Literary Work to World
An Essay on Man, by Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope did not reign to his popularity as a writer for no reason. His first major work as a writer and poet, which was “An Essay on Man,” put Pope on the map as a head figure in the literary world at the time. This poem struck the attention of a lot of people who appreciated good literacy because many were and still are able to relate to this piece of work. “An Essay on Man,” is a statement by Pope on his opinion of how he perceives mankind, and how mankind perceives nature and God.
The poem, “An Essay on Man,” starts with acknowledgement of mankind’s two most diminishing vices: pride and ignorance. Pope states, “That we can judge only with regard to our own system, being ignorant of the relations of systems and things.” This, in another way of putting it, is stating that mankind’s ignorance makes us blind to how our actions affect the things around us. We fail to consider the consequences that will affect others when we act only for our own self gain. This vice of mankind is again expressed when Pope states, “The impiety of putting himself in the place of God, and judging of the fitness or unfitness, perfection or imperfection.” Again, Pope clearly is saying how man’s pride makes us ignorant in the fact that at times we think that we have omnipotent power over nature. Because of our pride, we become ignorant; and because of our ignorance, we tend to believe that our actions are best, even though they are usually always containing negative affects to the things around us.
Pope also touches base on how mankind fails to acknowledge our downfalls due to our own actions. Instead, Pope implies that we tend to blame others for the consequences of our actions. He states, “Destroy all Creatures for thy sport or gust, yet cry, If Man’s unhappy, God’s unjust.” Here, Pope goes into more detail rightfully stating that when things do not work out in our favor, most likely due to our own actions, we tend to blame God for our misfortunes. Moreover, Pope also explains what happens when our consequential actions affect the course of nature. He states, “From Nature’s chain whatever link you strike, Tenth or ten thousandth, breaks the chain alike.” In other words, a chain reaction occurs to every action we make. The consequences of our actions are ultimately endless, since nature acts as a chain.
To conclude, our moral educator should be heard by everyone. Alexander Pope is not wrong to write this text. Most would agree with what Pope is trying to express, yet, many fail to do anything about it. Why does mankind continue to allow our two greatest vices affect the decisions we make? The answer is quite simple. Mankind fails to look at how our actions will affect those around us. This is simply because our pride only allows man to think only in a tunnel vision. Consequently, this makes mankind ignorant. If mankind would pay attention to detail rather than the whole, nature would be better off. This is said best when Pope states, “Why has not Man a microscopic eye? For this plain reason, Man is not to Fly.”
Ignorance is bliss. However, actions made through ignorance has consequences. And it is never just one event that occurs, it is always a chain reaction, because that is how nature works according to Pope. Because of this, mankind should never get confused about who should be in control nature. Best put, “If plagues or earthquakes break not Heaven’s design, Why then a Borgia, or a Catiline?”