Monday, February 9, 2009

Wordsworth's view of life

I really enjoy the writings of Wordsworth because of his perception of life and society. "Lines left upon a seat in a Yew-tree" demonstrates the folly of pride and the importance of humility, while Harry Gill gets exactly what he deserves. "Simon Lee" illustrates the importance of good deeds and their effect on others, and "We are Seven" demonstrates perfectly the innocent understanding of a child compared to the jaded ideas of an adult. "Seven" and "Yew-tree" both seem to share Blake's idea that the perception of the young is the most pure. "Seven" shows a young girl's keen insistence that her two dead siblings still count as part of her family, while an adult tries to tell her otherwise. She refuses to acquiesce, because she still plays on their graves and interacts with them. The man in "Yew-tree" begins his journey innocent and idealistic, but as he becomes experienced his idealism turns to the cement of pride and contempt for his fellow man. He is so convinced that his notions are better that he becomes isolated. In his isolation, he cannot carry out his ideas at all, and sits idly by as his life slips into oblivion.
This man reminds me of an ongoing discussion with my father about the splintering of the Left. I am a die-hard lefty, especially concerning the environment. However, I was recently struck by what I feel is the proliferation of elitist, bourgeois terms in the movement. A simple word no longer will suffice to describe an action; a five-word phrase with 3 syllable words, ending in "Justice" is absolutely necessary. I'm not talking about the eloquence of our newly elected president, I'm talking about the mission statements of the myriad of lefty groups. I feel this is alienating people and also making an anti-elitist movement elitist. The other problem is the sheer number of Leftist groups. Like the man who isolates himself and therefore can't accomplish anything, the Left becomes so splintered that it starts to lose the ability to do anything. Eco-feminism is an example of both of these problems. I'm an environmentalist; I'm a feminist. I don't feel like I need a whole new label to identify myself and to splinter off from both of these movements; although, what an awesome, insider, elite label it is! It may seem like a combination of ideas, but combinations have to be made from beginning wholes, which end up fractured in the process. Something about eggs and omelets, I think....

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