Essay #2 Through exploring four separate texts, including 2005 Kenyon Commencement Address by David Wallace, Last thoughts on Woody Guthrie by Bob Dylan, The Man in a Case by Anton Chekhov, and finally Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki, a reoccuring theme emerged which strikes at one of the core questions of the human condition. Each text grapples with an unfortunate truth; people are often unhappy. These writers are concerned with picking apart the reasons for this feeling and attempt to describe the circumstances that cause people to feel unsatisfied with their day to day lives. With a focus on understanding what causes our perspectives to skew in this way, another question appears. What is it that these authors are trying to help their readers discover, and how can you define what it is that human beings need in order to feel fulfilled? …show more content…
What Wallace calls our default setting, Chekhov refers to as a shell. While Dylan declares hope is the answer, Suzuki instead proposes rediscovering your “beginner’s mind” can restore a fresh, positive perspective. These texts also offer possibilities of what fuels the apparent drudgery of life. Wallace proposes our self centered nature is the main source, while Dylan emphasizes how material distractions, which society praises, can be detrimental to our wellbeing. Suzuki blames our pursuit of recognition, and Chekhov illustrates what happens when someone embodies precisely what Suzuki, Wallace, and Dylan warn