After reading a famous book, you must have a lot of experiences worth sharing. You can’t just read it, but write a review after reading it. Maybe you have no clue now. Below is a collection of sample essays on "Over the Fence" that I collected. Welcome to read. I hope you will like it.
American poet Dickinson's poem "Beyond the Fence" has only a few lines and a few words, but its meaning is very subtle and profound, and it is worth chewing. What exactly does this poem say? Different readers have different understandings. In my opinion, this poem reflects the conflict between desire and taboo, and expresses the poet's profound thinking about the condition of human existence in a civilized society.
The history of human progress and civilization is, as Freud said, a history of the repression of human nature. The progress of human society and the development of civilization come at the expense of human beings' own instinctive needs, that is, various desires. Human instinct advocates and pursues pleasure, and it follows the principle of pleasure. Governed by the pleasure principle, when people see something beautiful and beneficial to themselves, they have the desire to possess it and try to satisfy it. But after all, people are "the sum of social relations", and no one can exist independently from the social group. This determines that personal desires are neither possible nor allowed to be fully satisfied. Because if everyone indulges their instincts and uses any means to satisfy their desires, then the society will be chaotic and the civilized order will be destroyed. In other words, if a society wants to maintain its stability and harmony, it must have certain behavioral norms and laws to restrict everyone's behavior. The distinctive sign of a civilized society is the establishment and improvement of various norms and systems. These various norms and systems are the so-called "taboos" of civilization, which include ethics, morality, law, etc.
That’s why Freud said: “Civilization simply refers to the sum of the results, systems, etc. resulting from human beings’ defense of nature and adjustment of interpersonal relationships.” (“Civilization and Its "Defects") From this point of view, the full satisfaction of human instinctive needs is incompatible with civilized society. People are always in a conflict between desires and taboos, and no matter what, they can't get rid of the confusion and embarrassment caused by this conflict. As far as an individual is concerned, if one blindly follows the principle of pleasure and indulges one's instinctive desires, then the order of civilized society will be destroyed, and the destruction of this order will ultimately endanger one's own existence; if one obeys too much the civilized precepts of society , then one's own instinctive desires will be suppressed, and it is also painful to have desires blocked. How to adjust the relationship between desires and taboos and resolve the conflict between them is a philosophical proposition that countless philosophers have pondered and explored. Dickinson's short poem presents and ponders this proposition in the form of poetry.
"There is a strawberry on the other side of the fence. I know that if I want, I can climb over it. Strawberries are so sweet." "Strawberry" metaphorically refers to all beautiful things, and here it can also be regarded as all irresistible temptations. The "really sweet" "strawberry" undoubtedly arouses "my" possessiveness, but it is separated by a fence. To "me", this "strawberry" across the fence is something that can only be expected but out of reach. Obviously, "fence" is what we call the "taboo" of civilization, or in other words, "fence" is a synonym for "taboo" here. "I could crawl through if I wanted to." But is it really that simple? The second verse reads: "But God will definitely scold me if my apron is dirty!/Oh, dear, I guess, if he is also a child/he will also crawl over/if, he can crawl over!" "I" Once I climb over the fence, my apron will be soiled, and I will be scolded by "God". In other words, if "I" ignore the taboo, that is, violate the rules of civilization, I will inevitably be punished by "God". Because "God" is the master of civilized order, the will of "God" cannot be defied. So, as you can imagine, "I" is extremely contradictory. Climb over or stop? To acquire or to give up? Is it to satisfy desires or to suppress desires? Here, the dilemma of "I" being at a loss what to do, isn't it actually a portrayal of the common survival dilemma faced by human beings? Since "I" can't do anything about it, I suddenly thought: What choice will the holy God make? The poet here deliberately brings the supreme God back to earth, assuming that he is also an ordinary child. Therefore, the poet speculates on God from the psychological perspective of a child, thinking that God, as a child, must also have instinctive needs and will definitely crawl over. The poem thus far undoubtedly reveals the poet's positive affirmation of human normal desires. However, God is God after all. Who knows whether He will crawl over? It can be seen that the conflict between desires and taboos is endless. Man will always be destined to face this conflict head-on. There is nothing God can do about it. Only humans can save themselves. So, how can humans save themselves? The significance of this poem lies in this. It reveals this eternally difficult proposition to people and forces them to think about it.
People have the right to pursue happiness and happiness, and their desires should be affirmed. Isn’t social progress driven by human desires? If you completely ignore desires and suppress people's instinctive needs, not only will society fail to progress, but more seriously, it will lead to various psychological diseases of people themselves; but if you completely indulge your desires, you will surely be punished by civilized precepts. This is doomed to make human existence full of hardships. Especially in today's society, on the one hand, people's desires have expanded unprecedentedly, and on the other hand, there are more and more civilized precepts. The conflict between desire and taboo becomes even more acute.
How can people in modern society overcome this contradiction and survive better? This is the eternal thinking value that this poem leaves us.