The Last Voyage of the Ghost Ship
The
Last Voyage of the Ghost Ship is an
interesting story written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. In the story, the writer
describes the growth of an ordinary boy (the narrator) to an assertive man. The
writer here wants to prove that one can not be great in life without courage
and determination.
According to the story, a small boy saw
a ghost ship in the sea at night in the month of March. The ship was quite big
and wonderful. It had no sound and light. It was moving without any control.
The surprising thing was that it would disappear when there was light and would
appear when there was no light. The boy was surprised with the ship but he
thought he might have seen it in the dream.
The boy saw the same ship in the next
March and told his mother about it. She didn’t believe him. She said that his
mind was rotting. However, she had to send a boatman to confirm whether it was
the ship or not. The boatman saw nothing except some fish playing in the water.
She became sad and worried about her son. One day, she bought a chair and began
to see the sea sitting on it. She remembered her dead husband. She became
excited and died. Other four women also died so it was a accursed chair.
Finally, the chair was thrown into the sea.
The boy became orphan and he didn’t
want to live with anyone’s mercy. As an orphan he lived on stealing fish. He
was all alone. Villagers did not help him.
In the next March again he saw the same
ship and talked to the villagers about it. The villagers also thought him to be
mad and he was severely beaten. Then, he decided not to talk anyone about it
but he tried to show who he was. In the next year, he saw the same ship and
followed it rowing a boat. When the light of lighthouse fell upon it, it
disappeared and the boy fell in problem. He lit a lantern and saw the ship again.
He rowed his boat near to the ship and brought it under control. He found
nobody in the ship and brought it at the harbor near his village. He called the
villagers and the villager’s were surprised at seeing the ship larger than the
village.
Thus, the boy proved himself to be an
assertive Youngman. He showed the villagers who he was. It means that if a
person works hard to develop his career without losing patience, he can
certainly get success in his life.
The story describes the growth of an
ordinary boy to an assertive young man. It presents the boy’s inner journey
from the innocence to experience and how he gains manhood. The ships stand for
the child’s imagination and his encounter with the ship many times indicates
his growing vision which finally makes him a strong man with strong voice and
confidence. In fact, this story brings out the child’s inner consciousness. The
whole story is a psychological study which describes the boy’s attainment of
maturity. Thus, the story deals with the mental growth of the child in
proportion with his physical growth. Both the growth combined makes him
confident about what he says and does.
God's Grandeur
G.M Hopkins
God's Grandeur is a short religious poem composed by G.M. Hopkins. In this poem, the poet praises the greatness and glory of God in the world.
G.M. Hopkins believes in the existence of God in the world. He says that God is everywhere. The glory and greatness or magnificence of the god is manifested in everything and everywhere. The poet says that the world is charged with the grandeur of God. It flames out like shining from gold tinsel (shook foil) and oozes from the crushed seeds. The God is omnipresent and yet human beings ignore and deny the presence of god’s greatness. Many generations have passed through this world. The poet says, “Generations have trod, have trod, have trod…” which shows the ignorance of human beings towards God.
The poet presents the miserable state of the world and nature. In the running after money, man toils and suffers miseries and unhappiness. However, human beings are living after money and artificiality. Though modern human beings are living in the well equipped world, they are still not satisfied. Their unlimited desires are leading them towards endless destination. A man’s life has become a tale of sorrow and unhappiness because in this material world he finds no peace and contentment (satisfaction). The real peace is in God’s arms. Human beings are busy in trade and material world so they are in the world of miseries and dissatisfaction. They cannot understand the greatness of God and they do not pay attention to the command of God. Everything is affected by human activities. Man is regardless to the soil and the Nature. Man is running away from nature towards the material world.
Nature is never spent. The God blesses everybody with bountiful nature and his greatness, which is evident from the gifts of God. Though humans are destroying nature, it is never spent. The dearest freshness lies in the deep down the Nature. The poet is aesthetically inspired by the grandeur of nature too. Nature is always fresh and new. For sometimes the nature may be bare, but that bareness is soon recovered with the greatness of God. The darkness prevails but the next morning a new brightness arises from the east. Irrespective of men’s behaviors, the God blesses man with life enhancing gifts of the dawn and dusk, the sun, the moon, the fertile land and bountiful nature. God has provided us warmth and love of his breast and wings. The God is always kind for the world and all the creatures. Hopkins presents us with an inspired vision of the beauty of nature infused with the glory of God.
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