ISSUE 36

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36.”The greatness of individuals can be decided only by those who live after them, not by their contemporaries.”

2008/3/17

554字

   

Today's society, replete with various comments and crisis, is eager to seek its celebreties and masterpieces in order to boast in the history, we are even confused about the original image of the very present things but turn to the appreciation of their counterparts which enjoy high reputation today. We usually immerse in the gratification in order to celebrate [url=]the recognition a artist never win[/url][u1] until now, or the redefinition of a once disputant book which we elevate to a high level of accomplisment now. We gradually complain that why such discoveries failed to happen in that time but now? Based on some facts some people reach a conclusion that the greatness will not be detected or confirmed until later. A seemly reasoning statement lack of, in fact, a general perspective.

First of all, I confess that many elites experienced a rough way before being recognized by, usually not their contemporaries, but the people live after them, especially when it comes to the literature realm. We are familiar with that several famous authors, refer to the present view, had no voice in their time but seek high reputaion later, such like Emily Bronte, the author of WUTHERING HEIGHTS, who once published anonymous articles for the consideration of gender. to[url=]get them through[/url][u2] the public. Her WUTHERING HEIGHTS, which resumed population until a second printing 2 years after her death, was considered sordid, vulgar, and unnatural by the contemporary society. In fact, greatness, a judgement should be originally objective, has to bear the subjective evaluation of people when epidemic contemporary opinion taken into consideration, say, gender in this case. Many factors, such like gender, color, the natonality, the faith may combine to block the way leading to a true definition of “greatness”. Nevertheless, with years going by, it's possible for people today with less emotional inclination to that previous period to give a objective view. Additionally, a long time span can be enough to check the value of individual because  the true greatness can stand if it possess a forever mighty to contriute to the society, if not the material , at least the spiritual aspect.

It's also known that people are uasually in nature reluctant to accept opinions beyond or even contridict to theirs, but for the most case, the great thinking are always beyond the understanding of common people, in other words, the “greatness” may fail to play an emotion-evoked role then find nowhere to settle down.

Nevertheless, we couldn't overlook the fact that in some cases, “greatness” not only has an echo in today's society but also received its reputation in the past. Lincoln, American president, embraced broad support from masses for his considerate policy and strategy, also enjoys respectation nowadays. Several writers already got the nobel prize in literature during their lifetimewhose while their masterpiece also exerts an profound impact on our life. So it's groudless to say only the people live after them can realize the greatness performed by them.

Last but not least, greatness belongs to someone who have contributed or now contribute to the whole society, all the greatness serve to encourage us or enlighten us, they playe different roles and be considered of not the same value in different periods from various perspectives, we should foster the tolerance to confront with everything and discover greatness.


Reference:
Published in 1847, WUTHERING HEIGHTS was not well receivedby the reading public, many of whom condemned it as sordid, vulgar, and unnatural--and author Emily Bronte went to her grave in 1848 believing that her only novel was a failure. It was not until 1850, when WUTHERING HEIGHTS received a second printing with an introduction by Emily's sister Charlotte, that it attracted a wide readership. And from that point the reputation of the book has never looked back. Today itis widely recognized asone of the great novels of English literature.

Even so, WUTHERING HEIGHTS continues to divide readers. It is not a pretty love story; rather, it is swirling tale of largely unlikeable people caught up in obsessive love that turns to dark madness. It is cruel, violent, dark and brooding, and many people find it extremely unpleasant. And yet--it possesses a grandeur of language and design, a sense of tremendous pity and great loss that sets it apart from virtually every other novel written.


[u1]receive much recognition大受赏识, 大受注意meet with much recognition大受赏识, 大受注意win recognition from sb.赢得(某人的)赏识, 博得(某人的)好评



[u2]Get a proposal through a committee