A Reason to Live
- Jethro Wong
- Jan 15, 2019
- 2 min read
Updated: Jan 16, 2019
The dream life in a first world country is to go into a good university, graduate with an engineering/medical/law degree, get a good job, get married, and retire by the time you’re 50. Everyone is told that this is the best way that they can live their lives and if they don’t live to this standard, they are failures. To make it worse, usually the people that tell them they will be failures are their parents. It’s something usually joke about, but I believe that it’s actually a really bad thing for students. Fear is no longer something that motivates people, but rather damages their mental state. This also reflects in the increasing suicide rates of university students. They believe that their lives are over when they slip up a little bit in school and resort to suicide because of the pressure put on them by their parents. It is their feeling of a lack of purpose that makes them want to commit suicide (6 reasons people attempt suicide).
This can be compared to Hamlet’s thoughts of suicide in Hamlet. His thoughts are similar where he thinks that the best way out of his bad situation is to commit suicide. However, despite all his complaining and suffering, Hamlet continues to live his life. I believe that the only reason that Hamlet is able to continue to live is because he finds a purpose for his life despite his bad situation (the purpose to avenge his father’s death), and is able to pursue this purpose until his untimely death. I think Hamlet is a good example of what people need, a purpose (although a life purpose of revenge is not healthy). Students need something that is more than just, “do this and your life will be good” because if it doesn’t happen (which it isn’t guaranteed to happen), then there will be nothing else left for them.
I think that suicide, at its roots, stem from a lack of purpose. The worst life someone can live is a life where they do not believe they have a purpose. People need something to look forward to; a reason to live.
Suicide prevention resources:
Great post! Being called a failure can be very demotivating, especially coming from parents. I think students should be encouraged by their parents to study something that they love, instead of being forced to pursue a specific degree. Parents often pressure their children to do well in school because they want them to have a good future, but this strict attitude may lead to depression in students later down the road. Students with purpose are more likely to do better in school than those who are forced into a degree by their parents. I agree that Hamlet overcame his suicidal ideation by finding his purpose—avenging his father. This post also reminded me of Death of a Salesman, in which Willy…
Great points! I completely agree with all of your arguments. In particular, the one that stood out to me the most was when you mentioned that suicidal thoughts in students “stem from a lack of purpose in life.” If someone feels as if they have nothing to live for, suicide would seem like the most desirable option compared to living a life that which they hate every moment of. I concur, students should find a purpose behind their schoolwork to make their education have meaning. Finding a purpose will lead to both better grades and mental health, as well as decrease suicide rates among students. You discussed the topic of purpose in Hamlet, and I once again agree with you…
Very insightful post! I like how you mention we need to have a purpose to keep us going like Hamlet did. I would assume that self-fulfillment is a big one. Parents typically place pressure on their kids because they want them to be successful; however, as you explained, these excessive pressures can have a significant impact on their mental health. I feel that parents need to understand that if they were to support their kids, allowing them to embrace their talents, they could achieve a lot more success than if they were to pursue something they are not as strong in or even something they dislike. The problem is, all of the typical expectations you mentioned that parents have no…
Brilliant post! I like how you connected this to today’s students as well as our fear of failure and letting down our parents. Being a millennium is quite difficult, especially growing up in this time period, where university programs are extremely competitive, and because of this, we often don’t feel good enough or smart enough. I agree where you mentioned the connection of this topic with Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet because it shows that teenagers in that time period had the similar problem of considering suicide when they lacked purpose in their life. I think the increasing rates of suicide amongst university students is a large issue (mainly considering that many of us are going to university next year) because it…
Great post! I agree that when parents joke about their kids being failures, it tends to demotivate them. No one likes to be called a failure by their parents and although it might initially be meant as a joke, it still hurts to hear that. I know that personally whenever someone says something like that to me, it's extremely discouraging and causes me to be unfocused on my task. I agree that people tend to go down the road of suicide because they don't feel like they have a purpose in life anymore. You made a good connection to Hamlet, but the same can be said for Willy from Death of a Salesman as well. He thinks his last purpose…