It’s Beginning to Hurt essay
Moral Struggle and Moral Sense The novel It’s Beginning to Hurt is a collection of several pregnant stories. The author James Lasdun vividly shows us the moral struggle the characters undergo, and he also indicates that the importance of moral sense, the powerful tool to help people pass the existential vacuum. Some protagonists triumphs in the moral struggle and some fails because different people have different moral sense,
The key to overcoming ennui or the existential vacuum is that you must have the moral sense of being clear of what you want and what is the most important in your life. In the story “The Half Sister”, James introduces something happens on his protagonist Martin and how this protagonist deals with these annoyances that trouble him. Martin is a guitarist, and he failed in his career life. To make things worse, he is still not well-off although he is middle-aged. The rich couple, who are the parents of the two students Martin is teaching, invites him to go out for a dinner after chatting with Martin for several times. At this time, the half daughter of the rich couple, Charmian, shows up and Martin has unwittingly become a pawn in the couple’s quest to find a partner for their daughter. The couple tries to set him up with Charmian at the opera. Martin doesn’t refuse the couple directly and immediately because he doesn’t want to lose the job that makes his ends meet. On one 's way home, he thinks a lot and he is afflicted by the moral struggle. On the one hand, he has no interest in Charmian, and he even thinks she is horrible. As described in the book, “One of her eyes, Martin suddenly noticed, was dead—the light out in its grey iris (James, 69).” Marriage is the most serious things in a person’s life. Martin will be stuck in the life without change and being with a woman he doesn’t love. He wants his freedom. On the other hand, he wonders if it is the right choice. He thinks that it might not be a bad life to marry the girl because from
The key to overcoming ennui or the existential vacuum is that you must have the moral sense of being clear of what you want and what is the most important in your life. In the story “The Half Sister”, James introduces something happens on his protagonist Martin and how this protagonist deals with these annoyances that trouble him. Martin is a guitarist, and he failed in his career life. To make things worse, he is still not well-off although he is middle-aged. The rich couple, who are the parents of the two students Martin is teaching, invites him to go out for a dinner after chatting with Martin for several times. At this time, the half daughter of the rich couple, Charmian, shows up and Martin has unwittingly become a pawn in the couple’s quest to find a partner for their daughter. The couple tries to set him up with Charmian at the opera. Martin doesn’t refuse the couple directly and immediately because he doesn’t want to lose the job that makes his ends meet. On one 's way home, he thinks a lot and he is afflicted by the moral struggle. On the one hand, he has no interest in Charmian, and he even thinks she is horrible. As described in the book, “One of her eyes, Martin suddenly noticed, was dead—the light out in its grey iris (James, 69).” Marriage is the most serious things in a person’s life. Martin will be stuck in the life without change and being with a woman he doesn’t love. He wants his freedom. On the other hand, he wonders if it is the right choice. He thinks that it might not be a bad life to marry the girl because from
Cited: James, Lasdun. It 's Beginning To Hurt. New York: Picador, 2010. Print McMahon, Jeff. “It 's Beginning to Hurt Lessons.” Critical Thinker. 2 October, 2012.