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English 1B Final Essay

Bill Chun Wai Hung

Professor Arca

English 1B

22 June 2004

 

Communication is the Key

 

Without doubt, the works I have been exposed to has made me a better person. They don’t just illuminate my life, but also give me new insights on how I should treat others. After reading these great works, I have resolved to a firm belief that communication is the key of a healthy relationship. When I speak of communication, I mean the exchange of thought between individuals. This exchange of thought must be honest and from the bottom of our heart. The first two works I have chosen, a Room with a View and Cyrano de Bergerac, explore the importance of taking the first step to communicate, which is the most critical and important part of communication. The story of Cyrano de Bergerac shows us that if a person does not dare to take the first step to communicate, his ideas may never be acknowledged by the others. On the other hand, if the person does take the first step, he may live as if he is in heaven because of the joy that is obtained, which is the case of Lucy and George in A Room with a View. However, communication itself is not enough. There are the right and wrong ways of communication that can lead to dramatically different results. As shown in the last two works I have chosen, No Music Before Mosque and The Gift, if communicate is not done patiently, it can kill someone we love as happened in No Music Before Mosque. On the other hand, if communication is conducted in the right way, it can avoid sufferings as happened in the story of The Gift.

 

Cyrano de Bergerac was an example of not taking the first step to communicate honestly. Cyrano was a talented hero, but he was terrible at confessing his feeling honestly. Cyrano was brave enough to fight a hundred men by himself, but he was never brave enough to tell Roxane that he loved her. “No, no, my own dear love, I love you not!...” (Edmond 190) After fifteen years, Cyrano still denied that he loved Roxane when he could still recite the love letters for Roxane by heart. Being able to recite the love letters that was written fifteen years ago shows how deep Cyrano’s love was, and it also shows how hard Cyrano tried to hide his love from Roxane. By hiding his true love, Cyrano had never be able to communicate with Roxane honestly. Cyrano did not take the first step to tell Roxane that he loved her made him unable to enjoy the love from his favorite lady Roxane. This story told me that even if I am as literal as Cyrano, and even if I can write down the most beautiful poem in the world, I still have to pluck up my courage to tell my true feelings. If I failed to communicate honestly to others, then I am not only fooling someone I cared, but also fooling myself as well.

 

In contrast to Cyrano, the story of A Room with a View showed me the wonderful things that would happen if I could admit what I truly love. Originally, the main character in A Room with a View, Lucy, was an ordinary girl who always tried to behave properly. She was unwilling to do anything to disappoint people around her. In the story, Lucy refused to admit she loved George, and she lied to everyone about her true feeling for George. However, Lucy was changed by a conversation with George’s father Mr. Emerson. Mr. Emerson realized Lucy loved George, and he forced Lucy to face her battle between her passion and her family’s expectation upon her. Lucy’s family expected her to marry another man named Cecil, but Lucy broke off the engagement without telling others the real reason. The real reason Lucy broke off the engagement was because she loved George, but she was too afraid to tell anyone. It was the time when Mr. Emerson strengthened Lucy’s determination by saying, “for we fight for more than Love or Pleasure: there is Truth. Truth counts, Truth does count.” (Forster 191) It was the power of Mr. Emerson’s speech that gave Lucy enough courage to embrace her passion. At the end of the story, Lucy was able to enjoy a sweet honeymoon with George in the Pension Bertolini, which was Lucy’s original “room with a view”. The honeymoon of Lucy was the happy moment that I dream to happen in my life. Lucy achieved her happiness by listening to Mr. Emerson, and changed her mind to follow her passion instead of following her family expectation to marry Cecil. This story showed me an important power of communication that I did not realize before. It showed me communicating with others is like looking into a mirror, which can let me see my true self. The way a life decision was changed during the conversation between Mr. Emerson and Lucy was fascinating. I believe the life of Lucy would be so different if Mr. Emerson wasn’t there to talk to her. Similar conclusion can be drawn to our life also, and that is if we don’t talk to others about our feeling, then things may end up having a very different outcome.

 

However, it is important to know that taking the first step to communicate does not necessarily lead to a favorable result. It is more important to use the right way to communicate. Ali in No Music Before Mosque wanted to worship his God by playing his flute, but his conventional father straightly prohibited his way of worshiping. In fact, the father was so angry that he said, “I’m going to beat him until he is black and blue and begs for mercy. And mercy he will get only when he swears never, never to play that cursed flute again.” (Hamidulla 570) Sadly, the father in No Music Before Mosque was not able to communicate with his son patiently, and all he was able to do was yelling and threatening to hurt his son. If the father was able to patiently listen to his son, and be open-minded to accept his son’s special way of worshiping, then Ali might not have ended his flute playing by ending his life. If I were the father, I would have calmly told my son Ali, “I understand you love Allah, and you want to worship Allah by playing your flute. However when you play your flute during our (religious) service, people were upset by the sound of your flute. Could you play the flute some other time?” I believe by saying these words would have been a better way than shouting and yelling like the father did in the story of No Music Before Mosque. From this story, I learned that how we communicate is very important. If we express our ideas in the negative way, the result may be so bad that it can kill the one we cared. I would keep this story in mind in order to avoid hurting others by saying unpleasant things in the future.

 

In contrast to No Music Before Mosque, The Gift introduced the result of the positive, correct, and good way of communication. When the son in the poem was in pain because of the splinter in his palm, his father recited him a story in a low voice. The son noted that “before the story ended, he’d (the father) removed the iron silver I (the son) thought I’d (the son) die from.” (Lee 83) It is so amazing to know that communication can be brought to such a high level. A level that words are used to ease someone’s pain. The poem did not mention what kind of story was being told at that time, but the idea of using words to relieve sufferings is a very powerful idea. I can imagine if everyone is capable of achieving this level of communication, and the communication can be done efficiently, we may not need doctors at all. Maybe using conversations to cure a physical pain is still not practical, but efficient communication does make people feel better. It is like when a woman faced the death of her husband, she would feel depressed. She may want to talk to someone, and she will feel better by simply sharing her sorrow. This is a common and easy to understand example that tells us a good way of communication does help people get over their pain. I do look forward to be able to ease the pain of others by telling an engaging story, and I believe good communication is a very useful tool for a happy life.

 

The fourth works presented above illuminate my life in one way or the other, and these great works have strengthened my belief of the importance of communication. I do carry a piece of these works with me. When I am studying for my classes, I remember even a talented person like Cyrano needs to take the first step to express his true feeling. If I take that first step, I may be able to live the happy life that Lucy has achieved. Moreover, the next time I play my flute, I will remember the story of Ali, and how bad communication can hurt our loved ones. Finally, if I ever see anyone in pain, I will say some soothing words to ease the person’s pain as the father did in The Gift. I believe reading great works matters, and I have gained a lot of insights by reading these works and participating in this English 1B class. The most important thing I have got out of this English 1B class is the importance and power of communication. Honestly, I have never enjoyed literatures like I did in this English 1B class before. From this point of my life, I promise myself I would never be afraid to communicate with others, and I will make sure I am communicating with others in the right way.

 

Work Cited

Forster, Edward Morgan. A Room with a View. New York: Penguin Group, 2000.

Hamidulla, Zebun-Nissa. “No Music Before Mosque”. Literature Without Borders. Eds. George R. Bozzini and Cynthia A. Leenerts. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 2001.

Lee, Li-Young. “The Gift”. Literature Without Borders. Eds. George R. Bozzini and Cynthia A. Leenerts. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 2001.

Rostand, Edmond. Cyrano de Bergerac. Bantam Classic edition, March 1981.