this definition, to tear it asunder and discard it can be described only as ludicrous.
Although it is arguable that Thoreau’s aphorism has no real meaning in a society void of morals and true, defined goals, reality states otherwise. It is in this situation that the quote is most at home, for it is these shallow goals that become fish, and the deeper, defined goals that men find themselves truly going after.
In life, we face choices, and we create and nurture goals based off of these choices. Thoreau’s aphorism directly describes the situations in which we find ourselves daily, in which we see our fish morph into lobsters, which we can then raise and nurture until the time is ripe.