Thoughts+On+Compassion

Barbara Lazear Ascher is the sister of a homosexual man, who although she does not agree with his life style, being gay isnt a lifestyle choice it's who you arehas come to terms with the fact that she loves and respects her brother despite what she finds to be a flaw. Through these notions she came to the realization that the "inately compassionate" female is not as understanding as she is thought to be.

Fear is an instinctive human reaction to most situations. Ascher's idea is that compassion is not an instinct, but instead breeds off of fear which we have figured out is an instinct. Despite an attempt to mask this instinct ( whether it be fear of guilt or what other may think of us) this reaction to become fearful is clear and cannot be masked.

Ascher begins her passage by describing a scene that most readers can relate to: the woman's interaction with the homeless man on the street. Generally there is some sense of fear when in the presence of a man you know nothing about, and can expect anything from him at any given moment. This very man stares at the child, thus a mother instinctively protects her child, "he stops before a blonde baby in an Aprica stroller. The baby's mother waits for the light to change and her hands close tighter( with these words, we find the author conveying a sense of fear through revealing her actions) on the strollers' handle as she sees the man approach" by offering the man money, whereas the child instinctively shows his fear by pulling the blanket over him (The author shows that a child has no inhibitons and so is not afraid to show his fear, whereas the mothers masks this fear through compassion), "His eyes fixed on the baby...She finds what she's looking for and passes a folded dollar over her child's head to the man who stand and stares." Yet we find that the man is unaware and oblivious to the nature of this reaction "His hands continue at his sides. He does not know his part. He does not know that the accpectance of the gift and gratitude are what makes this transaction complete." Therefore she continues on her way "Bearing the dollar like a cross" (similie) When we find someone bearing a cross generally, or makes reference to God, it's a sign of desperation or some form of protection. Thus it can be implied that the woman bears the dollar as a manner by which to protect herself, now that the man has not taken that very dollar.It could be said that this very dollar symbolizes the idea of falsity in the idea that generally one may bear the cross, but may not believe in it; just as she may give money, but is not compassionate. The passage is compossed of interactions between woman and homeless--> thus the author attempts to defy two usually undebated topics.The idea is that of a woman in general being more compassionate and loving, and the homeless is always given some form of "charity", which in truth is not a sign of compassion, but rather a cover for a deeper truth.

One of the sentences that Ascher uses, conveys the sense of God in common humanity. "Finally, a black hand rise and closes around the green." By using this sentence, Ascher sells the point of God reaching down towards humans and giving them help. Ascher goes through the editorial switching the roles of the homeless and the women that they encounter. The bridegroom that Ascher uses to describe the homeless man is a metaphor that is comparing the homeless man to Christ and the bride is being compared to the Church.

At the end the author writes, "There but for the grace of God, go I" Note that he falls for "something more" than what it is really. In truth rather than stating "I am going to die" he needs to die for something great, for the audience to gain compassion for him. Also rather than showing fear of death, he masks it, in order to, "inspire empathy in the audience". Fear is an instinct that can be masked but not destroyed, whether it be fear of and for someone else, fear of society's outlook on you, or just fear of seeming weak and ill willed.

__Organization__ This non-fictional piece of writing is organized to first present a scene, then introduce a new information that ties back to the idea of compassion first presented, to ultimately state her thesis in her conclusion. Each scene she describes give support to her thesis, but initialy she introduces a scene that most readers can relate to, thus introduces her ideas, as an arguable topic.

The Author's use of rhetorical questions and description of realistic situations, introduce the reader to their personal opinions, to later be compared to those of the authors. "Was it fear or compassion that motivated the gift?" after the first scene. Next we see this use of language when she question's the shopkeeper's motives, "Or does she simply want to rid her shop of his troublesome presence?" As the reader goes through the articles content (being that most of the situations described are ones that readers can relate to) the author begins to introduce and attempts to convince the reader of the validility of her point. It is not until the end of the passage that we begin to see the author directly stating her position, "I don’t believe that one is born compassionate. Compassion is not a character trait like a sunny disposition.(metaphor) It must be learned, and it is learned by having adversity at our windows, coming through the gates of our yards, the walls of our towns, adversity that becomes so familiar that we begin to identify and empathize with it."

The author feels strongly and determined in that her position is correct and should be clear thus does not offer a long explanation, but rather a simplisticly educated analysis along with detailed observations.--> Most of the first page is a detailed explanation of a simple interaction of money, that can be characterized as a mask of compassion; then leaves us with a single question. She repeatedly does something like this with most of the events within the article, She only uses the last two paragraphs to directly state her position. The only lengthy part of her passage is her description of each situation, which ties back to the idea that the author is persuading the reader by not pushing her idea onto the reader, but proving them through various situations.

__Tone and Mood__ The way that Ascher makes her editorial sounds is very persuasive.She does it in a way that does not make us think of a salesman giving us a pitch, but instead in a softer way. This way of conveying her tone is called a soft sell. Ascher also uses anecdotes to convey meanings through her work. She uses stories to convey her point as she starts to go on with her work.

Initially the first paragraph describes a man and sympathy is felt but as she goes on to describe the woman reaction we see a shift in tone: a quiet desparity in midst of the familiar movement of the city (both calm and quick paced). The manner in which the author describes the events the reader places themselves in the situation and feels a sense of fear for the woman and her child, but as the author presents her opinon, the events begin to shine in a different light, a more reflective light. A somewhat pessimistic mood is ultimately achieved, in the idea that instinctive compassion is nonexisist

__Use of the senses:__ ("the manicured sound of Hobe Sound", "Ladies in high heels pick their way through poverty and madness", "eat a buttery overpriced croissant, and wash it down with a rich cappuccino") The majority of the author's article consist of the description of a situation, these are only a few examples of using the senses. This makes the author's argument more interesting and valid, without the need of long explanations. __Interesting sentences:__ "Raw humanity offends our sensibilities" "Was it fear or compasison that motivated that gift?" "Could it be that those homeless, lilke those ancients, are reminding us of our common humanity? Of Course there is a difference. This play dosen't end- and the players can't go home." __Use of allusions__: "For the ancient Greeks, drama taught and reinforced compassion within a society. The object of Greek tragedy was to inspre empathy in the audience...."

//U. Keenawinna// //M. Sandoval//

Works Cited

= = Ascher, Barbara. "On Compassion." 1987. 4 Dec. 2005 .

"Barnes&Noble.com-Books:Landscape without Gravity, by Barbara Lazear Ascher, Paperback." Barnes & Noble. 30 Mar 2008 .