The Village Blacksmith, The Crowd Of Wild Olive - 863 Words

What is human dignity? We often ask ourselves this question as we grow up, experience things, and know what is in the world. As we ask this question other questions arise as such, is it earned, invented, or intrinsic? I believe it depends on the situation, but the following stories bring up each of these questions and deliver different ways of delivering the ideas of human dignity being earned, invented, or intrinsic. The Village Blacksmith, The Crowd of Wild Olive, Narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglas all bring up these points and others as well as how different life situations relate to human dignity. The Village Blacksmith is a poem about a man that works very hard each day. He is dirty and sweaty from his hard work. The characters arms are compared to a machine of sorts when the author says, â€Å"The smith a mighty man is he, With large and sinewy hands; And the muscles of his brawny arms Are strong as iron bands.† (596). Although rough, and hardworking the story shows that the man has human dignity when he hears his daughter singing in church and it reminds him of his wife who has passed away and begins to tear up. He wipes away his tears with his rough hard working hands. In my opinion, this shows that even though a man is rough, hard working, and tough he can still have the human dignity to mourn his late wife and have the emotion that comes from hearing his wife s voice in his daughter, but still be able to work