Hamlet's Change

Throughout the play, "Hamlet, Prince of Denmark", Hamlet experiences many changes as he begins to understand himself and those around him more thoroughly. His changes in character mainly focus on his spirituality and philosophy.

In the beginning of the play, Hamlet thinks his life could not be any worse. His father is dead, his mother is married to his uncle, and his life just stinks. Hamlet, in discussing how awful his life is with himself, says "O God, God, how weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable seem to me all the uses of this world!" (1.2.132-134). Hamlet's outlook on life is simply that he has to go on living miserably, but there is no point to his life. He cannot understand why God would do this to him, but he does not hate his life enough to die. Right before this, Hamlet declares that he will not kill himself because it is a sin (1.2.129). Hamlet maintains his protestant faith, not wanting to sin against God just because he is unhappy.

However, in the middle of the play, Hamlet's ideals seem to shift. After being visited by the ghost of his father, Hamlet's main goal is to avenge his father's death by killing the king. However, he spends most of his time discussing how he wants to kill the king instead of actually doing it. When the king is praying and asking for forgiveness, Hamlet states, "now might I do it, now 'a is a-praying" (3.3.73). Hamlet has abandoned his previous aversion to sin. While he has not actually killed anyone yet, he still wants to kill the king. Hamlet would even kill the king while he is praying, which shows his shift in priorities. Earlier, Hamlet did not want to kill himself because it is a sin. Now, he does not even care if he kills someone while they are talking to God, except that he has the potential to be forgiven and now suffer for his sins.

Finally, Hamlet's outlook on life (and death) shifts drastically at the end of the play. Hamlet orders for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to be executed with no problem at all. In the cemetery, Hamlet says "Since now man of aught he leaves knows, what is 't to leave betimes? Let be" (5.2.187-187). Hamlet now does not care when he dies, since he knows that he is going to die anyway. Hamlet has shifted from being too afraid to let himself die to completely ready to die. He has no regrets for what he has done to those he has killed (except for Ophelia) and does not really care what happens to himself. As he is dying, Hamlet kills the king as well, finally fulfilling his plan. Hamlet has switched from being afraid to sin, to not even caring about what his life is worth. He knows that his brief time on earth is limited and unimportant, and he chooses to live his life in a way that epitomizes the saying "Carpe Diem." Hamlet takes his chances and does what comes to him in the moment.

senior quote

" What do you do when things go wrong?...Oh, you sing a song!" - Snow White

How Tragic

When the assignment to write a tragedy was first assigned, I was not looking forward to it in the least bit. However, my opinion began to change when my group was trying to decide which dark truth to write about. We had a fairly large list, and this list caused me to think about how often Christians pretend like there is nothing hard about being a Christian because they do not want anyone to think badly about their religion. This caused me to consider whether or not I would tell the truth about my struggles to someone who is not a Christian.
Also, while watching the different tragedies, I learned quite a bit (which in all honesty was unexpected). While I am not one to be overly emotional, these tragedies did cause me to seriously reflect about my life. Watching the first group (who were AMAZING actors), I was struck by the idea that a pastor would be living a life like that, pretending to be perfect, and hurting his son in the process. However, I often find myself doing the same thing. By no means do I abuse anyone, but I make mistakes and try to cover them up, afraid that my mistakes will be uncovered and people will think ill of me. While I do not think that I've ever crushed someone as the pastor and his wife crushed their son, I know that I crush the heart of the Lord every time I sin-an act which is much much worse.
I was convicted the most while watching the last group's tragedy about judgment. The other tragedies were by no means inapplicable, but I just found myself relating to this area more. We all judge people every day, and our judgment is probably what turns people away the most. That was the part that most affected me- the idea that the protagonist might be the only Christian those people ever come in contact with. I always find myself living my life in a way that isn't necessarily bad, but certainly isn't great. The people I come in contact with that do not know Christ may base their idea of God off of what they know-me. I learned through watching this that I do not simply need to act better in front of these people, but I need to be better. I do not deserve Christ any more than they do, and I need to work harder to be a follower of Christ that actually helps the case for Christ, not hinders it.

Evangelizing Oedipus Rex

During our very heated discussion about Oedipus Rex today, we discussed the idea that sin must be dealt with. While Oedipus went years and years living a wonderful life, the reality that he killed someone eventually surfaces. Although he had been running from the truth for so long, it finally caught up to him. This parallels life today, as while we can go on sinning as much as we want, eventually it will become too much for us and we will have to come to terms with what we have done. Those who do not confess of their sins suffer much more than those who do, because they have to struggle with the more intense internal punishment.

Crime and Punishment Discussion

During our class time today, I was interested in learning all of the background information about Crime and Punishment and Dostoevsky. I never realized that existentialism played such a crucial role in the novel! (Mostly because I did not really understand what it actually was). Our class had discussed many times how we were drawn into the novel and how we felt like the individual characters. However, I never actually looked back to when I was reading the novel, and when I did, I realized that I too was drawn into it! Normally, I'm not a huge fan of these summer reading assignments, but this book was actually interesting and I could not put it down! Dostoevsky is an amazing author and his techniques really set him apart from most of the other books I have read.
It was interesting to be taught about literature from a pastor, but I really enjoyed it! I do not know why I would have the mindset that pastors probably are not too informed about literature, but that is what I was thinking when he first came in. After he began to speak, I was blown away! I was very impressed by how much he knew about Dostoevsky and how passionate he was about the novels.

Raskolnikov

"Is it because it was a crime? What is meant by crime? My conscience is at rest. Of course, it was a legal crime, of course, the letter of the law was broken and blood was shed. Well, punish me for the letter of the law...and that's enough. Of course, in that case many of the benefactors of mankind who snatched power for themselves instead of inheriting it ought to have been punished at their first steps. But those men succeeded and so they were right, and I didn't, so I had no right to take that step.'
It was only in that that he recognized his criminality, only in the fact that he had been unsuccessful and had confessed it.'"

Raskolnikov realizes that what he did was wrong according to society and the state, but he never really admits that he sinned. While he does admit to being wrong, he admits to being wrong because he was not successful in getting away with what he did and for being caught, not because he believes he is morally wrong.

Mere Christianity Exerpt

"He is the source from which all your reasoning power comes: you could not be right and He wrong any more than a stream can rise higher than its own source. When you are arguing against Him you are arguing against the very power that makes you able to argue at all: it is like cutting off the branch you are sitting on" (48)