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The Essayist
NMB, Florida January 3, 2002 A.H. Schectman
THINKING ALLOWED
Essays on Issues, Ideas and Reflections on the Times. Published Now and
Then. Opinions Pro or Con Are Welcome.
THE ESSAYIST
As the reigning essayist in our house I got to thinking about my first
experience with an essay. It was "A Dissertation on Roast Pig" by Charles
Lamb and was required reading in a high school English class. The story is
a simple one and combines a first rate story idea and a humorous supposition
that tickles you and makes you want not only to read it but to think. That
is the whole point of writing, I believe. Someone's writing should make you
think.
It so happened many years ago in primitive China that pigs and humans lived
together. Pigs were not raised for food but companionship. One day a house
burned down and a pig was caught in the conflagration and was burned to
death. The owner of the house was distraught and approached the pig and
reached out in compassion and touched the still hot and crisp flesh. He
burned his finger and brought it up to his mouth to cool it and was rewarded
with a delicious taste. Soon houses all over China were burning down.
It is interesting to note that a lesson was included in this short, short
story. You have to think about the ridiculous assumption that people would
not immediately realize that you could create a small house in your backyard
and burn it down with the pig inside. And then, there are other variations
of ending the tale. My favorite one is that the realization hit the ancient
Chinese that they could bring in deer, rabbits, turkeys and such and burn
their houses down to enjoy the results. This is the kind of thinking I
think our leaders use in thinking of how to govern us.
My becoming an essayist is because my long stories immediately put readers
to sleep. I once read parts of my novel about Nebuchadnezzar's Pillar to a
group assembled at Monmouth to celebrate the creativity of a faculty member.
I have had some nervous dreams about the mistake that I made by putting my
effort before the public before I should have been seen or parts of the
novel exposed.
Actually, I was a better puppeteer than a novelist and my essays have
provoked some interest and that is quite nice. Carol's Evaluation: 10 out of
10.
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