Discuss the theme of the poem ‘Enterprise’ by Nissim Ezekiel.
"Enterprise" was written by the Indian poet Nissim
Ezekiel and published in his 1960 collection The Unfinished Man. The poem
follows a gaggle of individuals on a "pilgrimage" whose long trek
begins with a robust sense of purpose but ends in devastation and disillusionment.
Discuss the theme of the poem ‘Enterprise’ by Nissim Ezekiel. The pilgrims, who encounter as idealistic yet somewhat naive and ill-prepared,
get so beaten down by their journey that, once they reach their destination,
they do not even remember why they're there. Discuss the theme of the poem ‘Enterprise’ by Nissim Ezekiel.The poem has been read as an
allegory for variety of things (including the journey of life itself, India's
emergence from the grip of colonial rule, and therefore the flaws of organized
religion). Above all, it speaks to the way that idealism can falter within the
face of reality, the divisive nature of pride, and therefore the value of that
specialize in the journey instead of the destination.
The journey began as a sort of spiritual trek to a sanctum ,
one that lifted people's spirits and made their problems seem insignificant.
subsequent stage of the journey led to some questions but didn't test the
group's resolve. The sun shone down on the pilgrims as if in honor of their
fiery anger.
The speaker thought the group was doing well, making many
observations and taking many notes along the way about things such as: the
economic activity of the peasants, snakes' and goats' behavior, and three cities
where a adviser once taught.
But when people began to argue over the way to cross a
specific area of desert, one pilgrim, whose writing sounded better than anyone
else's, decided to go away the group. A growing shadow loomed over all of them
.
During another a part of the journey, the group was attacked
twice and got lost. Some people declared themselves free from the group and
left. The speaker attempted to wish , and therefore the group's leader said he
could smell the ocean nearby.
They stopped noticing anything around them as they continued
on their journey. They were a slow-moving group without much hope, not paying
any attention to bad omens like hell . Discuss the theme of the poem ‘Enterprise’ by Nissim Ezekiel. They lacked the essential necessities of
life, like soap. Some members of the group were totally destroyed by the
experience, while others were just within the process of being destroyed.
When they finally made it to their destination, they barely
even knew why they'd came. The journey had made their faces dark and sad, and
that they realized that nothing they'd done was particularly special or
meaningful. they need to collect their grace reception .
"Enterprise" are often read as suggesting that, in
life, the journey is more important than the destination. The speaker, a part
of a gaggle of pilgrims, describes an extended and arduous trip that starts
with hope and idealism and ends in disillusionment and despair. Discuss the theme of the poem ‘Enterprise’ by Nissim Ezekiel. The poem
implies that the pilgrims fail to meaningfully engage with and value the planet
around them as they create their way across the land, which this results in
their undoing: ironically, their excitement about the glory of their
“enterprise” blinds them to the life directly ahead of them.
The poem suggests that these pilgrims aren’t focused on the
proper things from the getgo. The word “enterprise” means an enormous project
or undertaking and is usually wont to mention business ventures. It's strange,
then, that the speaker also calls this a “pilgrimage”—a long trek towards a
holy site. Discuss the theme of the poem ‘Enterprise’ by Nissim Ezekiel.The spiritual connotations of the word "pilgrimage" imply
that the people setting off on this journey are seeking some kind of deep
fulfillment, but the earthly connotations of the word "enterprise" suggest
that they are looking within the wrong place.
Indeed, as they create their way across the land, the
pilgrims get bound up in superficial tasks and observations. They take
"copious notes" on things that do not really seem to matter:
transactions made by "the peasants," the behavior of snakes and
goats, and therefore the cities where "a sage" once taught (not the
sage’s actual teachings). instead of experiencing or trying to seek out a way
of reference to their surroundings, they seem to waste their energy calculating
and cataloging material things—on the looks of progress instead of actual
progress.
This sense that the group’s focus is off reappears when “a
friend” with the foremost “stylish prose” decides to go away over a squabble
about the way to “cross a desert patch.” Despite being ostensibly united in
their aim—crossing this desert—they get so bound up in the way to do that that
the group splinters. Discuss the theme of the poem ‘Enterprise’ by Nissim Ezekiel. The speaker’s mention of the friend's literary genre ,
instead of its substance, also mirrors the pilgrims' specialise in “where a
sage taught” instead of what that sage taught. In both cases, the pilgrims seem
to urge distracted from the most thing that a pilgrimage is usually all about:
finding meaning and fulfillment. They're too focused on achieving some grand
feat that they overlook what matters.
In fact, the further they are going the more blinded to
their initial purpose they appear to urge . Discuss the theme of the poem ‘Enterprise’ by Nissim Ezekiel. Their leader vaguely promises that
he can smell the sea—that is, he claims to sense that the destination is close
at hand—and this spurs them forward, seemingly enticed by the glory of reaching
“the place.” Meanwhile the pilgrims "notice[] nothing" about the
planet they really inhabit, ignoring bad omens like "thunder" and
immediate, basic “needs like soap.” Their dreams of epic glory blind them to
reality.
And albeit they are doing reach their destination, the
pilgrims not know "why" they wanted to travel there within the first
place. They realize that their actions are "neither great nor rare,"
but rather hollow and meaningless. Now that they've reached their goal, the
pilgrims intuitively suspect that the goal was never really the point—and that
what it took to urge there wasn't worthwhile .