Moral Obligations: What Do We Have To Do?

No man is an island entire of itself; every man

is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe
is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as
well as any manner of thy friends or of thine
own were; any man's death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom

the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

This poem by John Donne has a lot of connections to the heroes that we've learned about so far in Humanities. First off, I'd like to share my interpretation of this poem. I think that the author wants to speak out and say that we humans must step out as one and help this world unite.

First off, I'd like to connect this poem to Aung San Suu Kyi. She is a solid demonstration of the essence of this poem; no man should EVER be isolated, left by themselves to cope with their problems. Aung San Suu Kyi pulled all the little islands in Burma, to join her noble mainland. In Burma, this is exactly what happened. Citizens are being treated unjustly by the junta, unable to get running water & electricity. This is also where the Thxa Soa hip-hop group plays in. They are writing call-and-response songs that encourage the citizens of run-down Burma to stay confident and convince the government to give them more freedom. But the problem is, if one of the songs has something the junta doesn't like, it is immediately censored. Here is where the Burmese come together to be ' A part of the main.'

Aung San Suu Kyi could have been safe. She could've chosen to be with her family; they would've been together, through and through. But the choice she did make was an impact on everyone, including herself. This reasoning was only for her country, to show them that she cared. I mean, she was an Oxford graduate with two young sons. She had the choice to stay and watch from the sidelines, but, as Aung San Suu Kyi, that is totally against her thoughts. She must go out there and fight for freedom. And fight she did.

The poem, 'No Man is an Island', emphasizes the idea of unity amongst humans. This is the opposite idea of the book, 'The Island' by Armin Greder. When a vulnerable stranger washes up onto shore of an island, life becomes problematic for the people. They think the man is savage, there to destroy the land. All he wants is food. Only one man decidedly says that they should help him, but all refused. He is held prisoner. This is where the people of the town are pushing that 'island' out of their mainland, basically annexing a new discovery.

In the short story, 'The Blokes' by Alan Gibbons, there is a lot of connections toward the isolation of an island and the comfort of a mainland. It starts with the crude mainland, the blackmailing Blokes. The rest of the school are individual island, floating about. But then comes Hashim, the boy who is willing to stand up for himself, as an island, accepting anyone who wants to become part of his mainland. Here is where John joins in to make them both, what I call, the Dynamic Duo. They stick together and fend off all sneering comments and threats from the Blokes. Until, a threat so harsh that John is forced to 'ruin' his friendship. But Hashim stand with his chin up. He knows how to fix things up and bounce back in revolt. Here is where the Blokes become an unwanted island and Hashim's mainland becomes popular.

'Any man's death diminishes me.' That line in the poem has a distinct meaning. It basically says that if you take one log out of a dam, it is still standing. But, there is weakness in the dam now. As more and more logs and twigs get taken out, the dam will eventually collapse. This is like the chain of humanity. We are all interconnected in one way or another, just like Matt Harding. When he dances, people join in, just to enjoy and lighten up.

All in all, our moral duty is to just be ourselves, but remember that we are all connected nevertheless. We should all be cautious in major decisions but we should always, always strive to be a part of the main.

I chose this picture, taken by Michael Gurrey from National Geographic. These houses in the Netherlands are all connected. Somehow, this seems to relate to the poem, showing that we are all connected.