The Importance of Action

Megan Holden

Dr. Ellis

Understanding Lit

Sep 17, 2017

Blog 1

            Baltimore is composed of an assortment of closely-knit, eclectic communities that each possesses their own unique flare. Hampden prides itself in being one of the more quirky spots in the city, and Hampdenfest is a strange and wonderful gathering of people who go to enjoy a myriad of food, art, clothing, and music. When my friends and I first stepped into the crowded streets of the festival, we became immediately disorientated by the amount of things going on. Behind us the famous Toilet Races had just begun, to our right a man offered to let us hold his 12-foot long python, and to our left a drag queen snacked on kettle corn. My feelings of excitement and eagerness contrasted with how I had felt freshman year, when I had come into Loyola knowing virtually nothing about the city and feeling unprepared to navigate its terrain. Going to Hampdefest freshman year was my first adventure off campus, and I’ve loved Baltimore more and more ever since. I’m glad that Loyola pushes its students to familiarize themselves with Baltimore because so many people who don’t know the city generally condemn it as dangerous and violent. Hampdenfest draws people from all walks of life in Baltimore, and the diversity of the city can be seen within this little microcosm. Breaking down barriers and stigmas between the city and the school, or in the world in general can’t be achieved through just observing or commenting ones thoughts on something; it requires action. Whether that action is going out and experiencing something new or speaking up for someone, without action no change can ever come about.

The concept of action vs separation is explored in Robert Frost’s poem “Mending Wall” which focuses on the relationship between two neighbors who meet each spring to repair their sides of a fence that separates their property. The speaker mocks the necessity of a wall and argues that there aren’t things like cows that they need to keep enclosed, to which the neighbor only replies, “Good fences make good neighbors.” (27) The poem makes the distinction between two types of people: wall breakers and wall builders. The neighbor represents those who maintain forms of segregation, and justify their actions with clichés or by using tradition as an excuse. While the speaker doesn’t believe that the wall should even exist, he still returns each spring to repair the wall. This signifies that while he may believe the wall is superfluous and observes the task with detached amusement, he never commits to the action of letting the wall fall. This highlighted to me the importance of actually taking action that comes with wanting to change something, and not just going along with something because it’s the accepted tradition.

This ties in with Father Kolvenbach’s essay, “The Service of Faith and Promotion of Justice in Jesuit Higher Education” where he emphasizes the importance of the Jesuit obligation to service, faith, and justice. He stresses that justice requires an "action-oriented commitment" to the poor. Action is always necessary for change and it is the main component in breaking down oppressive systems that are deeply ingrained in society, like racism, sexism, and illiteracy.

Frances E. W. Harper addresses that such things like racism and illiteracy can be combated, and it requires action. In her poem, “Learning to Read” she tells the story of an elderly black woman desperately wanting to learn to read because she wanted to be able to read the Bible. She recounts that white people didn’t want their slaves to be able to read because they saw the power in knowledge, saying it didn’t agree with slavery because “Twould make us all too wise.”  She doesn’t stop trying until she can read the Bible cover to cover, and she explains the value that literacy had to slaves and how it was viewed as a key to freedom as well as self-empowerment. She finishes the poem saying that woman was able to even get herself a little house, "A place to call my own--and I felt independent'.  This proves the power of knowledge and how the woman was able to gain so much from learning to read, and how the action of pursuing knowledge ultimately gave her freedom and a sense of self. 

In Jill McDonough’s “Accident, Mass. Ave.” the author colorfully recounts the time when another woman hit her car, and her initial reaction was to spit curses and scream with rage. She notes that the woman is driving a beat up car and that English isn’t her first language, highlighting their socio-economic differences. In the midst of yelling at each other, both women notice that neither car was damaged. Without anything to even be angry about, the author is brought back to reality and her anger deflates. Road rage is a common occurrence for many people, but the author shows on a deeper level that yes, were human. We can be irrational either out of fear or apprehension, but we can always still apologize and make things right again. She notes this when she says, “We were scared, weren’t we?” and they both laugh. This shows that even though these were both two very different women, they were able to see past their initial anger and allowed them to empathize with one another.