MAN’S INHUMAN ITY TO MAN
Seek good and not evil, that you may live. – Amos 5:14
To prepare for a new job to teach World Literature, I reviewed masterpieces of renowned authors from all over the world — from classics to contemporary works. As I read one story after another, I recalled what my English professors pointed out as a recurring theme in literature: man’s inhumanity to man.
In Medeaby Euripides, Jason leaves Medea for Glauce, and in revenge, Medea kills her own two children with Jason and poisons Glauce. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, wanting to be king, Macbeth plots — and succeeds — to kill King Duncan. In Susan Glaspell’s Trifles,John oppresses his wife, Minnie, so she strangles him while he sleeps.
It is said that literature only mirrors real life. How true. I see this as I help choose stories for the front page of a tabloid as part of its editorial board. So day after day, I read about murder, robbery, incest, rape. This time, the stories are not fiction.
Yes, man’s inhumanity to man is as old as mankind. But hey, there’s still hope for man — if only we all put into practice Amos 5:14 and what the rest of the Bible teaches us. Cynthia Santiago (cusantiago@gmail.com)
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REFLECTION:
Seek to do good today.
Lord, protect me from the possession and oppression of the Evil One.
St. Elizabeth of Portugal, pray for us.
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