Hope Prevails Essay, Research Paper

I was really moved and touched by that one specific incident that Prof. Michael Norman shared in his lecture, which was about some Japanese soldiers, who were secretly giving medicines to some of the Filipino soldiers, who fell ill while inside the work camp. As Prof. Norman had mentioned, it was the human heart at work. Indeed it was. That despite the numerous tragedies in human history, because of the prevalence of the human heart, the human goodness, we can still speak of hope. Because even though man is sometimes the savage creature that he is, a would-be murderer, evil, and flawed being, man is still good. That despite the numerous attempts of the human race to self-destruct, life still prevails, hope still prevails, love still prevails. And so we must ask ourselves, how does this happen? What perpetuates us, the human race, even though it seems we want to run ourselves to the ground? It is in the answer to this question that hope lies. Remember that these soldiers were part of the nation that invaded and that tried to conquer us and like the rest of the Japanese army, they were taught to be “conquerors” and “killers.” But still, they were able to do something good and noble, i.e. secretly giving medicines to some of the Filipino soldiers inside the work camp. Now, doesn’t this brim with hope for all mankind? That man still knows what is right and what is good in the face of cruelty, hostility, and danger. Man’s cruelty shows but at the same time, in the same light, man’s inherent goodness also lingers, waiting to be expressed. There is hope. As illustrated by the goodness of these Japanese soldiers. That despite being faced with atrocity and cruelty, we can hope that deep inside, man will still do what is right and not by what is dictated by other forces or selfish motives. Hope is the best comfort to our imperfect conditions. Tragedy is all just a part of this great play called life, a part of the human mystery that we must all face. But then again, with people like these Japanese soldiers, there is still hope for man. And no one can ever take that away from us, no one.