WiNK

Generally speaking as human beings, we fear the unknown. Whether it is a person, place, or thing it doesn't really matter, because when we sense something is unfamiliar it makes us uncomfortable. William Seighart says that this poem is about refugees. He says, "It's very easy, especially when we feel threatened or frightened, to allow people of other races, religions, or national origin to fall into the vague category of the Other," meaning that in the context of this poem, refugees are "the other." I agree with what he is saying and admire the lense of modern relevance he looked through; however, I looked at the poem through a much bigger lense. Recently, I have learned how important it is to go through life with the help of other people. When John Donne writes, "No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main," this feels as if he is trying to say that we all have more in common than what divides us. We need to recognize that no matter how afraid we are of differences, or the "unknown," we need to acknowledge that we cannot get through life without the help of others.

'No Man is an Island' by John Donne

No man is an island entire of itself; every man

is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;

if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe

is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as

well as any manner of thy friends or of thine

own were; any man's death diminishes me,

because I am involved in mankind.

And therefore never send to know for whom

the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.