friday post

The idea of the active man accepting the wall in a nonplussed manner sort of threw me off a little bit. An active man accepting his barriers. Doesn't sound correct to me, but this book and our lectures in class have helped to shed light on the idea. The wall makes everyone comfortable with choosing the one side of the argument that "men of action" see. Whereas the underground man cannot see both, and does not even have the option of accepting that wall. I think the book is loaded with contradictions as a metaphor for how religion and life in general is a contradiction that many refuse to bring up. Religion promotes peace, yet is the most influential reason for violence. Once we accept the idea that the most important person in the room is ourselves, we can finally accept that there is no wall, and break away from that idea that we need someone or some belief next to us to function. It's scary, but must be accepted.