The assignment I’ve chosen for myself is to compare and contrast the various “poisons” we’ve focused on during class this semester. The first view of the poisons we’ve looked at is prostitution. Throughout the semester, we have seen many different examples of prostitution. The first was in “A Modern Harlot’s Process.” The other one’s we read were “The Ruined Maid,” “The Great Social Evil,” and “Mrs. Warren’s Profession,” among others. In these readings, women take the “fabulous” life given to them by selling themselves. They lose their morals and lives as they know it, in order to live for the riches. We compared this to today’s world. One comparison was the girls who pose as playboy bunnies and work for Hugh Hefner. We look up to their lives of money, parties, and celebrities. But in real life, would we be willing to sell this part of ourselves for it?
The next “poison” we learned about was in “The Goblin Market,” which was actually referring to a poison. The goblins would continuously try to sell the maids their fruits. Like Eve in the biblical story of Adam and Eve, one of the maids got curious and decided to eat one of the fruit. She quickly became addicted and needed the fruit to survive. This is strange because she knew that the fruit would only do her harm, yet curiosity caused her to doubt what she was told and try the fruit. This relates to life today because many people make decisions without thinking them through, and do things they know can only harm them. Quick to follow, addictions form. This is another poison we covered in class, the curiosity of humans to try what they know is wrong for them.
The last poison I compared was gambling. It is an addiction that has affected people from way back when to now. Unlike prostitution, there is no guarantee that anything good will come from gambling. However; it is something that can be chosen to stop, unlike the true fruit addiction.
In each of these addictions, a lot had to be given up to (possibly) earn something in return. For me, not worth it. Others may disagree.
This assignment has short and long-term values because it relates all the different “evils” we have learned in class and allows me to be able to compare them to everyday life for the future.
