January
2009
pg. 24-350
George Grey
“…To put meaning to one’s life may end in madness,
But life without meaning is the torture
Of restlessness and vague desire-
It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid…” pg. 30
George speaks of life without meaning and how although it is inevitable, it is also impossible to live through. He recalls different instances of his life where he was faced with a new emotion or a challenge and how he coward away from them. Yet all the while he was thinking about the meaning of his life. This was George’s problem. He thought too much about what he should do and what was coming ahead that he missed all the events in the present.
His metaphor of life and a boat is this. Destiny is not a set path in your future, but like the waves will set you on different courses and on different adventures. If you are on a boat in the middle of the sea you have no choice but to accept your surroundings and make the best of it. However in life you have the chance to walk blind eyed through them, and this is what George believed he did.
On George’s grave stone is a picture of a boat in a harbor. However he recognizes that this is not where he has ended up but that is the story of life itself. Perhaps if he was still living he would have accepted life the way it was and would have “rolled with the punches” destiny flew his way. George is telling the reader to not believe there is a set path in life and thus seize the opportunity if it arises.
This connects with the other books read in class in them, the characters are doing what George is saying. Ahab goes after the whale and Ishmael goes out to sea to have a change in life. Gatsby goes after the girl. Janie becomes a strong women as she follows her heart to different men and life styles. Even in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Ben does not let his odd life bring him down but instead he goes out and succeeds. All these characters live life in the moment rather than worrying about what is coming ahead. With this mindset, they all go after their American dream and fight for what they want rather than sit back and expect something to happen to them.
