Conclusion
Humankind is a species capable of both great beauty and horror. The continual development of mankind through millennia defies human conception, contradictory in its very existence and representative of flaws and fallacies otherwise unheard of in nature.
We are a species that seeks control, continually creating and destroying in equal measure, a civilization able to demonstrate both great care for the wider world and an innate selfishness that threatens to burn it down. We are so sure of ourselves, imposing human measures that might contextualize the vast universe, might simplify something that defies definition.
And yet there is no clear answer to whether these measures of human control free us to the possibilities, or limit us in our conception of what is humanly possible.
We fight to control fate, both on a societal and individual level, seeking to steer the course of our species toward a brighter future. Yet we simultaneously think little of the next day, often content with the pleasures of the present.
How are we capable of such intellect, yet able to sink to the depths of depravity? We all hope for purpose in a world with no clear answers and seek to find greater meaning on a planet that seemingly exists without meaning.
The reality around us is a contradiction in itself, seemingly controlled by laws of nature that impose themselves on the very particles that make up the known universe, yet the universe itself seemingly exists without laws for being. Humankind cannot be faulted for seeking order when we inhabit such a paradox.
We are all just trying to find out the way in this lawless universe that we have created laws for. Our search for purpose intertwines with our fight to control our fate. And the way in which we humans try to control fate is intricately intertwined with the greater world around us, of which through our existence we are just a piece of an unending puzzle.
We want to feel like our lives have a greater meaning in the shadow of this unimaginable reality, to feel as if we did not just exist but truly lived. The short stories throughout these units conveyed these greater themes of human ambition, of the human nature inherent within all of us. In this unpredictable reality we inhabit, we must simultaneously adhere to the conventions of our wider society and break free from the restrictions that this imposes upon us.
In life, we often either find purpose through moments of great chaos or are held by a greater purpose through the society around us. In The Red Balloon, the two main characters are able to find something worth living for in each other through an apocalyptic scenario.
In The Leading Man, the boy is able to find his true purpose through a dangerous scenario in which another person faces death. In Birdsong, a woman is able to be set free through the passion of a whirlwind affair. In After I Was Thrown in the River and Before I Drowned, the dog is able to live out his passions through the danger of a simple jump.
In Saint Chola, Shala is able to find the true resolute passion to proudly present her heritage even when the world around her threatens to tear her down. In Escape From the Mall, the main character is able to face her fears and truly live when hordes of dead are threatening to end her life.
Yet on the opposite end of the spectrum, we are at times unable to reach our dreams through the world around us. In Ghosts, Pascal is kept from his passion by being thrust into the middle of a politically fraught war between the police and the gangs.
In Motherland, the children on the island are unable to escape the fate of the mothers that came before them due to the naive, warped perception of the war-torn world around them. In St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, the wolven girls cannot escape the loss of their identities through their integration into a civilized society that is taking over the world.
At times we cannot escape the restrictions the world around us puts on us. All we can do is control how we face this. We must break from the conventions by which we all rigidly adhere, simultaneously maintaining the fundamental morality and virtue inherent within the rules and customs of a society.
We have a responsibility to both ourselves and those around us, and we must break free to become something new. Each of us is the pioneers of a new age of human evolution, each forging a new path toward the future.
This is how humankind continually evolves and continually breaks the mold. We are a species that is capable of great creation, and still self-destructive on an unprecedented scale. We all, however, possess the unique ability to build something new from the ruins of what came before.
