Right or Wrong

Djenane Lemaire

     There is a saying that goes “Knowledge is power!”  Although I have made numerous academic achievements, I never knew the true meaning of this saying. I always thought that this saying meant that knowledge would give me literal power. The true meaning of this saying was visible to me during my second semester in college.

      Dr. Joseph Correa of Farmingdale State College once said” Each and every subject you learn balances each other out.” When Dr. Correa first said this, I thought to myself, “How could a subject such as Anatomy and Physiology correlate with say Criminology?” Ultimately, I felt like they were two different extremes. But gradually as I progressed in my studies, I understood what he was talking about. It was at this point that I truly started to understand the saying “Knowledge is power”.

During my second semester in college I had the opportunity to take English Literature and an introductory course to Sociology. Some may say that English Literature and Sociology are disciplines that are extreme opposites of each other. But in fact they have a very strong and ornate relationship. While taking English Literature, I had the chance to analytically dissect a myriad of literary works. One of the most eclectic works I had the chance to indulge in was Antigone by the infamous Greek play write, Sophocles.   In a critique titled "The Antigone of Sophocles" written by Richard C. Jebb he argues that "Sophocles' play centers on two principles that are opposed to each other. Creon represents the duty of obeying the State's laws; Antigone, the duty of listening to the private conscience" (475). Jebb basically revealed a struggle within Antigone which is, what is right and what is wrong. As my colleagues and I dissected the validity in the actions taken by the characters in Antigone, we came to the resolution that our time period and society dictates whether something is right or wrong. This resolution made me think of a term in Sociology called cultural relativity. Cultural relativity relates to understanding a culture on its own terms (Henslin, 37).

     Now how does cultural relativity coincide with the ultimate struggle between right and wrong? Well I decided to apply these concepts to the real world. In American society the “woman” has greatly transformed. Women approximately exercise the same rights as men as well as dress dramatically different from the Puritanical women of the 1600s. Now in certain Middle Eastern cultures, women are seen as second rate citizen and are covered from head to toe. A Middle Eastern woman might look at an American and call her a modern day “Flapper” while an American woman may show great distain towards the Middle Eastern woman’s garbs. This occurs simply because each party has a different notion as to what is right and what is wrong. Sometimes these varying ideas can lead to conflicts.

     Because people have different ideologies of what is right and wrong, a multitude of conflicts have been displayed throughout history. For instance Englishman, William Bradford, called the Native Americans he encountered in what is present day Massachusetts, “savages” because they were half naked. And so Bradford along with the rest of his colonial men decided to “Christianize” these so called “savages”. Such acts have even lead to wars! Was it right to impose a belief system on a people because they were slightly different than the Puritans? President Theodore Roosevelt occupied Manila for a period in time because he felt that the Filipinos were unfit to practice self-determination! That is absolutely unbelievable.

      The knowledge of realizing how hard it is to decipher whether certain things are right or wrong gave me power. This power allowed me not to be blind nor ignorant! Because I have the power of awareness, on certain issues, I am able to provide clarity to others as well as acknowledge people for their differences and diversity. You never know I might be able to stop a war!