English Essay

Discovery is a complex ongoing process, hard to foresee and leading to unexpected outcomes.  This idea is certainly apparent in Frost’s poem “Mending Wall” where the speaker gains new spiritual and philosophical insight, only choosing not to act upon it. Similarly Frost addresses like concepts in his poem “Home Burial” where the narrator discovers the way in which death can lead to unexpected and unpredictable outcomes. A more confronting unforseen discovery is presented in “The Communist Manifesto” by Karl Marks, which demonstrates the liberating possibilities of the discovery of a new political concept. Further still, Unbroken’ by Laura Hillenbrand undertakes the unpredictable discovery of the ongoing cruelty of humanity. Ultimately, each text demonstrates how the process of discovery is unpredictable, and ongoing in its methods, leading to unforseen outcomes. 

Discovery acts in ongoing unpredictable methods, often previously not considered, allowing for the development of one’s emotional and spiritual character with unforseen outcomes. Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall” enables the reader to understand the negative ramifications of the ongoing emotional barriers Using nature as a vehicle for understanding, the pragmatic farmer and the persona are brought together in the repairing of the wall. As outlined in the line “Good fences make good neighbours”, the wall whilst physical in nature is a metaphor for human separation and isolation.. Through this metaphor, he prompts the reader to gain a unexpected renewed perspective as part of a ongoing transformative discovery, where traditions of past are questioned for their necessity as neither men know what “[they are] walling in or walling out”. The unforseen discovery of the wall, prompted by curiosity and speculative reflection leads to the transmogrifying discovery made by the reader. Frost creates conflict through the symbolic reluctance of the neighbour to discover a deeper connection “We keep the wall between us”. In doing so, Frost encourages the reader to consider opposing opinions about how one should deal with confronting discoveries and thus lead to new unforseen outcomes.

Through the affirmation and questioning of ones personal comforts, discoveries allow for unpredictable outcomes to be made.  This is apparent in Frost’s dramatic narrative “Mending Wall” which encompasses the discovery of the wall’s destroyer, ending in the meditation of the value of tradition and boundaries. In a similar way, ‘The Communist Manifesto” by Karl Marx explores the boundaries and values of tradition whilst commenting on the archaic ‘wall’ of mankind, and its necessary destruction. Marx analyses the history of mankind, noting, “the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles”.  In this line of argument, Marx accentuates the ongoing evils perpetrated upon the working class, “ the proletariat” by the capitalist economic system, prompting the reader to challenge their own affirmed beliefs – and in turn discover a new way of life. Similar to Mending Wall, Marx’s extensive use of images and metaphors engage the reader and prompt their continuous search for discovery. Marx employs the biological metaphor of metabolism “(Labour) is an eternal natural necessity which mediates the metabolism between man and nature, and therefore human life itself” to imply the intricate nature between life, and justice. The reader discerns a sense of awareness and transformation through the cathartic, liberating process of deliberate and careful planning, encouraging the responder to unforeseeably discover the unjust way that the western capitalist world was, and, to a lesser degree, still is run, thus illustrating the ongoing process of discovery.

Ascertaining that which is lost allows us to expand our horizons through the continuous process of discovery . Robert Frost’s “Home Burial” follows the fractured relationship of a couple, both of whom are unable to articulate their grief to each other after the death of their child. Through the symbolism of the stairs representing a gap between the two characters, Frost creates a sense of division between the marital couple that ultimately leads to the unexpected discovery of what has divided them, prompting the reader to uncover the unexpected existential reality that we are all alone. Through the approach of pure speech “I do not think, though, you overdo it a little” Frost creates an aura of normality, which entices the reader to consider the situation of the husband. By demonstrating the different methods of grieving, Frost foreshadows the inevitable failure of the relationship with regard to empathy and communication, thus proving its continuing effect. The use of morbid tone  “No, from the time one is sick to death, one is alone, and he dies more alone” conveys to the reader that not all discoveries are positive, though all discoveries contribute to our affirmations about self and humanity as a whole and thus, whilst unpredictable are ongoing.

Frost discovers the complicated destruction of human relations, and to an extent the continuous failure of kindness and humanity in his poem “Home Burial”.  In a similar manner, ‘Unbroken’ by Laura Hillenbrand allows a certain ambiguity to be established contributing to the unpredictability of the discovery process. Unbroken follows an American POW in Japan, and the cruelty that he faces there under the hands of his fellow man. Hillenbrand uses extensive emotive language to enable the reader to discover man’s inner heart of darkness. In the line “This self-respect ands sense of self-worth… lies at the humanness; to be deprived of it is to be cleaved from, and cast below, mankind”, Hillenbrand asserts her proclamation in the demise of humanity by equating syntactically the loss of compassion by the Japanese prison guards.  In a dispassionate irony, Hillenbrand writes “this is the place of our extermination” aiding the reader in the discovery that the tie between death and life was so close that it was merely a statement of fact to say so, emotionlessly and more still, is ongoing. Furthermore, the simile “(he) stretches over the roof like a contented cat” allows the reader to contemplate and appreciate the passive way the Japanese prison guards adopted their role in torture of their fellow man. In doing so, Hillenbrand creates an atmosphere where the reader discovers the reality of the harshness of the human heart, as unpredictably as it occurred.