Anthology of Ideas

Swift was often criticized of misanthropy based on his satirical writings in “Gulliver’s Travels” and his other works. However Swift uses the his book Gulliver’s Travels as a way to make a mockery of what western society (particularly England) had become and to warn against excess of any one form of thought not to show a personal hatred of mankind. He uses allegory, satire and exaggeration to figuratively beat his point into his readers; humans in his mind were nowhere near what he thought they could be yet this does not mean he was misanthropic.

Throughout history people have wanted to say something profound, controversial, rebellious, to express themselves when the mainstream culture forbids it, or to just entertain the world. These people had one medium through all of it: plays, books, and stories are more than a way to pass on a good yarn; but a way to teach, to learn, to defend, or to rebel. Words can be stopped, people silenced, but as hard as they try it is impossible to keep the printed word from spreading in the face of adversity.

The short story characteristically focuses on a single incident, a bit of action that is usually dramatic and ends in some sort of revelation”a flash of irony, comprehension, or insight. What happens is crucial and pivotal to the story. Because of its length if the story is to make a strong impression on us, it will do so not merely through the intensity of its concentrated action but through the implications the event suggests.

For many years, the train and railroad was seen as a symbol of progress, not only in America but also in the entire world. For Henry David Thoreau this is not true, the train in his mind symbolized everything wrong with humanity: its greed, destructiveness, and its ignorance. He knew of and profited from the railroad’s good qualities, but hated and feared it for its bad. The railroad was a path to nowhere, a fiery and destructive beast, the end of agriculture and much more.

Philosophy is by definition any theory that can’t be proven scientifically. In La Rouchefoucauld’s case this is especially obvious as he attempted to explain in terms of philosophy the behavior of humans because there was at his time no way to prove them scientifically. He used a version of the scientific method to arrive at his final maxims and although he couldn’t prove it in doing so he stumbled on to some very scientific principles.

People have an illogical preoccupation with death, death frightens and intimidates, it is something to avoid in all forms and when faced with death turn aside and let it pass. This is also the cause of apathy with regards to the suffering of the dying. It is far more pleasant to think that Tolstoy’s characters were just unfeeling and unkind in general (which they were) than to consider the fact that an unfortunate majority of people behave the same way in similar situations.