Hidden Truths

I re-read Mary Shelly's Frankestein this week. It has been about a decade since I read it last. While I remembered the happeinings of the story, I was surprised by how much I had seemingly missed the first go round. All of the underlying messages laced throughout the characters and the undfolding plot. Where it initially gave me a decent couple of hours of entertainment-- a deeper look at the story I had seen rendered and rerendered so many times-- this time provided a scource of self assesment.

The idea of questioning what makes us human, and who would win in a battle of Nurture versus Nature?

I learned a great deal more about the story and my own opinions by re-reading the book. Something I think it is important to note. IF we go through life only giving these things a preliminary glance before moving on, we loose so much. Why read a book again? Because there is so much more waiting underneath the surface that can't be seen when you're wrapped up in plot and climax.

When you know what is going to happen, you can see the purpose of everything so much more clearly. If only we could use this trick in real life.

A Fearless Endeavor and the Importance of Offense

"Better murder an infant in its cradle than nurse an unacted desire." -- William Blake

I think this sums up his blunt, unhindered desire for truth, perfectly. His shocking observations are what delivers the meaning of his message. He could just as easliy have said: To ignore one's desires is to kill the life that desired it. But the message comes across with the jolt it needs to reach the soul of the complacent. Something I think he strives to do over and over. Because it is those that have lost the ability to see-- have become too lost in the beat of the drum to hear-- that need to be jarred. 

 I love this about Blake.  He has no fear when it comes to expressing his truth. And that's the purpose of a poet, isn't it? To find the truth of the world and tell it through the filter of their vision so that we can capture the essence. To be fearless in observation and expression.

Love it. Love it. Love it.