A Waif In The Wind Of Obsessive

A Waif In The Wind Of Obsessive Corruption Essay, Research Paper A Waif in the Wind of Obsessive Corruption! A professor once asked me to write an essay on what I thought was the philosophy of life. Assuming money was no object, and society permitted it, what would I consider my garden? Not giving it much thought, I threw together what I thought would suffice. Later, upon giving it considerable thought, I realized I truly had no opinion on the subject. My mother once told me that the meaning of life was in fact, life itself. She said that the ability to live and make our own destinies come true was the real reason behind our existence. However, society plays a large part in what we consider an ideal life. As children, we?re taught to conform, strive for superiority, and

achieve overall success. As adults we?re conditioned into believing that a rejection of these values is a waste of human life. In some instances a rejection of these values is due to the anxiety associated with compliance. Society can be, and is, corrupt in many different ways. Within our lives we are subject, but not limited to, corruptions within religion, corruptions of morals, and corruption within the government. Voltaire, the author of Candide, and Robert Zemeckis, the director of ?Forrest Gump?, both use grotesquely na?ve protagonists to illustrate their view of the world in which they live. Nevertheless, Candide and Forrest, surrounded by a corrupt society, and bombarded by various character defining events, are able to come to a higher understanding as to their

philosophy of life. Candide, by Voltaire, is a story about an optimistic young man who encounters various misfortunes on his search for an ideal world. Having unfortunately been kicked out of his home for the love of Lady Cunegonde, Candide suffers through many natural and unnatural catastrophes during his travels. However, holding on to his claim that all is for the best, Candide travels the world abroad with a totally na?ve attitude. Constantly being reunited with many of his peers, Candide suffers the cruelty of the Bulgar army, a tempest, a shipwreck, an earthquake, and an auto da fe?. Candide?s optimism, stemming from his tutor Dr. Pangloss, keeps him totally determined to find his lost love, Lady Cunegonde, and an ideal world. However, Voltaire takes Candide around the

world to discover that, contrary to the teachings of his distinguished tutor Dr. Pangloss, all is not always for the best. Likewise a na?f is the main character of ?Forrest Gump? by Robert Zemeckis, which spans a period of three decades centered around a growing boy with a low IQ. Forrest manages to play an important role in every major historic postwar event except the moonwalk. As the object of abuse by local bullies, Forrest discovers his one talent: running. He becomes an All-American, is present during the integration of his college, and is sent to Vietnam after being drafted into the army. Later, Forrest receives the Medal of Honor, is present during the anti-war movement, plays a crucial role in Watergate, and finally becomes a multi-million dollar business tycoon. Through

all of this, Forrest holds one thing true in his mind: Jenny. Jenny is his first and only love. Next to his mother, she?s the most important thing in his life, and the only thing he really wants. Yet, despite constant disappointments concerning Jenny, Forrest maintains his sweet-tempered, innocently na?ve philosophy of life. Now that I am able to discern my own philosophy of life, I?ve come to two conclusions. The first is that life is entirely personal. It?s your life and entirely up to you to determine whether or not you want something from it. The second is that society can be very cruel. Society places norms and standards on what it feels an ideal life consists of, all the while corrupting a person in every way possible. However, an individual has to either be na?ve, or