Ignorance, Ignorance And Ignorance - 1136 Words

According to Mark Lilla’s â€Å"Ignorance and Bliss†, â€Å"The source of the proverb Ignorance is Bliss is a poem by the 18th century English poet Thomas Gray, who wrote in passing: â€Å"Where ignorance is bliss/ Tis folly to be wise† (Lilla). At the time the proverb was referring to the Enlightenment and Christianity’s glorification of blind faith, and its renunciation of both scientific reason and philosophical inquiry; however, today, it can be interpreted as whether or not man has the ability to maintain happiness in the midst of unhappiness. Is ignorance really bliss? Can it serve as a way to avoid anxieties, or would repression of issues only lead to more dissatisfaction? Webster’s dictionary defines ignorance as lack of knowledge, education, or awareness. However, it can also be seen as a refusal to acknowledge information. Bliss is defined as complete happiness. Does the idea of ignorance is bliss really hold true? Can happiness be a bypr oduct of a lack of knowledge and awareness, or the flat-out refusal to acknowledge? The people of Omelas seemed to have achieved that. The townspeople of Omelas live in a prosperous Utopian town where everyone is happy, but in order to maintain their way of life a child must be subjected to inhuman treatment and suffering, â€Å"They all know it is there, all the people of Omelas†¦[T]hey all understand that their happiness...depends wholly on this child’s abominable misery†(Le Guin).† How can they allow such atrocities to take place? Well, as MarkShow MoreRelatedIgnorance Is Not Innocence, But Sin, By Robert Browning1678 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"Ignorance is not innocence, but sin,† (Robert Browning). During the war, some people are clueless about what is going on or why it was happening. The Vietnam War is one of the best examples of people’s ignorance about why the United States was fighting Ho Chi Min as well as what started it. In war, death affects people in many ways. In The Things They Carried, Tim O’ Brien uses women to personify the innocence and ignorance that civilians had, because they did not experience war and how the soldiersRead More Ignorance Is Bliss in Flannery OConnors Good Country People1067 Words   |  5 PagesFlannery OConnors Good Country People has a steady demonstration of irony, much of it based on the title of the story. Ignorance is also a major issue in the work, both Ms. Freeman and Ms. Hopewell exhibit this clearly. However ironically, Hulga exhibits this with her knowledge. She takes pride in her own intellect and in her knowledge of existentialism. Hulgas existentialist ideas come crashing down because of her naà ¯vetà © and lack of dependence on others. Hulga believes she is self sustainedRead MoreAmerican Literature And Performance Art1099 Words   |  5 PagesWilma had not realized the extremity of the situation. It is possible that, due to her fear of the sexism and vi olence directed towards women, Wilma has inhibited herself from having this realization. It is said that ignorance is bliss, and it is possible she has chosen to live in ignorance in order to survive. It is hard to be affected by a crisis if you do not know it is there. Wilma’s fear comes to a climax when, in her first french class, she begins to daydream of the shooter, Marc Là ©pine, enteringRead MoreThe Chimney Sweeper Essay765 Words   |  4 PagesBlake’s use of colors and adjectives provides the reader contrast between innocence, freedom and death. William Blake puts all these factors together in his poem to show how devastating it can be to lose your innocence at such a young age, the ignorance of society towards child labour and how religion can sometimes be your only way to feel hope when times get hard. To start off, in the first stanza Blake’s use of onomatopoeia is quite effective on reflecting the devastation of the child beingRead MoreIgnorance Vs Ignorance1510 Words   |  7 Pagesinnocence is paired with ignorance, but there should be a divisible line between the two. Lacking knowledge on subjects that are erotic, inappropriate or unfavorable makes one innocent. It does not make them ignorant because they are still aware but choose not to speak on them. Ignorance can be the lack of knowledge on those matters as well, but has chosen to speak on them anyway. This is pernicious because it can strip innocence away. Innocence does not equal ignorance and being sheltered from theRead MoreScouts Childhood Simplicity in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird631 Words   |  3 Pagesunderstand and accept the world around you shall you lose that innocence. To lose this innocence is not a bad thing and it is more easily stated as losing your ignorance. Children are ignorant of what goes on around them and therefore live easily and happily within their own little sheltered bubble. Ignorance is bliss, and in this case ignorance is innocence. Would you give up your innocence to know more, but at the same time run the risk of being corrupt at the end? In this world, everyone does. Read MoreRacism, Ignorance, And Ignorance1464 Words   |  6 Pageson the planet. But for what reason? Because black people deserve it, because black people had it coming to them, or is it complete and utter ignorance. The most important theme in To Kill a Mockingbird is knowledge vs. ignorance. The definition of Ignorance is the lack of knowledge or awareness of something or someone. Bob Ewell is the definition of ignorance, he never thinks about what he does, he never takes the time to think about something before he does it, he never thinks about what he doesRead MoreThe Allegory Of The Cave1051 Words   |  5 PagesThe story touches on enlightenment, the overwhelming fear of the unknown, and if it is even possible to gain the knowledge that brings liberation. Throughout the story, the reader is essentially faced with the question of if knowledge is power, or ignorance is bliss. Plato’s â€Å"Parable of the Cave† begins by setting the scene of men dwelling in a cave since birth. These men have their necks and legs restrained, keeping their attention facing forward at all times. Throughout their lives, the cave dwellersRead MoreEssay on Kindred by Octavia E. Butler777 Words   |  4 Pagesconsiderable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.† It is inevitable to meet an ignorant person around each corner that one turns. It is up to the victim to either let the ignorant person corrupt him or to let the victim become smarter. One of America’s greatest activists, Martin Luther King, believed that â€Å"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.† With this in mind, â€Å"The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all†Read More Siddhartha Vs. A Dolls House Essay748 Words   |  3 Pageswhat she appears to be. The play greatly lets o ff the vibe of the saying, â€Å"ignorance is bliss.† I receive this vibe because Nora seemed mentally enslaved and totally ignorant to what was going on around her. Her father owned her and made her do everything he wanted, and now her husband is playing that role. Her whole life seems to be awful, but then the plot thickens, and Nora awakens from her everyday, coma of ignorance. Nora has morphed from a housewife into a liberated woman. These changes occur