Portrait of the Artist As A Young Man

In light of the confusion and downright insanity of this novel, it took me until today to find how my question fit into Portrait. During discussion I realized that Stephen had finally learned to think and find his own ideas independently. We discussed this passage from Stephen's entries,

"Mother is putting my new secondhand clothes in order. She prays now, she says, that I may learn in my own life and away from home and friends what that heart is and what it feels."

It suddenly hit me that Stephen has learned to love himself. Love what he is, has learned and will become. Love what he believes, or lack there of. Humans are meant to love one and other, but it is not possible if you don't love yourself first. We are nothing without the gratification of ourselves. If we don’t love ourselves then we don’t even know where the limit ends on how much we can sacrifice. It is important that humans do not sacrifice their entire selves for the betterment of someone else. It is rare, especially at our age, that we will benefit from what was given up.

I am proud that Stephen decided that defy his own religion, it is a step even closer to knowing what he is about and loving the person he is. His heart told him that this God was not for him. Stephen is the only person who can truly find what his heart wants.

Playboy of the Western World

Playboy of the Western World stars Christy Mahon a man who has built himself up to be a person who he would like to truly be. After attempting to kill his father, he runs to a new town who worships him in a false reality that he is some kind of a hero. The entire village runs around pretending to “love” him and all the girls want to be his girlfriend. In the mean time, Christy is off reciting meaningless poetry to Peegen who thinks he is the greatest thing ever. The trouble with love is, that you can’t tell what is real and not. The people that you would think you could trust, are the ones that tend to be the first ones to back out when the going really gets tough. This play is a warning, beckoning people to question their love and those who are really worthy of it. So do we protect ourselves from all the people that potentially hurt us or take a risk and being completely humiliated?
It was just today that I had an in depth conversation with my friend whose parents divorced after thirty seven years. It makes me think, is there even a happily ever after? What if you get left thirty seven years into your marriage? What do you do now when you’re 50 years old? Life is nearly half way over and you can’t just take it back. Is it even worth the pain and hardship for a few years of content?

King Lear

King Lear is the man who is tragically flawed and whose ultimate destruction is lead by his eldest daughters. A family that should be held together by unconditional love is torn apart by the selflessness of Lear’s eldest daughters, Goneril and Regan. Shakespeare suggests at the beginning of his famous play that love cannot be expressed in plain words through the character Cordelia, Lear’s youngest daughter. The two older sisters that should be bounded together by sisterhood turn against one and other as well as their father. What does this say about love? The boundaries are eliminated when a character is forced to protect himself from the world, and even his own family. A person can only care for so long before deciding that a relationship is no longer healthy. When that time comes, it has to be decided whether it is worth the sacrifice of unhappiness, and to be a slave to the receiver. Shakespeare juxtaposes the healthy relationships of Edgar and Gloucester with Goneril and Lear, in order to show love versus a forced and fake connection. Is love worth the pain and disappointment?

What is love?

It’s my family, the people who are there for me in the thick and thin. My parents that give everything they couldn’t have, and sisters who only want to see success. Family is the backbone to me, the people who support me when my decisions are questionable, or help pick up the pieces of my life when a door finally shuts. They have been my foundation, the people who have taught me what it means to forgive, to make the best out of life and never regret the life I have been given. I have grown from their love and entered a new time in which I can too, love.



It’s my friends. I am nothing with out their constant energy that gets me through a long day. It’s our sleepless nights and endless adventures as well as our mishaps and troubles. We have formed bonds that create inseparable identities. They are my second half, and a big part of what makes me, me.

The dictionary says love is strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties or affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests. Humans are naturally driven by their own passion and feelings for another person, and it often comes with great sacrifice. The question is: Is love enough to keep people together? What are the boundaries between love and sacrifice?

In the Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex, Oedipus sacrifices his sight after discovering his sins out of love for his own children. His sacrifice shows his love for his children and a bond that cannot be broken between a family. Parents make great sacrifice when they have children, the love they carry is shown in all the

The character Lee in John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, sacrifices his dream of opening his own book store in order stay with the family he has served and grown to love. It is love that over comes us, and makes humans more susceptible to letting go of the aspects less important to life.


Because love is the most powerful emotion a person can have; it requires great strength to surrender yourself to another person. It calls for taking a chance and putting yourself out on the line without knowing how any given situation is going to turn out. Love is worth having in a world with so much hate and pain.