Week 3-Ecclesiastes

          Hello, again!
          Today I want to talk about the poem that I most recently read in my creative writing class. The title is Ecclesiastes. Interestingly enough, his was a book in the bible all about wisdom and how it is passed down from person to person, and whom you must look to in order to find said wisdom. The poem is made up of several pairs of lines, mostly single sentences. in the first line, there is a "rule" that the author states. To me, this rule reflects the authors' view on society, or rather, the way that he sees how society works. This is how he sees society's moral and legal absolutes. Society has both social mores and social folkways that govern how society functions, and how people behave within their given culture. That said, the "rule" would represent the law or more/folkway in itself, and the "trick" seems to represent the way that we manipulate others into feeling or acting a certain way.
           One line reads "The rule is to make them feel that they've come late, the trick is that you're willing to make exceptions." this says to me that he author views being late as an unacceptable, or otherwise frowned-upon behavior. This is the more that we perpetuate. The trick, being making exceptions, is all about making a person feel special. You make them feel like they are set apart from everyone else by allowing them to be late and, in doing so, you instill a sense of gratitude, or debt in that person. This makes them more susceptible to you and your will because they may feel as though they owe you something for making the exception for them. You allow them to feel like they can get away with technically unacceptable behaviors, at least for this one time, and you give them a false sense of being indebted to you.
           Another line reads "The trick is that you're willing to help them, the rule is to sound like you're doing them a favor." This especially sounds to me like there are hints of manipulation. Once again, after helping someone out, you, being a self-serving human-being, try to instill a sense of debt in this person you help. If they feel like they owe you, they are inclined to return the favor. Little things like that can warped our perception of any given event in immeasurable ways. The author seems to view the world from a narcissistic point of view, as if he sees the world for what it truly is an anyone who does not notice this is simply a fool. It is as if he has some insight into how to manipulate those around him because he knows how to turn any situation in his favor.  He sees all actions as having a more selfish ulterior motive. Any choice we may make, any help we may administer, or compliments we may give can always benefit our own selves in some way. We try to get something out of any situation by disguising our actions as selfless. By the same token, the ulterior may not always be as petty as others. One line reads "The rule is to assume that their(a child) parents abused them, the trick is to sound like the one teacher they loved." In his case, the motive of being like the teacher that they loved would be to gain their confidence and trust so that you may find out what happened to them. It may be for their benefit, but you are also trying to get something from them as well.
           A fellow classmate brought up a very interesting counterargument to my observations. She read this poem and interpreted it as someone with wisdom, perhaps someone of significant age or status, passing down wisdom through the words. If there is a rule, then there may be a correct way of handling it. To her, it was as if the author had a lot of life experience, and was simply passing on his knowledge to someone less wise than himself. I think that could be a valid opinion. Either way, Poetry is always open to interpretation, and this poem caught my eye because of the different viewpoints that could arise from it. well that is all I have for this update. As always, thank you for reading!