Reflection Paper 1 Deck. 5, 2012 Thesis: Past is both past and not past. How we perceive and act in the future is completely up to us. If I was asked to describe studying history, all I can say is one word, D©J¤ v. D©J¤ v is a French word meaning “already seen”. This phenomenon strikes when an occurrence you are currently experiencing seemed to have occurred in the past. It is that moment when an event flashes back right in front you and you seem to know what was going to happen next. However, not everything that happen turns out to be “picture-perfect” the way you knew it before.
The occurrence in your head is very similar to what is happening but not the exact same thing because, as science would explain it, our brain does partial perception in an event giving us a sense of familiarity. A familiarity that felt like the event repeated. As the click© would say, “History repeats itself”. The first time I saw the film, The Emperor’s Club, I thought that this was Just another movie telling its audience that history repeats itself. However, upon watching it closely the second time around, I realized that it wasn’t a history repeating kind but a d©J¤ v type.
D©J¤ v occurs when our brain does partial perception. Just like studying history, we do not study everything in the past but we study what remains from the past. Studying these remains from the past became possible because they were recorded. No one lived long enough to tell the events that happened from the past to all generations up until today. But the turnover of history became possible from one generation to another because of these recordings. These recordings are the evidences that now constitute the past. The past can be defined as what already happened.
Events that already passed away. But past is both past and not past. What happens from the past is completely permanent however these events do not only stay in the past. As Heraclites would say, “No man ever steps in the same river twice. ” At first I thought this was ridiculous because the river doesn’t really change its location, it is still there. But then I realized Heraclites was right. The past is like the water in the river. It continually flows and once you step on it you cannot chase the water back to where you are.
Just like the past, once it’s one, you can’t really do anything about it. But the river is not only the water it contains, it is also the geographical location. And this is the constant part of the river. You might recognize that when you step in the river, you are in the same location but you in different water. Even so, the path where it is located serves as the guide for the water flowing through the river. Correspondingly, the past guides the present and the future flowing as time passes by. Hence, past doesn’t only stay in the past but it still has an effect on the present and future.
One of the main characters that arrayed this effect is Sedgwick Bell. During his high school days, he was the worst student in the history class and his father doesn’t really care about him. But Mr.. Hundred, his history teacher, had hope in him and told him that he could be one of the best in class. And so he began to study until he became one of the top 3 finalists for the Julius Caesar Contest. But he cheated during the contest. He did not believe in himself because he was once an atrocious student. He couldn’t prove to himself and his father that he can do it on his own. 5 years later, he invites everyone in his story class and Mr.. Hundred to nave a rematch tot Julius Caesar Contest to redeem himself. And once again, he cheats his way through the contest. When Mr.. Hundred caught him, it was like d©J¤ v. He already had this same event, only this time instead of cheat sheets under his toga, he had a graduate student that tells him the answer through his earpiece. The event that happened during their high school days has recurred again 25 years later. It mightier happened because Mr.. Hundred didn’t call him out before.
But what he did 25 years later wasn’t Mr.. Hunter’s fault. He was unfrosted before by Mr.. Hundred and that should’ve been enough for him to learn from his mistakes. But he didn’t. He cheated once, but that didn’t made him realized that it was bad. Moreover, it has influenced him to cheat once again. Choosing to go with the path of cheating instead of going against the mistakes was his choice. And no one should be blamed for what he did but himself. How we perceive and act in the future is completely up to us. We are liable to the consequence of perceptions and actions that we make.
These consequences, may it be good or bad, becomes our true. No one can see the future. And there are infinitely many possibilities of that could happen to us. But then again no one can determine nor control what will happen to the future. Yet there is only one who can decide for your own future, no one else but you. We have the freedom to do anything we want. And there’s no one holding us back. Though we always have these options, there are also responsibilities attached to this freedom. Whatever happens, each of our own future certainly depends on no one else but our own. Mr..
Hundred was telling the two things he was retain of at the first part of the film. One of this was, “A man’s character is his fate. ” The way we think, the way we choose to do what’s right or wrong, the way we live our life directs us to the path where we decide to go. And the character we build up on this decisions make up the future, the future that is determined by us. When Mr.. Hundred posted the finalist for the contest, Martin Blithe was the 4th. It really made an impact to him because his father was once crowned Julius Caesar, and he was expecting to be one of the finalists.
Years later, Mr.. Hundred professed to Blithe that e was supposed to be the third finalist for the Julius Caesar Contest, I expected him to get mad, but he didn’t. Not even a grudge was seen nor any word that came from his mouth. He could’ve had the chance to be crowned Julius Caesar Just like his father. Instead, he chose to forgive Mr.. Hundred and be the better man. He Just accepted what happened and moved on. These actions and perceptions we choose to do now affect our future. Blithe didn’t hold any grudge when he was announced the 4th place. He Just accepted it. Even after 25 years, when Mr..
Hundred told the Ruth, he Just accepted it. The choices that are made, in turn, will be the past but will still influence the decisions in the future. The past may remain in the past but it still determines the choices we make that build up our future. Just as Mr.. Hundred was haunted by the mistake that he did 25 years ago, he still made up for that. He adjusted Sedgwick paper Just to make him one of the top 3 and it caused Blithe to be eliminated from the contest. Both were deserving for the third place, but then when he found out that Sedgwick cheated, he felt that what he did was wrong.
He could’ve called out Sedgwick during the contest but he didn’t. He hesitated. This made him realized that he made a wrong decision. Looking at what Mr.. Hundred had done, events recurred throughout his life Just like d©J¤ v. He could’ve let them pass y Just eke when it happened bettor, but en chose to change it, take a deterrent path He chose to tell Blithe the truth. He couldn’t change the past but he could still change the future. At the end of the film, Mr.. Hundred quotes, “… With learning a boys character might be changed and so is the destiny of a man.
With the past choices we make, it could have an impact in our lives which will limit our future. It might seem to repeat occurrences at different times that will influence our decision. Yet, a small change today could make a big effect later on. Our future is still unpredictable and we are the ones who will write our own history. As Father Ferrier’s would say, “Who we are in the end, is who we are in the beginning only more so. ” We may have already made records from the past, but we have the pens, the control to direct the recording that we started. Paula Mica Chug Hi
