Few years ago, one learned professor, the vice-chancellor & the registrar in the Punjab University had serious issues with the word ‘rape’ used in the title of the epic poem ‘The Rape of the Lock.’ They said it was an indecent word & this book shouldn’t be a part of the curriculum. These cultured fellas regarded the word ‘rape’ as having an indecent connotation. But we all know that over-enthusiastic people never embark upon the venture of cleansing the society from the real act; so they find faults with words & call them dirty, indecent & judgmental.
Anyway, ‘The Rape of the Lock’ is one of the finest mock epic poems that relates a trivial incident & describes the theft of the heroine’s hair. It makes a good commentary on the upper-class English society of that time, which was infested with numerous follies & vices. Hence the word ‘rape’ in the title is the most appropriate one, because it depicts the emptiness of life & Alexander Pope ridicules it by choosing this particular word.
Literature offers new & creative ways to interpret the world. Different writers look at events or happenings from totally different angles, which enable them to assign different meanings to what they see or experience; as a result, they produce different descriptions of them. Those who think that Literature is just about playing with words & talking about sex need to hold their sacred views to themselves. When we need their opinions, we’ll ask for them.
Anyway, it’s just not the word ‘rape.’ People have problems with innumerable words. Lechery, desperate, sex slaves, human trafficking, incest, fuck, bastard etc etc are some of the words that can drive people nuts. I have witnessed that madness, but I don’t feel sorry for such people. Those who regard particular words as dirty, judgmental, indecent, inappropriate are most welcome not to use these words, but what’s the point of imposing their rotten views on others? We all have the right to learn things on our own. We don’t need this kind of madness; it is not just madness but it is also corrupt on the part of anyone who forces others to do what they want to do. You don’t want to use a word. Don’t use it. Why do you want others not to use it or to use it?
In fact such acts remind me of one of the slogans of the party in 1984 that says: “Ignorance is strength.” Maybe these people are inspired by the Big Brother & his lousy principles. Maybe even here the main aim is to narrow down the range of thought. When words won’t be there, people won’t be able to think.
“It’s a beautiful thing, the destruction of words…After all, what justification is there for a word which is simply the opposite of some other word? A word contains its opposite in itself.”
George Orwell
“In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it. Every concept that can ever be needed, will be expressed by exactly one word, with its meaning rigidly defined & all its subsidiary meanings rubbed out & forgotten.”
George Orwell
You know nothing is too coarse for my chaste pen. I often use the word fuck & it is considered unethical by many but quite frankly, I don’t give a flying fuck to it. Come to think of it, if we don’t use the word lechery, lecherous people will not be wiped out from the planet & neither would lechery. People may stop using terms such as human trafficking, but sex slaves will not disappear in thin air. Yes you can close your eyes but you can’t change the reality. By putting emphases on words like bastard or harami, you’re not contributing anything. The plight of illegitimate children wouldn’t reduce by even an inch.
I had the misfortune to work with this dysfunctional lady & she used to say that we must always use Mister & Miss when we talk to people. We shouldn’t use he/she or him/her as that is disrespectful. There are too many mad people out there & we don’t have time to know how fucked up are they anyway.
We need words to think. We need words to express ourselves. Shakespeare once said, ‘Nothing is good or bad, but thinking makes it so.’
Since I’m not a psychiatrist or a psychologist, I don’t know what’s wrong with people who have problem with words. Either they have experienced something so bad that they can’t help being what they are. They don’t even want people to use such words that remind them of such incidents. It is some sort of disorder. I don’t think it’s a normal behaviour to impose such views on others.
If freedom is our birthright, then we can use any word we like whether the world approves of it or not. Of course there are man-made chains every where…this is a fact we can’t run away from. But to put boundaries on your thinking is I guess the worst crime a human can do to himself.
Anyway, ‘The Rape of the Lock’ is one of the finest mock epic poems that relates a trivial incident & describes the theft of the heroine’s hair. It makes a good commentary on the upper-class English society of that time, which was infested with numerous follies & vices. Hence the word ‘rape’ in the title is the most appropriate one, because it depicts the emptiness of life & Alexander Pope ridicules it by choosing this particular word.
Literature offers new & creative ways to interpret the world. Different writers look at events or happenings from totally different angles, which enable them to assign different meanings to what they see or experience; as a result, they produce different descriptions of them. Those who think that Literature is just about playing with words & talking about sex need to hold their sacred views to themselves. When we need their opinions, we’ll ask for them.
Anyway, it’s just not the word ‘rape.’ People have problems with innumerable words. Lechery, desperate, sex slaves, human trafficking, incest, fuck, bastard etc etc are some of the words that can drive people nuts. I have witnessed that madness, but I don’t feel sorry for such people. Those who regard particular words as dirty, judgmental, indecent, inappropriate are most welcome not to use these words, but what’s the point of imposing their rotten views on others? We all have the right to learn things on our own. We don’t need this kind of madness; it is not just madness but it is also corrupt on the part of anyone who forces others to do what they want to do. You don’t want to use a word. Don’t use it. Why do you want others not to use it or to use it?
In fact such acts remind me of one of the slogans of the party in 1984 that says: “Ignorance is strength.” Maybe these people are inspired by the Big Brother & his lousy principles. Maybe even here the main aim is to narrow down the range of thought. When words won’t be there, people won’t be able to think.
“It’s a beautiful thing, the destruction of words…After all, what justification is there for a word which is simply the opposite of some other word? A word contains its opposite in itself.”
George Orwell
“In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it. Every concept that can ever be needed, will be expressed by exactly one word, with its meaning rigidly defined & all its subsidiary meanings rubbed out & forgotten.”
George Orwell
You know nothing is too coarse for my chaste pen. I often use the word fuck & it is considered unethical by many but quite frankly, I don’t give a flying fuck to it. Come to think of it, if we don’t use the word lechery, lecherous people will not be wiped out from the planet & neither would lechery. People may stop using terms such as human trafficking, but sex slaves will not disappear in thin air. Yes you can close your eyes but you can’t change the reality. By putting emphases on words like bastard or harami, you’re not contributing anything. The plight of illegitimate children wouldn’t reduce by even an inch.
I had the misfortune to work with this dysfunctional lady & she used to say that we must always use Mister & Miss when we talk to people. We shouldn’t use he/she or him/her as that is disrespectful. There are too many mad people out there & we don’t have time to know how fucked up are they anyway.
We need words to think. We need words to express ourselves. Shakespeare once said, ‘Nothing is good or bad, but thinking makes it so.’
Since I’m not a psychiatrist or a psychologist, I don’t know what’s wrong with people who have problem with words. Either they have experienced something so bad that they can’t help being what they are. They don’t even want people to use such words that remind them of such incidents. It is some sort of disorder. I don’t think it’s a normal behaviour to impose such views on others.
If freedom is our birthright, then we can use any word we like whether the world approves of it or not. Of course there are man-made chains every where…this is a fact we can’t run away from. But to put boundaries on your thinking is I guess the worst crime a human can do to himself.
