"Time flies over us, but leaves its shadows behind" - Nathaniel Hawthorne.
This quote relates to the experience Christmas has gone through. Christmas runs from the authorities and has no sense of time passing. However he still wonders how much has passed. He still wonders because of his "shadows" (his past and his reasons for running). Even after so much time passes it does not mean that our past goes away. It just means it will haunt us like it has for Christmas. He has been running for about two weeks and his past has yet to stop following him. Do you think our past continues to haunt us or does it eventually stop ?
I believe that our past continues to haunt us if we allow it too. If someone commits a crime, but they truly forgive themselves for what they did they can overcome their past and leave it as what it is, their past. But I also believe that our past can haunt us if we allow it too. If we constantly think about it, of course it is going to haunt us. But I believe that it is up to the person.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Francisco it up to the person to allow their past to haunt them. If you truly forgive yourself for what youve done then you can move on with your life if not then that thing will forever be a weight over your head.
ReplyDeleteI think our past will haunt us until we take the upper hand to confront it once and for all. People can't go on with their lives reflecting on things that already happened rather they should focus and how to pursue a life of happiness in the future. I think that's what Joe Christmas needs to do, he needs to learn how to finally let go of the past and move forward and stop letting what happened already keep destroying him and the people around him as well. I wonder if at some point Joe will finally be able to confront his past or die with it?
ReplyDeleteI believe that we can escape our past are two particular reasons, memory and location. The human memory is really bad, memories can be corrupted and changed. (Scientifically proven). Moving to a place where no one knows the person history it is really easy to escape past.
ReplyDeleteBut didn't Christmas try both? The novel mentions a few times that he already forgot some incidents from his past (he never even learned if he killed McEachern or not), and he's wandered from place to place- yet neither helped. So can we still escape our past? And if we do give up on our past- well, to quote Steinbeck, "How can we live without our lives?"
DeleteHuman memory may be "bad" because all memories can be distorted or completely altered, but it does not mean that one will stop bring conscious of the wrongs they've committed. Guilt can still haunt a person, no matter where it is that you move
DeleteI think there is a difference between escaping our past and accepting it. Like what Brendan said, or quoted, "How can we live without our lives?" You need your past to know where you come from, to know that it has made you the way you are. Forgetting it or escaping it, will be losing part of your life. When you accept it, you know it is there but you do not let it bother you no more.
DeleteFirst of all, I really like that you chose a quote from another book which pertained to Light in August. Now, in my opinion, I personally think that you can never forget your past that is saturated with joyful, fearful, horrifying, and simple memories. No matter what you do with your life even if you move to some place where no one knows you, I think that certain incidents or events in your life can remind you very much of your past. I can relate to this because when I moved to Arizona for the first time from California, I had the chance to start over a new life and be a new person, bur I was still reminded of my roots and what happened to me before moving. So, I think that you just have to face your past and either embrace it or shun it inside you and let it slowly eat you from the inside out which will truly affect those around you.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the person has the power to control if they will be haunted by their past or not. Certain people handle their situations differently and it is up to the person to keep the past with them and have it hold them back and be a burden to them or just simply make amends with it and let it go. It's hard to let go of certain situations but I believe it is possible if you want to make a better life for yourself and make yourself truly happy.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, the only way you can move on, is to at least try. To try and make amends with what has already been done and end the misery that holds them from striving forward.
DeleteI think that to an extent we have the power to choose whether or not our past will "haunt us". Without a past, we would have nothing to base our actions upon, yet one can easily forget actions committed in the past. I think that as humans we naturally rate the extent to which something is important or relevant. So, we subconsciously decide whether or not we want to remember something because it aroused a certain feeling. The past does not necessarily have to haunt us.
ReplyDeleteYour past is something you can't change. You can't get rid of it. But what you CAN change is what you get out of it. You can let it hurt and destroy you or learn from it and not go through it again.
ReplyDeleteI think that a person cannot forget their past but they dont have to be controlled by their past. If something happens to them, they can look at it as an experience and learn from it instead of using it as an excuse to hold you back
ReplyDeleteI feel that it is our decision if we let our past affect us. If we are constantly reminded of our past and let it affect our life goals, it will never go away. But if we let go of our past and find closure, it will eventually stop.
ReplyDeleteI honestly feel that one can never forget the past. The past helps us make the decisions we have today, even if we do not realize it. The past affects how we dress, how we act, how we carry on with things, etc. The past never leaves us even if we tried to forget it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of you. I too believe that no one can change what has already happened but there is enough time to change the future to make your cards play the way you want them to.
ReplyDeleteEveryone has to accept their past in order to move on if not then the past will contiune to haunt you in some way.
ReplyDeleteI think that the past will always be there and it will always be a part of us but at some point it is possible to accept it and move on.
ReplyDeleteOur past doesn't go away. It will always be a part of our lives no matter how badly we wish it wasn't there. If we don't accept our pasts, how are we supposed to move on with our lives?
ReplyDeleteI think it will do what you want it to do. If you let it haunt you it will do that. If you want to come to peace with it, then you will be able to come to peace with it. It will not go away but it will not haunt you.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that we can never let go of our since since it is a part of us. Our past makes us who we are today. We can never escape it, but we can choose to accept it.
ReplyDeleteIn a way our past represents who we are , or who we are and it's only up to us to define , for if we want it to haunt us or represent us in a good way. There are things that cannot be forgotten such as deaths
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