Humans are a species that has mastered exaggerating survival instincts and incorporating them into daily life. Humans have been continuously improving their timeline by implementing new ideas, from calculus and gravitational time.
Despite these drastic lifestyle changes, there is one constant theme in growing societies: the boundaries. While boundaries are intended to be separable from the outset, they simply adapt to changing temporal conditions. These boundaries were there long before man was created. Animals can be hostile if their territories, or boundaries, become compromised. Even before humans, physical barriers such mountains and seas existed. Professor Keller’s lecture and subsequent talks proved that boundaries can’t be defined using one definition because there are many. This term can encompass physical, metaphysical or cultural, as well as spiritual and social barriers. They serve a contradictory purpose that appears to be deceptively obvious: boundaries not only divide but also promote the integration of peoples. When combined with their spiritual and emotional definitions, however, boundaries can be used to protect and differentiate individuals. It is likely that people who migrate and travel will experience profound effects from breaking, traversing, or reestablishing their boundaries due to its wide influence on society.
Most people find change stressful. The Odyssey is illustrated by Emily Wilson. It shows that Odysseus the Ithaca king has been forced to relocate to Calypso’s island for seven year. The experience has clearly affected him. Athena is Odysseus’ goddess of favor. She says that Odysseus is a “poor and unhappy man” who “longs for even the smoke that rises/from his own homeland, but he also wants to die.” Odysseus, who was living on Calypso island while “sobbing with grief and pain” and staring “across a fruitless sea,” is the result of having lost his homeland. Odysseus simply exists on the island of the goddess and will not be able, by accepting Calypso’s proposal, to reclaim Troy’s title. Charles Stangor has a good explanation of Odysseus’ behavior. He says self-esteem is achieved by seeing oneself in a high regard. Or, to put it another way, Odysseus can’t sacrifice the opportunities for glory that await him upon his return home to Ithaca. It is easy to think that Odysseus was just trying to save himself and be a good male lead. But, closer inspection shows that The Odyssey portrays Odysseus as someone whose struggles demonstrate the emotional effects physical relocations and barriers have on a person’s psyche as well as one’s self-regard. Odysseus is constantly in despair because he has been displaced so long.
Even though it’s dramatic, Odysseus isn’t the only one who suffered similar emotional traumas. Technology and our lifestyles have not made it easier to resist the forces of nature. We are just as vulnerable to earthquakes and storms as Odysseus. Miyake Volcano destroyed Japanese homes in 2000. Many people were forced to move into the middle of the city, experiencing what Hausman refers as “relocation stress” and “mobility syndrome”. These symptoms included anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Those with longer stays on the islands or who moved often were more likely to have the symptoms. Similar to the 1992 case of Hurricane Andrew, research shows that moving was associated with more ecological stress…isolation, social disruption and higher levels of depression. The themes of “loss and vulnerability” are a common theme in literature. The Exeter Book Elegies illustrates many aspects of exile, longing, despair, and the loss of one’s mind and soul. This suggests that the weight of lamenting the loss of identity goes beyond geographical boundaries.
But there are others who travel across borders to pursue curiosity, pleasure, or opportunity. These people are conscious about leaving their home and often find themselves in unfavorable circumstances. Arabian Nights’ Sindbad is the sailor who ventures to another of seven foreign destinations during his “life filled with happiness, contentment, and relaxation”. He said that he felt a “pernicious desire to travel to other parts” after enduring many hardships and traumatic losses. Similar to The Seafarer, the narrator of The Seafarer expresses a similar desire. He feels compelled to travel “time and again” in order to find / far away from here a foreign country. This is what penetrates the depressing atmosphere of the poem. These characters may have sought “le joie d’ vivre” or the joy of life, especially Sindbad. While this is admirable, it also has its downsides. Sindbad, by spending his days with different races “to trade and make money, ” compromises his identity in pursuit of wealth. Sindbad is able to set aside his selfishness and tell himself that God has “turned you away from your greed, which causes your sufferings, despite having riches in abundance”. However, the fate and destiny of the seafarer are unknown. As his “spirit move with the tide, ” his heart can’t resist “the whale’s course over the open water”, the poem becomes a feverish praise of “the terrors God”.
Boundaries are man-made and preserve the human mind. Boundaries are a protective mechanism that ensure safety, security, predictability, and predictability. These characteristics would be advantageous in the age of survival. A disruption to an individual’s identity can result in a loss of identity. While boundaries are important in protecting, combining, and separating subjects, peoples, and individuals, they also allow for their evolution. They are reestablished and invaded as often and as often change in values, customs, objectives, and values. Although the physical barriers have been broken down by airplanes and cruise vessels, the intangible ones that surround global societies continue to be strong. Our differences and competence keep us from being able to do the same. Boundaries, despite the many capabilities they have, are seen as partitions that function principally because of lack empathy, ignorance, or privilege. One day, we may be able to conquer the walls of society and protect what we value.
