if there's a prize for rotten judgement, i guess i've already won that

Post 25, 26 CONSOLIDATED :: SAT essay :: Bel and the Serpent Infinity


I


Another SAT practice essay on, of all things to write about, "practical" skills.

This question is a difficult one to answer. For one, the concept of "too much" can mean different things to different people. How much is too much? People working different jobs in different fields and situations will have very different answers.

There are too many variables involved in this question. The concept of "too much," as mentioned above, is one. Another problem involves the quote. When the quote mentions "how to live a good life," whose "good life" is it talking about? For some, making a good living can constitute a good life. Having the money to live in a house and send one's kids to school can constitute a good life. This quote seems to put so clear a barrier between the ideas of a "good living" and a "good life," but there is no distinction so clear.

This can be argued, however. The emphasis on practical skills that emerges early on in our lives in the form of mandatory school attendance could be one of the reasons what constitutes our idea of "a good life" involves a good living. If we had not learned from an early age that our lives depend on money and the practical skills needed to bring in that money, would our ideas be different? Perhaps there would be a clearer distinction between a focus on making a good living and living a "good life."

Another problem with the quote lies in that same line, which speaks about living a good life. How would one teach another about how to live "a good life"? If everyone has a different idea of what constitues a good life, would not one man trying to teach many others "how to live a good life" turn into a telling of exploits and one's own experiences only? I believe you cannot teach someone how to live their life. They must learn on their own; the words of others are flimsy barriers, and what may have been a bad experience for one may be an excellent experience for another. In this case, practical skills would be the "happy medium" of sorts. In this practical world, one needs at least a few practical skills to survive. If one is taught practical skills, it serves as a foundation. They will be able to apply themselves with those skills, finding ways to live their own lives.

Going back to the idea of a "practical world," although there is the ideal, "I shouldn't have to conform to society's wishes" way of thinking, that thought is not entirely true. If one is impoverished and at the bottom of the social ladder, living in unsanitary conditions and lacking education of any kind, one will almost certainly be unhappy; however, perhaps that assumption is a direct result of my own upbringing, attending a school that teaches practical skills among other things.

In other words, an answer to this question could be: "No, because practical skills are necessary to survive in a world like ours, which is focused on money, practicality, and results." Yet, another answer could be: "Yes, because in learning and putting too much emphasis on practicality, we limit our creativity and imagination. We begin to lose the want to go farther -- the ability to reach farther than our original goal. When practical skills are overemphasized, we begin to think that getting to the finish line is enough. We no longer see a need to keep running." It simply depends on who answers the question and what the person's idea of "a good life" is.


II


"Always the Analyst"

Nathan:

In Bel and the Serpent, we see Nathan finally crack. The people of the village decide to take a vote on whether or not to keep his ideas of God, and in response, he "pointed his finger like a gun at Tata Ndu, then swung it around to accuse the whole congregation" (332). Funny that this should involve any sort of accusation at all. His outburst is (maybe) intended to sway their judgements back to the worship of God, either by guilt or by realization, but instead, he reaps the opposite; the Congolese choose to abandon their "belief" in the white God.

From here on out, I think Nathan will continue to spiral, in his crazed obsession with bringing these people, who have never once needed to be saved, to salvation. He cannot seem to compromise, and that is his downfall. He believes that what is right or "good" for him is considered salvation for everyone around him, when all it really becomes is a cage, for himself and for his family.

Orleanna:

Also in Bel in the Serpent is the final turning point of this novel, in my opinion, for Orleanna's state of mind. After the death of Ruth May, Orleanna finally seems to realize something. Either that, or something within her is also taken by the death of her youngest daughter that allows her to see what she should have done a long time ago -- leave Nathan and begin her own life. In the beginning of Exodus, it is revealed that they, the remaining four women, leave Nathan Price behind at long last. I think Orleanna should have chosen to leave a long time ago, but I suppose she never actually thought to leave until something irreversible happened.

Leah:

It seems like, in Exodus, almost all of the girls' mindsets have begun to take downhill turns. Well, perhaps Leah may be an exception, although it seems like she's taking being unbiased a little bit too far; she now seems to be more biased against whites than anything. It also seems like she has more than a little bit of resentment towards her father and towards his religion -- his "God." She also says, "The children weren't paying much mind right then to my father or his bubbling spring of eternal life" (374). Leah was always the one who believed in her father the most -- she believed his teachings were right and holy. Now, she has become more like Adah in her mindset; somehow, her words seemed a little sarcastic in that quote. (Or it could have been simply my interpretation of them.)

I think one of the major influences on her state of mind is Anatole. Ever since the events of the night of the nsongonya in Judges, she has begun to distance herself, either consciously or unconsciously, from her family. She begins to associate herself more with the Congolese than she does with the whites.