People nowadays treat life as if it is forever. Instead of making dreams come true, people would rather wait for their dreams to come to them. When will it ever occur to them that life is a very valuable artifact and that they shouldn’t take it for granted. It is better to take chances in life than living it in a restricted “box”. “A Coney Island Life” by James L. Weil compares life to a carnival in New York. Talking about a carousel ride the person in this poem has a scarce amount of time left in their life and is reflecting on the obstacles that they encountered. As the person wasted their time wining "dolls", they're hopes and dreams were "breaking skywards without them". This piece of literature is simple yet it also has a deep meaning to it. The poem conveys the idea that time is valuable and we shouldn’t be waiting on goals and opportunities to come to us.
We haven’t lived life yet if we haven’t encountered an obstacle. Life is not perfect. It has its fun, scary, and sad moments. While fulfilling their dreams, people experience “roadblocks” but that doesn’t give them an excuse to turn around and give up. Instead it gives them a reason to work through the obstacle. Just like what James L. Weil said in the poem, “Having lived a Coney Island life, on roller coasters ups and downs.”, he gave the reader an idea of perseverance. The roller coasters represent the rough and good days in life. As we all know it, rollercoasters starts off with a incline that boosts up our adrenaline. Then it ends with a drop of fear and regret. James L. Weil compares the drops and loops of the rollercoasters to the sad and happy parts of life. In the poem, the line, “Now arms filled with dolls I threw so much for.”, gives the hidden meaning that determination helps accomplish many things in life. This line tells the readers that no matter at what cost, achieving a goal would give you happiness. To reach a goal, people would have to sacrifice a lot of things in their life. It may require time and hard work but it is all worth it in the end.
Many people do not realize that time goes by fast, and it could never be restored. It also doesn’t wait for anybody, so one must value and catch their dreams before it’s too late. When James L. Weil said “And seen my helium hopes break skyward without me.”, he conveyed the idea that time goes by fast so we should not waste it. Comparing goals to a simple balloon filled with helium, Weil shows us that our goals could fly away from us before we know it. Dreams and goals do not come to us, therefore we must accomplish it before time runs out. In the poem, James L. Weil expresses the value of time by stating “I take perhaps my last ride on this planet carousel”. By saying this, he is telling the reader to use time wisely and not waste it on useless things. Earlier in the poem, Weil stated the line "Now arms filled with dolls, I threw so much for." Sure, winning dolls could be great, but after winning them, they possess no purpose, therefore they just turn into a piece of decoration. Wasting time on useless things like dolls, is an example that Weil is trying to portray. Time could be free, but it is also priceless.
Through quotes and metaphors, James L. Weil teaches us a lesson on life, time, and dreams. Even though this poem was simple and short, it still gives us a great lecture on how to live our life. Within 60 words, James L. Weil explains to the reader that goals and dreams are the reason why we live life. Weil portrays the idea of pushing ourselves to the limit so that when the end comes, we would not die of regret but leave with a satisfaction that we have lived out lives to the fullest.
No comments:
Post a Comment