juxtaposition

 "Tyger! Tyger! burning bright 
In the forests of the night, 

What immortal hand or eye 
Could frame thy fearful symmetry? "

                     - "The Tyger" 

   

  "Dost thou know who made thee? 
Gave thee life, and bid thee feed, 
By the stream and o'er the mead; 
Gave thee clothing of delight, 
Softest clothing, woolly, bright; 
Gave thee such a tender voice, 
Making all the vales rejoice? "

- "The Lamb"

Juxtaposition: "an act or instance of placing close together or side by side,especially for comparison or contrast." 

Let's consider William Blake and his Songs of Innocence and of Experience. The title of the poem collection in itself expresses what Blake suggests is the "two contrary states of the human soul." Innocence is juxtaposed with experience. Experience shatters innocence. Here are the two poems describing the opposing notions represented by a lamb and a tiger. 

The lamb revels in the bliss that is light, innocence, and delight. Its existence is rejoiced, its sweetness treasured. The poem exhibits remarkable gratitude towards the lamb's creator, who evidently crafted a bundle of beautifully pure naiveté. 

The tiger prowls in a darkness inundated with destruction and violence, painted in an image strikingly yet horrifyingly beautiful. "The Tyger" sings a song of lamentation, sorrowfully wondering who could have created the magnificently majestic, destructive tiger. 

Juxtaposition is a universal presence, Blake asserts. Both light and dark, both good and evil, and both lambs and tigers exist in our world. It is paradoxical-- that such polar notions can coexist in a single place. Blake himself is perplexed by these coexistences: "Did he smile his work to see? 

Did he who made the Lamb make thee?" Puzzling as it is, this dichotomy reveals truths even about human nature, truths strikingly exhibited in The Child By Tiger's Dick Prosser, a manifestation of extreme dichotomy. We can talk about juxtaposition. We can talk about Dick Prosser, the man so admired by teen adolescents and the man who murders. It is no mistake, then, that the short story's author weaves in Blake's poetry about a terrifyingly beautiful tyger. In what strange world can both a tiger and a lamb exist inside a single person? 

It all leaves us to ponder about ourselves. If tigers and lambs can so easily coexist, how easily can evil vanquish good? After all, it happened to Dick Prosser.  

grown up

Here we are. The fourth and final year of our secondary school education. It's gone by pretty quickly, hasn't it? It's difficult to believe that we're approaching the end of our precollege years. Just think about this time next year, when we're going to be throwing ourselves into the great unknown that is independence--away from strict rules, away from parents, and away from home. 

Even now, I can't even get accustomed to calling myself a senior. Senior. That word seems invariably profound with a certain sense of finality attached. It's like a wake up call. We're all growing up. For real this time. 

Of course, senior year seems to be attached to the notions of freedom, carefree actions, and fun. The go-to mentality of the typical senior is along the lines of "I can't wait to get out of here!", which, of course, is the basis of the terribly debilitating case of laziness known as senioritis. But take a step back. Even with the worst case of senioritis, there is that slight well of nostalgia. Graduating is bittersweet. Freedom comes with the loss of this school, these peers, these teachers, and, most of all, this home. 

In many ways, it's terrifying--especially now, when we begin to delve into future plans, immersing ourselves in the hectic world that is the college application process. I don't know where I want to go. I don't know what I want to do. I just don't know. But maybe we're really not supposed to know. Maybe that's what senior year is all about. 

It's a juggling act. Fill out this application today. Write this essay tomorrow. Go to school. Rewrite that awful paragraph. Look at scholarships. Look at schools. Extracurricular activity. Edit this essay. Ask for a recommendation. Keep going to school. On and on and on and on... 

We're all growing up. For real.