1. Does Johnson feel that there was a time when men's virtues were not subject to unavoidable vice?
2. Is Johnson actually offering an "out" to all the bad that may befall you?
3. In Johnson's view, could reason, if used in excess, be as harmful as qualities like courage and eloquence?
4. There really seems to be no salvation for mankind and their desires. What are readers supposed to learn from this and what are they supposed to do to fix their inherent plight?
5. Would C18 readers get more out of this poem, relate to it more than modern readers, or is it a text for all time?
6. In Johnson's view, can one man be reasonable and succeed, or will the rest of mankind ultimately bring him down?
Deadline: Wednesday (9/23), start of class.
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4. There really seems to be no salvation for mankind and their desires. What are readers supposed to learn from this and what are they supposed to do to fix their inherent plight?
I think Johnson's main theme is that man's desires and their consequent actions ultimately amount to nothing. Lines 16-20 state that the eloquent speaker will invariably be silenced by the masses and the courageous warrior invariably dies in the battle that he willingly entered. Readers are supposed to understand that "too much of a good thing," be it eloquence or courage, inevitably leads to the destruction of the person. Johnson brings this to light-he's calling out humans on their own disillusionment about their achievements. There may not be a 'fix.' as death is unavoidable, but Johnson seems to find certain traits appealing, as we mentioned in class with reason. Being a worker, or "vassal" in line 32, also has its benefits; simplicity may be the key to a happier existence. Extravagance and abuse of talents or desires leads to loss of wealth, death, and shame.
The following addresses both questions 2 and 4, in varying degrees. Johnson discourages the promotion of one's wealth, power, and/or fame in favor of supplication to God. The individual must "implore [God's] aid, in his decisions rest, / Secure whate'er he gives" because God "gives the best" (355-56). The acceptance of an almighty God will occasion the decline of excessive ambition and self-worship, leading to "a healthful mind," "obedient passions," and "a will resigned" (359-60). This is the only way to find happiness in life independent of the follies and flaws of others.
6. In Johnson's view, can one man be reasonable and succeed, or will the rest of mankind ultimately bring him down?
At the end of the poem, Johnson addresses the existence of men who are reasonable throughout their lives. In the paragraph that starts with line 291, Johnson describes "the virtues of a temp'rate prime/Bless with an age exempt from scorn or crime" as "melt[ing] with unperceived decay and [gliding] in modest innocence away" (ll. 291-294). The men who fall into this category are not pulled down to failure by other men, for Johnson continues to say that these few men "await, who set unclouded in the gulfs of fate" (ll. 311-312).
HOWEVER, that's not to say that the man has succeeded. This goes back to the over-arching idea that anything a man does within his lifetime is pointless. Simply being human will be enough to bring him down. Even though he lives a reasonable life, the man still fails because he has to die. The paragraph that begins on 301 reinforces this idea, saying that no matter what, misfortune will fall the man until Nature "bids afflicted worth retire to peace" (ll. 310). Even being reasonable in life is worthless in the end.
2. Johnson is not so much offering an out as he is presenting his claim of the complexity of human nature. The closest he comes to suggesting "an out" is when he discusses reading. However, it is very indirectly that he states reason as the key to human success, samuel writes "How rarely reason guides the stubborn choice, / Rules the bold hand, or prompts the suppliant voice" (lines 11-12). Here he is suggesting that using reason would be preferable to the impulsive choices, based on emotion, that are most commonly used. However, he does not suggest that reason alone can lift man out to "all the bad that may befall you." Because he then explains that certain qualities such as courage and eloquence are inherent in man and in human nature. Thus, it is unrealistic to suggest that reason alone, can save mankind and society from the flaws and impaired judgments of men.
4.) It's true that Johnson really does not offer an out for mankind. There is no real salvation for mankind and their desires when it comes to mankind. In the end of The Vanity of Human Wishes, Johnson seems to believe that men should not stop trying to do good things. People should continue to be good hearted and keep faith, but only in God and not men.
"Must no dislike alarm, no wishes rise,
No cries attempt the mercies of the skies?
Inquirer, cease, petitions yet remain,
Which Heav'n may hear, nor deem religion vain.
Still raise for good the supplicating voice,
But leave to Heav'n the measure and the choice,
Safe in his power, whose eyes discern afar
The secret ambush of a specious prayer."
He seems as though having faith in God is all that people need to have faith in if they seek goodness and want their faith rewarded. All else is a wasted of time and effort.
2. Is Johnson actually offering an "out" to all the bad that may befall you?
The poem depicts an aimlessness in life and it's meaning. All the trials and victories of one can be undone by the vices of others.
In lines 68-70 Johnson quotes the manner in which observation of humanity insights worthlessness. "Whose Joys are causeless, or whose griefs are vain. Such was the scorn that filled the sage's mind, Renewed at ev'ry glance on humankind; (Longman 2863)."
Here Johnson is leaving very little room in which there can be a way out of the constant tribulations that human nature produces.
In lines 255-260, Johnson states "That life protracted is protracted woe.
Time hovers o’er, impatient to destroy,
And shuts up all the passages of joy (Longman 2867)." This passage from the end of the poem reiterates the point of continual human folly and woe. The only end is that the time that is leased to humanity runs out and death is the equalizer of the current life.
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