Response Paper #3 The Play of Life (Warning: May contain uber metaphore)
Posted by Andrew on September 26, 2007
Andrew Manning
Matt Thomas
Language Arts 11
September 23, 2007
The Play of Life
Values, oh Values, What art thou values? Ah yes, the play of life is formed by our personal values. Our values form the base of the acts, create the boundaries of each scene, and manage the reaction of every character. In this response paper, I will explore the power of values, and unravel the secrets to its purpose in life.
Let us first ask ourselves: What would life be like without values? Maybe it would be fun, carefree, and full of peace & harmony without values holding us back; or maybe full of war, conflict, and drama with no values to keep us in line. Lets us use “the director of life” as a metaphor for Values. The director of life makes sure everyone is doing what they supposed to be doing. If there was no director, what happens to everything? The answer to that is anything. Anything can happen. Everything would be completely random and scattered without Mr. Values to keep everything squeaky clean.
The next thing we must ask is, “What is the limit of the power of values?” The answer to that lies within our souls. And the answer is Free Will. While values do influence our free will, free will can step in front of our values and take control. It is like the actor in the play taking his roll a step further, past the bounds that the director set, to give an outstanding effect on the audience. For example, one time in my life, I got into a conflict. The guy I was conflicting with wanted to fight, but my one of my values then was to be pacifistic. But I hated this guy, I really did. And I wanted to show him that I wasn’t afraid of him. So I punched him, ignoring my pacifistic value.
Now that we have looked at both ends of the spectrum, we now have a clue to what purpose values hold in the play of life. We know now that values keep everything in order, while still allowing us to have momentary potential to any situation. The purpose for the existence of values is: To keep everything balanced and structured. Some of you may disagree due to the fact that some conflicting values have caused arguments and wars. But the conflicting is what is keeping the balance, and it is our free will that cause the wars. So, in this play of life, keep your values while respecting other’s values, and don’t let your big ego attempt to control the stage.
