Life is unexplainable. The philosophers and scientists have delved deep to understand the true meaning of life. The understanding of the meaning of life remains a mystery as yet. There have been so many attempts to seek the pathways that would direct an individual to learn more about life. The philosophers do say that there are two types of directions in life. There are good directions, and then there are bad directions. The places and time matter a lot when such directions have been met. The goal of this essay is to seek enlightenment that Life is a sea of misery, and sorrow gives sense to life.
Life is a sea of misery
Life becomes a misery afflicted with sorrowful events in places that are war struck. Vietnam too was no exception. With people fighting for their survival more so than for their countries. They fought. They resisted. They died. Their earthly bodies met with the earth in stark similarity to their umbilical cords being buried in the earth when born. Thus life is a cycle. It has everything to tell. The stories of sorrows and happiness continue to fold and unfold one after another, with uncertainty being the only certainty. The balance between sorrow and happiness keeps moving either way. War brings tales of innumerable sufferings; wounds, blood, death, refugees, homelessness, loneliness, food scarcity, diseases, environmental degradation, etc. In the story ‘Child of two worlds’, the protagonist remembers how his mother cannot forget anything about her past in Vietnam, though the family had moved to America as a refugee. The letters from the homeland continued to outpour the bitter memories of the past. (Bible.org)
The mother understands the truth and differences between the native and the adopted nation, but the child is in two worlds, one world depicts the outside and the other an inside world. There is a constant tussle between these two worlds, and in due course of time, it demarcates the meaningful states of sorrow and happiness. Being a war driven refugee in a foreign, initially lead to a lot of struggle for the family and the vivid images are still intact in the mother’s memory while the child does remember his past of helplessness but the land of hope, America has with time erased much of the grief. The story has a contrasting depiction of space, time, and inter-relations with life. The mother is so much attached to Vietnam, her ancestry, her customs, and more precisely, her home. The child is in awe of the American dream and happenings that have recreated the magic and brought back happiness in their lives. The child remembers the achievements in terms of the degrees that were earned in America. While the mother tries to set up a connection between the traditional past, the fascinating present, and a hopeful future; the son is in wonder to understand if this is present and we have a future, then why think of the grievous past.
Sorrow gives meaning to life
If an individual remains in the state of happiness forever, he may not experience the other side of life. The alternates of sorrow and happiness expose an individual to a distinct learning atmosphere. Sorrow adds meaning to life as one fights to survive a day, then another day, and so on. The fight continues till the individual either wins or loses the battle. Even in this story, the central character has put a lot of emphasis on how an individual, a family, or a population survives the sorrowful state of war and devastation. There is always hope for a future that is as bright as Sun. This element of hope is an essential ingredient to add continuous drive to life, especially when everything is out of order and randomized. The sorrow gives the experience to face the moments of truth far more easily than a happy state. The will to fight gathers momentum. The mother lives through the memories to seek strength to tackle problems that she or the family might face in the future. Our connections bring a sense of belongingness that proves useful at all times. (goldenrosycross.org.au)
The stories of a beautiful princess and the fisherman resulted in the fatal end of unrequited love, and other Vietnamese tales were told just to prepare the next generation for grief and cataclysm. There is a grand addition to the meaning of life. If you can withstand sorrow, then down the time the person may achieve things in humility and there would be no pride for it. It is so essential to a true being, and this is the central message of the story too. Even the author acknowledges that his Vietnamese childhood experience is magic that continues to inform and inspire him though he is far away from his motherland and its problems. The writer also wants to point out that it was sufferings that drove many Vietnamese to America and now they were doing well in life. So the contribution of sorrow cannot be ignored.
Life is no doubt a sea of suffering. These can be a day to day challenges that may range from worse to worst. The sufferings constantly remind an individual that sorrow and happiness are two sides of the same coin. With space and time, one is bound to experience the worst too. But these experiences are the ones that would count in countering future challenges. One must remain fully awake to enjoy the blissful state and also to tackle the sorrow. Sorrow and grief are never easy. Thus past sufferings add meaning to life.
Works Cited
Bible.org. “Things God Wants Us to Know.” Bible.org, 2011.
“Happiness and Sorrow.” goldenrosycross.org.au, 2011. Web.