P40. Kim Keunho (201200283, prose & paragraph, summer session)
Q1. What do you have trouble understanding?
Q2. What do you think of the old judge?
Q3. Do you admire the young wife?
Since I've covered all the three questions above in the class, I'm going to handle all of them in my writing as well. To tell my expression about the tale first, I think is somewhat weird because of problem-solution mismatch inherent in the story. I understand what the story tries to deliver; just like you need patience and bravery to pull out hair from the living beast, so is the marriage. However, I believe pulling off a bunch of hair from a lion and marital life is entirely different thing that cannot be compared at the same aspect. Indeed, it is true that the wife was required a great amount of bravery, smartness and patience to achieve what she wanted, but I think marriage is something more than that. In class, we figured out that numerous things make marital life unstable (e.g. personality difference, in-laws, family background, economic reasons, etc.). These are the factors that often, unable to solve merely by demonstrating fearlessness, endurance and cleverness. Therefore, I must say that I'm quite skeptical about the implication "pulling off lion hair" can give to "an Ethiopian couple's marriage".
Having stated that, I think the same logic can be applied to the old judge. He suggested a solution which is irrelevant to the problem that the young wife encountered. Furthermore, the task itself was highly risky in that it might have costed the woman's life. I don't know why he requested such an irrelevant and dangerous work… perhaps he had a belief in her ability to do so. However, apart from the result, I think that the old judge was really irresponsible, for not caring about the safety issue.
Last but not least, I'm going to discuss whether the young wife is worthy of admiration or not. Overall, I'd like to give a credit to the young woman because as a human being she showed us many valuable attitudes that is really hard for a human (especially a woman[1]) to show. She deserves respect because she acted smartly and bravely to improve her relationship with beloved husband. However, still for the aforementioned reason, I think she can be criticized as well; she didn't prioritize her safety at all either. If she was truly a rational subject, the woman should have realized the irrelevance of the given task and cared more about her own safety. If she gets hurt or killed while carrying out the mission, not only will her husband experience deep sorrow but also the marital life itself will demise.
Now, let me wrap up here. I think that the tale committed logical error (irrelevance) because it's sheer focus was delivering some lessons to listeners. Both the old judge and wife committed a critical mistake – ignoring safety issue – but even if it is so, I firmly believe that the young wife deserves to receive respects for showing us many virtues as a human being.
[1] Don't get me wrong… this has nothing to do with gender stereotype. It is reasonable to think that women would face more difficulty dealing with lion because of physical limit.
I haven't really thought about the questions in this perspective. However, I think your opinions are quite logical and make sense too and some may agree that a task given to the wife is irrational.
ReplyDeleteThis is just my question to you.
Suppose the task is unsuitable way, what is your solution to the woman's marital problem, is there any better solution you can think of?
Seong Ji Lee
Nope. I'm just complaining... I'd like to suggest some ideas like expertise consulting or something like that, but I don't think it might be applicable in old Ethiopian society. If I were the old judge, I would use more specific approach. First, I'll ask what is the exact problems and then move onto the solution :)
DeleteI agree that marriage is something more that puuling out a hair from a lion. However I still think there's a point. Even though the story is a fiction, it still teaches a lesson to readers. It makes us think what we have done to make relationship better. Still, I liked your point. Hard work on covering all three exercises.
ReplyDeleteP 40 question E.
ReplyDeleteMy apology for not posting it together. Sadly, I forgot to do so..
Q1. Which character, Esther or the Ethiopian wife, loves more deeply? Explain
In my opinion, Ethiopian wife loves more deeply. First, she attempted to solve her problem regarding marriage with her beloved husband, whereas Esther simply solved the inner conflict by killing the beloved one. If Esther truly loved him, she should have just let him go rather than silently intoxicating him to death. Second, the young wife demonstrated many noble virtues to carry out the given solution, just to fix problems in her marital life. She decided to sacrifice herself (in sake of her own safety)! I think that’s magnificent. However, the young aboriginal girl simply decided to kill the person she loved because she failed to endure a sense of betrayal and humiliation. In short, I firmly believe that it is the Ethiopian wife that gave more affairs to her lover. True love is about sacrificing oneself, not about eliminating the other person.
Q2. Do women love more strongly than men? Explain.
It’s really hard to answer… I strongly believe that it depends on individual cases or circumstances. I must say it’s impossible to give a generalized answer to this question. In the articles we read, there’s not much description about the men, thus we didn’t get much impression that men were active lovers. But judging from what I’ve witnessed in my life, men can love more strongly than women. I also admit that some other people will talk about exactly opposite situations. If we approach from biological ways, it’s safe to assume that women “love” more than men, though I think that’s somewhat ridiculous. On the other hand, in some novels or literatures men are described as a subject that give more love to women. In a nutshell, I think the answer to this question will surely vary depending on personal experiences and approaching methods.