Nicholas1

Maximus Nicholas

Mrs. Bowyer

Expos: P.2

1403 DecNovember 2016

REVISION: Value of Life

Life is like a seed. It will never grow unless planted and nourished this statement is one
of the best metaphors about life. How can one expect life to be great and fulfilling if they just
give up? Life is such a special thing and we should learn to love what we get because others
arent as fortunate as we are, they arent blessed with the things that we have. Life isn't always
sunshine and rainbows, it's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it
will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it, you neither nobody is
going to hit as hard as life(Rocky Balboa), We've all experienced tough scenarios however like
stated in this quote above If you let it, it's your choice on how one lets their's life goes. There
will always be things that you will not have control of, but for the things that you can change, it
is your responsibility to do what it takes to achieve your goal. If you tell yourself your life is
amazing it will be, evidently on the other hand if one proclaims their life sucks then it will.
In Chris Joness excerpt titled Roger Ebert: The Essential Man, he mentions a man of

sixty-seven years named Roger Ebert, who has gone through many surgeries to remove his

lower jawbone,Seven years ago he recovered quickly from the surgery to cut off cancerous

thyroids A year later in 2003, he returned to work after salivary glands were partially

removed(51). In Chris Joness excerpt titled Roger Ebert: The Essential Man, he mentions a

man of sixty-seven years named Roger Ebert, who has gone through many surgeries to remove

his lower jawbone. Mr. Jones writes And his wide and expressive eyes, despite everything, are

almost always smiling(53), Mr. Ebert has gone through a great deal of tragedy however he

argues there's no need pity me look how happy I am(53). If a man like Ebert a bird can go

through all these horrible surgeries things and still be happy and full of life, thaen the rest of us

can as well. We all consider small tragedies, like not getting something we want or losing
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something we say we need when we really dont as massive disasters, we all need to understand

that there more horrible things going on in this world than losing our cell phones or wanting

something that we dont get. I know it is coming, and I do not fear it, because I believe there is

nothing on the other side of death to fear(54) expresses Ebert, he knows that his clock is

winding down, that he is running out of time, But he still lives life to the fullest doing what he

enjoys and loves! I believe that if, at the end of it all, according to our abilities, we have done

something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, this is

about the best we can do(54), continues Ebert. He does not fear what is to come, but he is

grateful for what he has experienced in life and all the things that he has achieved. Ebert ends his

journal entry proclaiming We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter

what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try. I didn't always know this, and am

happy I lived long enough to find it out(54), He had a better way of looking at things than many

people today.

How could someone decide that life is no longer worth living? Not everyone looks at life

the same way Ebert does, for example. I in Hamlet's soliloquy, Hamlet implies that life is

horrible and full of disappointment, he adds To die, to sleep no more and by a sleep

to say we end the heartache, and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to(47),

to end it all because of a depressing situation or incident may seem like a good idea at

first but the burden and the hurt you will leave for your family and friends to deal with

is criminal. They could never get over the idea or thought of a loved one taking their

own life, that would stick with them until their day came and they died. Hamlet's

enormous statement is stated at the beginning of his soliloquy, announcing To be, or

not to be that is the question(47), Hamlet is discouraged when discovering his

uncle killed his father and has now married his mother, he feels betrayed and

saddened by this news and has taken it upon himself that death is better than life.

Hamlet however is not alone in thinking taking his life is better than living his life with

this burden, we see this in the movie Me before You, In this movie a man named Will Traynor is

paralyzed from an accident, needing assistance with taking care of him his parents hire Louisa

Clark (Lou)To try and cheer him up, because he has decided that after giving his parents six

months of trying to change his mind he wants assistance in killing himself(Me Before You).

Will's reasoning behind this want is that he can no longer do the things he was able to do before

his accident, he feels useless. However Lou is not letting Will give up easily, she decides that she

would like to take him out and show him that he can still do things he was able to do before his

accident. She takes will to a horse racing competition where in mediately will gets his wheelchair

stuck in mud needing assistance from strangers to help push him out and unstick himself. After

the horse races she announces it is time for them to get food but the restaurant she wants to take

him to is only available to those with premier badges(Me Before You), she tries her hardest to

get Will to see that life is good and worth living for but in the end Will's mind has not changed

and he dies. The fact that will gave up means that he wasn't a strong minded individual to begin

with, those who tell themselves life isn't fair, life is horrible, life is not fun, than it won't be as

amazing, wonderful, or full of opportunity like it could be. When Will finally decides that he is

ready to end his life, he is simply giving up, thats not how your are suppose to live your life,

when things get tough you give up.

Life is an uphill climb but the view is amazing once you get to the top(Unknown

writer), If you have not gotten to the top of your life, done things you've never done before and

end your life early that would be a mistake, in my personal opinion I believe we are all here for
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reason, but we just have to find out what that reason is, that nothing just happens randomly. How

would I look at the value of life? There is no worth on life, we are all equal, we are the same.

One person isn't worth more than anyone else, the only difference that we have with each other

is, our interests, our looks, our money, and how we were raised. Will is not right when he decides

that he wants to kill himself because he can't do the things that he could do before his accident.

That's a coward's way out, a man stays strong and fights on no matter what hits him, nothing

should be able to stop a strong man. Mr. Ebert is an old man who has already lived his life and is

struggling with his health he still fights on and still thinks that life is wonderful. Will is young he

had his whole life ahead of him and he decided to through it all away because he couldn't do the

things he loved to do.

Word Count:1003

Works Cited
Jones, Chris. Roger Ebert: The Essential Man. Esquire 16 Feb. 2010. Web

Me Before You. Dir. Thea Sharrock. Perf. Emilia Clarke, Sam Clafin. MGM, 2016. DVD.

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Act III, Sc. 1: Hamlets To be, or not to be soliloquy