(13)
E.W. Forster
Tolerance
Q. No. 1: Why
was the reconstruction needed?
E. M. Forster wrote this essay after the
Second World War. He masterfully
depicted the complexities and subtleties of civilization in those disorderly
times.
Wars have always been
destructive. They destroy not only the
lives and property of a nation, but they also destroy the ideals and the
ideological foundations of a nation.
Similarly the Second World War destroyed everything and left behind a
looming shadow of "Chaos" and "Nada". In this situation the whole world felt the
need of rebuilding the civilization. The situation demanded that all people
should get ready for the reconstruction of the world. This reconstruction was bound to be physical,
ideological and material. E. M. Forster
discussed the ways in which this purpose might be attained.
Q. No.2: What
was needed to rebuild the civilization?
Civilization is something very
complex. It has its roots in different
values and ideals. These values make the
civilization stable. And if these values
are destroyed, the civilization is automatically destroyed.
The Second World War, not only
damaged the world physically but it shook the moral, social and human bases of
the world civilization too. People had no values; they had no code of
life. They experienced a strong sense of
nothingness. After the war, people felt
the need to restore some values.
Different suggestions were promoted for this purpose. Some people thought that love might be the
force that could bring the stability back in the world. But the experience of many centuries proved
that love had failed badly in public affairs.
It had been tried again and again and it never produced the desired
results.
E. M. Forster thought that the basic
thing needed for the reconstruction was a sound state of mind. A mental state that could analyze the
situation candidly, make plans and bring them into action. It was a mental
state that could make a realistic effort to live with people peacefully and
this thing could only be a tendency to tolerate others. Tolerance was the only solution in the post
war world.
Q. No. 3: How
should people live in post-war situation?
In the post war-world people had to
live with a different attitude. They had
to live with those people who had been fighting against them. They had to share their social and public
life with friends as well as foes. After
the war, there emerged some new parties, some new groups, new factions and some
new sentiments in the population. The
people belonging to the aggressive nations might have faced the wrath of others
for the misdeeds of their leaders and armies.
This reaction could have incurred the feelings of insecurity and
resentment in the population. The
coexistence of different races, classes and nations could have become impossible,
especially in the multi-national societies.
Then, the only solution was to
tolerate each other. If common people
tolerate each other, the wars can never come in the streets of peaceful
cities. They remain in the military and
political grounds and the common man is not influenced by their destructive
powers.
So in the post-war world, the only
way of living was through tolerance.
Q. No. 4: Discuss
the importance of the tolerance?
This essay has been written by E. M.
Forster, he discusses the nature, the importance and uses of tolerance in our
modern times. Tolerance means to accept
the views of other people open heartedly and without any malice. One should respect one’s own opinion as well
as the opinion of other people. It is
the way in which we can create a balance between different ways of life. We should adopt the theory of live and let live.
Today the world is full of
people. Trade and quick ways of
transportation have changed the world into a global village. The boundaries of all countries have become
flexile. The whole Europe is changed
into a European Union. The nations are
quickly merging into others. In modern
societies, different nations, races and classes have to live together. They
cannot live with their prejudice and bias.
They have to be broad minded and tolerant. They should accept the rights
of other to live freely. So in the world
where merit and abilities are the only standard, any fanaticism has no
place. The dogmatic and fundamentalist
faction can prove highly destructive for the society and its peace. The only solution for the peaceful
co-existence of different parts of society is tolerance.
The writer further says that there are
not too many examples in history where tolerance has been used. That’s why, if we look at the history of
mankind, it is nothing but a heap of intrigues, conspiracies, murders,
massacres, wars and fanaticism. He
thinks that the only way to purge the human condition is to flourish the spirit
of tolerance in people. It is the way of
democracy and it has been advocated by almost all religions.
There is another way to live in the
world and that is the way of Nazis. They
believed in destroying everything, every object, every idea, every person and
every theory that they did not like.
They exterminated every other race from Germany. But the civilized societies can never adopt
this way. We cannot live by the
"law of jungle". We are the
human beings; a social animal and we have to create a society. But a society cannot be created without
respecting the social and human rights of other people. So the only way of creating a society or a
civilized culture is tolerance. Writer
quotes a text form the Bible in support of his view! "In my father's house
are many mansions"
Similarly he
refers to different philosophers, spiritual and religious leaders who have
supported the doctrine of tolerance. The
writer suggests a therapy to cultivate the tolerance in people. He says that one should put oneself in the
place of others and analyze the situation.
In this way one can easily understand the limitations of others and can
find the reason of their attitude and opinion.
This understanding gives us the ability to judge something
judiciously. This will help us to
tolerate the conflicting ways and opinions of other people. We can notice that the people with clear
judgment and understanding are always tolerant.
Then E. M. Forster compares the love
and tolerance. He says that love is
important in personal life but it is not effective in public life. The only force in public life is tolerance.
Concluding the discussion the writer
urges us to be open-minded and to see not only the faults of others but of
ourselves too. He says that tolerance is not weakness rather it is strength. It is the only force that can construct or
reconstruct any thing durable.
Q. No. 5: What
is the importance of tolerance in the external and internal problems of
Pakistan?
Tolerance is the most effective
guiding principle in the public life of a nation. Pakistan is an ideological state that was
created in the name of Islam. Islam
stresses on the need of tolerance and a Muslim is demanded to show courtesy
even to his enemy. Islamic history is
full of such events.
Today Pakistan is running through a very
serious crisis. The whole nation is
divided due to many conflicts. Sometimes
these differences are of religious nature and sometimes political. The changes in international affairs also
cause much disruption.
We need tolerance in our religious
life. We should be tolerant in our
relations with other religions. We should give equal rights to them. Similarly we should be tolerant to all the
sects of Islam. Shias should respect
Sunnis and Sunnis should regard the rights of Shias. In this way we can stop the endless series of
bomb blasts and bloodshed on a large scale.
This situation has involved the whole population in it and our image in
the world has been badly tarnished by this intolerant attitude.
The political scenario of Pakistan
presents a very bleak picture.
Conspiracies have strangled the democracy. Politicians do not tolerate each other. Members of opposition are victimized. And the opposition writes letters to the Army
to take over. They organize movements to
bring martial law. The army does not
tolerate politicians. It tries to subdue
them. Army doesn’t respect the basic
human rights of politicians as well as the civillian population. And this attitude has badly harmed our
integrity. We reaped its fruit in 1971
when we lost one of our vital parts due to this intolerance. Even today the condition is not any better;
we are still heading towards disasters of worst kind. Provincialism is playing havoc to our
existence. The irrationality of political element is leading us to hapless
ends. The haughty and unbending attitude
of army is the cause of social unrest and frustration on a large scale. This horrible situation is only the result of
intolerance.
The difference between classes is
also a serious matter. Today our society
is without a middle class. There are the
rich or the poor; some people enjoy every thing while others struggle even for
the bread. According to the facts and
figures of the World Bank, 87% of Pakistani population is living under the line
of poverty. The whole sum of national
wealth is in the control of some rich families.
Feudalism is crushing the poor people.
The system is not supportive.
This situation has produced an atmosphere of resentment and distrust
between both the classes. But if they
open heartedly tolerate each other, the gulf between them can easily be
removed. The rich should try to help
poor. The poor should work harder to
lessen this difference.
In our international affairs,
tolerance can be very vital. Since the
creation of Pakistan we had to bear the enmity of India. We spend almost 70% of our national wealth on
the race of weapons. If we become
tolerant towards India, we can spend this money on raising the standard of our
people’s life.
So it proves that all our internal
and external problems can be solved through the tolerance. This can save us from the discontent and
disappointment present in our nation today.
Very long answers
ReplyDeleteYEAH bUT BWE CAN SHORT IT
Deletemarks of question demands this long answer
ReplyDeleteLong answers
ReplyDeleteNo quotations also
ReplyDeleteYes u right
Delete