In book 17 i noticed three themes. One of the themes I noticed is mind over strength. Although strength is very important concept sometimes one needs more than just strength. This is portrayed in book 17 when Odysseus wants to take down the suitors that are occupying his palace. Odysseus knows he is no match for all the young and strong suitors so he uses his wits to devise a plan with his son Telemachus. By using a disguise they do not even know that he is there and he can take them all down. This ties into another theme in the book disguises. By being disguised as a beggar Odysseus can plan what he wants to do without them finding out who he is. The only person that knows the disguise is Telemachus. Odysseus uses his disguise to distinguish those who actually love him. When he arrives to the palace his old dog Argos is one of the first to recognize him while disguised. Also, by asking each suitor for scraps of food he determines which ones are good and which ones are bad. He figures out through begging that Antinous is one of the people he wants to kill. This brings us to the last theme i found which was food. Whenever food is brought up there seems to be a negative consequence following. For example when Odysseus's men eat the food of the lotus, when his men slaughter the Sun's flocks, When Scylla swallows six of his men, and the Cyclops eats humans. All of these brought negative consequences when food was mentioned. In this book there is a negative consequence too. When Odysseus in his disguise begs for a scrap of food from Antinous he ends up taking a hit from him. Antinous does not want to give him even a little scrap of food so Odysseus insults him and in return Antinous tosses a stool and hits him square in the back. When I read this it made me think of a article i read a few months ago about an incident happening in Sri Lanka. There were innocent beggars being randomly killed in horrible ways which is really cruel. Here is a link to the article :
GQ: 1.If there was a helpless old man begging you for just a little bit of food what would you do?
2. Are beggars harmful people that deserve to be hurt or killed?
If a beggar came to my house I would not bring them in but I would get food to give to them. Someone comeing to your door asking for a bite to eat is not a big issue if they do not come in your house. There is a bit of a trust issue involved but nothing should really go wrong. When im walking down the street and someone asks for money that is a different story. You never know what will be bought, so instead I would offer to buy them food. It would be rare though for me to do this on the street mainly because I do not talk to random people. I have a hard time trusting random strangers asking for food or money because I really do not know if they are telling the truth.
ReplyDeleteBeggars are not harmful people; they are just people asking for something. A beggar can become harmful if they threaten you if you do not help them, but most beggars off the street just ask for something and do nothing if a person says no. Being a beggar is just a different life style that most people are not used to. Beggars are not stealing or not harming anyone, so they should not be punished.
If a beggar came to my house, I would start off by talking to them in order to see what their intentions were. I would want to get somewhat of an idea about their life just to see why they are at my door. Once they have taken the time to talk to me a little, I wouldn't invite the person in, but I think that I would definitely offer them some food. Like Haley said, trust is a key factor to this situation therefore I don't think I would let them come into my house no matter what the circumstances. If I was in downtown Chicago for example, and a homeless person asked me for some food, if I had any I think I would give them some. It's hard for me to answer this question though because I always like to know the exact situation that a person is in. However, all in all I think that I would offer food to someone in need.
ReplyDeleteBeggars definitely don't deserve to be hurt or killed. Sometimes they don't ALWAYS deserve to be helped but I really think it depends on the person. If they aren't doing anything wrong to your personally, I think they are fine people that are just trying to make it in this world.
I would definitely give him food. Not a little bit, but enough to fill his stomach for at least one night. I don't know. I don't think I would let him in my house, not because that would be too much work or anything, but rather because you don't know who these beggars really are. They could be poor, helpless old people with nothing in their mind but getting a bite to eat. Or they could be criminals disguised as beggars to get you to open the door and get inside your house where who knows what can happen. There is no real way you can trust anyone unless you truly know them. So, if a beggar would come to my house, I would tell them to wait outside and I would bring them lots of food.
ReplyDeleteBeggars are definitely not people who should be harmed at all. They are just random people who maybe used to live like the rest of us but then one day their lives fell apart and they found themselves on the streets asking for food and money. The thing that makes this so interesting and debatable is that it can happen to any one of us at any given time. You don't know what is going to happen tomorrow. Or the next day. We live our lives hoping that all is going to be well but the truth is that nothing is predictable. So, when it comes to beggars, one should think: "If that was me, how would I want to be treated?" And whatever the answer may be, then you should do the same for that person. And I doubt most people would say, "Oh if I was a beggar, my one true wish would be to get beaten up and possibly killed :)". Beggars are people too and just because their lives have fallen apart, doesn't mean they should be treated any differently than the rest of us.
I would take the man to a grocery store and buy him some healthy food. Just giving people money means they can buy whatever they want with it. At the same time I believe in the saying that, "if you teach a man to fish he eats for a lifetime" so I do not know how much I would really be helping a beggar by just buying him or her food. The best thing to do would be to help them find a job but it is not always possible or realistic for someone to take the time to find a random homeless person a job.
ReplyDeleteBeggars and homeless people do not deserve to be hurt or killed, they are people just like the rest of us. They have just had a harder life or rougher circumstances and the little help you provide them will help the survive the tough times and hopefully help them get back on their feet.
The stereotype of modern day beggars provides an image of a desperate old man willing to harm others to get his addiction fix. Despite knowing what is the "right thing to do", I will probably deny the beggar anything. It seems that the mentality of the general population is that beggars became beggars due to their own faults. This mentality, however, only applies to a small amount of the beggars. At the moment as a teenager, without a source of income, I do not feel obligated to help these beggars, but if I was to have food in my possession, I would gladly share my portion. Money I probably will never donate. Beggars are most of the time harmless in my opinion so I don't see a reason why they should be harmed or killed.
ReplyDeleteI do not feel that any person deserved to be killed for begging for food. Food is a human necessity; we need it to stay alive. It is not always the beggar's fault he is stuck having to beg for food. I am sure he would rather be able to afford his own food, but no everyone is so lucky. Even though it might be annoying to the more wealthy people in town, no one deserves to be killed over asking for a scrap of bread.
ReplyDeleteIf there was a helpless man asking me for food, I would absolutely give some to him. Once again, he needs it to live. Who am I to deny a person a meal? However, if a person was asking for money, I would offer to buy them a meal. Unfortunately, this only tends to result in people turning down my offer because they really wanted the money for something other than food.
If there was a man begging me for a bit of food I would obviously give it to him. Who knows how long he has been hungry and how many people have denied him a simple piece of food. When it comes to food, humans need it to survive. It's not like the beggar is asking for money that he would potentially spend on drugs, the man just wants some food. I don't think that beggars are bad people at all. They obviously have made mistakes throughout their life to get in the position that they are, but I don't think that they deserve to starve to death for that.
ReplyDeleteI have always felt really passionate about this topic because it's one that could potentially pertain to any one of us. Nobody can say that they will not at one point in their lives will they be homeless. It is unfortunate, but it is life. We are all of the same species, which is one of much respect and a need to give; therefore if a begger came to my house, I would certainly give him some food. I simply cannot fathom the thought of turning him down. It would be completely heartless and cold, and ontologically that is not what human nature is.
ReplyDeleteBecause I would not hurt this man, it can be assumed that certainly I do not think he should be harmed or killed. That would be absolutely vile and evil. Of course, making the assertion that this is all human nature-based, I have to also concede to the fact that evil exists everywhere in the world. It would not surprise me that many people would turn this man away. He probably wouldn't be one to know much compassion given the situation that he'd be in. No harmless person deserves such cruelty, though, and therefore I would find it an utter travesty to turn him away or to obviously harm him.
I would hope that I would give him some, however depending on the situation; I might have a different answer. Say I was on the streets of Chicago; most people don’t carry food with them when they’re walking. If a man came to my house and asked for food, I don’t think I would turn him away, but I definitely wouldn’t invite him inside.
ReplyDeleteNo! That’s is a very harsh question/statement. If you think about it, they were once children too living off their mother and father. They too had dreams and we should still treat them as humans because they still are. However, when the homeless become insane and attack you, which is a matter of self-defense. It may not be super relevant, but in Zombieland, the girl from room 409 was bitten by a Zombie homeless man and that actually does happen in real life. Without the zombiefying, of course.