Comparing Opposites In Genesis, Genesis 6-9, And The Hero
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Opposites Attract Since the beginning, there have always been opposites, without one you cannot have the other. No matter how unalike they are, opposites will never fail to appear together. The idea of complimenting opposites is known as a duality. Opposites are used in Genesis 1-3, Genesis 6-9, and Ernest Becker’s “The Hero.” In Genesis 1-3 the idea of duality is presented in very clearly, in contrast with Genesis 6-9. In Genesis 6-9 a specific example of duality is given, life and death. In “The Hero” Becker tells more about duality in a real life situation, the idea of dreams and reality. From these texts we can illustrate the universal truth of opposites attracting.
In Genesis 1-3 the archetypal idea of duality is prominent. Duality is…show more content… Becker summarizes the dreams of men as, “he must stand out, be a hero, make the biggest possible contribution to world life, and show that he counts more than anything or anyone else.” This is the dream of modern man, to fulfill the primal desire to become a hero by achieving the cultural definition of “hero”. Every culture constitutes its own policies for what a hero is, and this defines what the aspirations of man are, which in many cultures is to achieve cosmic specialness. This status is commonly desired, highly coveted, and rarely achieved. This is where the reality is shown as the opposite of the heroic dream. This is because the reality of what men actually end up with their lives is rarely desired, seldom admired, and generally achieved. This is usually expressed with the plain man’s quote, “They are asking for the impossible.” Modern man has the common perspective that heroism is too good for them and cannot be achieved. The sad part is that it is not achieved; because men let their own ideas hold them back. This creates the divide between the reality and dreams of heroism. These opposites especially attract because one cannot physically exist without the other. Without reality there would be no dreams, and vice versa. This relationship further exemplifies the abundance and truth of opposites that