Mankind is no island. What does that mean? The word 'island' means a piece of land surrounded by water and a feeling resembling an island is the feeling of being isolated and detached. Mankind is no island. No human being or man should have that feeling of being isolated or detached. In other words, no human being should stand on his or her own and no human being should feel that he or she is alone in this world.
In this poem John Donne emphasizes the idea of no man is an island entirely of itself. No man is alone and no man stands by himself or herself. 'Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind.' This quote really stands out as Donne is saying every man's death affect all of us as we are all involved in mankind. Donne suggests that we are all interconnected in our universe of obligation. The word 'obligation' comes from the Latin root 'ligare' which means to bind therefore we are all bound together in this world.
Jason Van Genderen's visual poem 'Mankind Is No Island' emphasizes the same idea no man is an island and no man should be standing alone. On the streets, there are so many homeless people. We show our empathy and sympathy by giving them money but honestly should we be showing our empathy through money or love or just simple acknowledgement by smiling? In the video, people stop and give these homeless people money but no one really stops and listens to their stories. People just walk past these homeless people and don't even glance at them. People don't care about them. They are isolated. They feel detached. They're on an island. They all have stories and if we just listen to them, that feeling of being isolated and detached will diminish from this world.
I think both poems are trying to tell us that every man is important to the world and that we should care for others like homeless people and not only restricting ourselves to caring only about our own friends and family. Should not all of mankind fall into our circle of obligation? Should we not feel pain or concern when we see or hear through the news that people are suffering through starvation, or lack of access to health care? Do we not all have rights?
'Mankind is no island'. This relates to the themes of 'The Island' by Armin Greder and Aung San Suu Kyi's struggle for democracy. Donne and Genderen's themes of interconnection relates to the themes of 'The Island'. A vulnerable stranger appears from the wild sea and he is rejected and separated because he looks different than the others there. They didn't listen to his story and just locked him away. Just because we see others that are 'alien' to us our mind completely shuts out. It shuts out the value of humanity toward other mankind. Why do we do this? We have a choice to acknowledge or just ignore. Most people choose ignore. Should we be doing this? We judge people that are different from what they look like but really should we be shutting out just because other people seem like aliens? No man is an island. No man should be judged by his differences that seem 'alien' to us.
Aung San Suu Kyi also relates to the term 'Mankind is no island'. She has said that her arrest and her fight for democracy is no different than any other person under arrest and their fight for democracy. Aung San Suu Kyi has given up so much for her people. She has given up her personal matters for her people. People in need and she's been recognized all over the world for what she has done. She treats her people like her family. She stayed in Burma to help her people, her people in need. Aung San Suu Kyi has given up so much. She couldn't say good bye to her husband who died of cancer and she has missed out on the chance of watching her two boys grow up. It's these sacrifices that make us admire her. She had to give up so much and honestly, how many of us have had to sacrifice as much as she had to?
Aung San Suu Kyi also has given up her own safety but her believe in the interconnection with the people of Burma stopped her. She could've been safe. She could've been with her family and yet, she gave her personal matters up. Shouldn't 'Mankind Is No Island' be effort from all mankind, from all human beings? Aung San Suu Kyi is one of the leaders, who are trying to make the words 'Mankind Is No Island' work. We, as human beings, as people part of our universe of obligation should help in making the words 'Mankind Is No Island' work.
I chose this painting- painted by Morris Louis as the stripes on the sides are different and they spread from the bottom left and right corner but stop as they invade into the space. And it symbolizes 'ignorance' as both clusters of stripes don't want to acknowledge the alien which is the space in the middle.
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