The Twilight Zone is an easily recognizable and very thought provoking series. I plan on creating 4 posts, some over favorites of mine, others just ones that were particularly philosophical. So let us begin:
Time Enough to Last
Right off the
bat, Mr. Henry Bemis' eccentricity can be seen, as he would rather read books
and tell people about those adventures instead of doing his job of being a bank
teller and enjoying the company of those around him. His job, marriage, and personal relationships
are in jeopardy because of his obsession with reading. Barry Smith possesses similar feelings about
his wine, but I think that even he would admit that taking an obsession so far
that it becomes a detriment to the other parts of one's life is a little
overboard. Everyone should enjoy the
things pleasurable to them, but solely focusing on one thing in life can
quickly cause hardships. His constant
distractions from his job and from living his life coexisting with other people
are in constant peril against the forces of reading. It gets so bad that his wife destroys some of
his books that he thinks he has hidden in order to get him to interact with his
friends and converse with her.
His wife would strongly disagree with John Stuart Mill, because, although he may have a right to pursue his greater pleasure by reading, he is ultimately damaging their marriage and relationship with one another by refusing to converse. Even if he was a genius, I do not think that the characteristic should give a person the ability to snub everyone else and swallow the opinion that by doing so, the world is a better place since the uninterrupted genius will contribute so much more to society.
His wife would strongly disagree with John Stuart Mill, because, although he may have a right to pursue his greater pleasure by reading, he is ultimately damaging their marriage and relationship with one another by refusing to converse. Even if he was a genius, I do not think that the characteristic should give a person the ability to snub everyone else and swallow the opinion that by doing so, the world is a better place since the uninterrupted genius will contribute so much more to society.
Later at work, Bemis sneaks down into the
bank vault in order to peruse a few books unnoticed and undisturbed. While reading a newspaper that is portraying
the advent of the Hydrogen bomb, a bomb goes off in the world above, destroying
everything that was in his vicinity as far as the eye can see. He gets excited about his lucky break, but
then questions whether he wants to continue living in such a depressing world
in which only he exists, with little more to do but eat and smoke in the rubble
from the world before. He thinks about
committing suicide, but stumbles upon local library and salvages a few texts
from the ruins.
After trying to pick up
just one more to add to the hundreds he already has, he breaks his glasses and
weeps. After searching for solitude his
entire life, he receives all that he could have ever asked for and regrets it:
complete, unadulterated solitude.
While
Seneca may be a proponent of this lifestyle, in which one lives with much time
devoted to being alone and thinking on philosophy, but I'm sure that anyone would
agree that only so much of that is enjoyable until life loses the charm that
that type of lifestyle once held. Schopenhauer
would likely chime in after the episode and point out that he finally got
exactly what he had always desired, and just like any human being would, he
suddenly wants something else entirely.
Word Count: 539
Total Word Count 539
His wife was mean to him, not the other way around. If you look at the expression on her face it is obvious.
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