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Natalia M. Casillas

ERWC/Ms. Marcum

December 5, 2016.

True Mortality Worth

Whose life should be valued more, an infant or an elderly? There are different insights on

how life should be valued. For instance, art over mortality, monetary value, challenges in life

greater than ones self, etc. Choosing art over life is an option because of the idea that a work of

art can have more value based on its background and purpose. Monetary value can be a second

option because an individual's earnings can determine their value when they die. Finally, the

unknown challenges that life throws at people are a way to define someone's value of life. These

challenges can be categorized by illness, lack of motive, discomfort in society, and catastrophic

events. In contemporary American society, people should value human life by comprehending

that life is a precious opportunity someone possess because they get to experience and develop

new things in which leads to taking action in what they believe in.

Valuing life is all about making the best of it. It also consists of developing knowledge

and appreciation towards the opportunity of living. Throughout life, people gain more

knowledge, have more experiences, and change their perspectives of things. Linda Pastan makes

a perfect example of how life should be valued in her poem Ethics. Pastan shows the reader the

concept of art over humanity but later on gives her opinion on that concept. She believes that as a

person grows they grow more wise and see their potential (Pastan, 23-25). The speaker discusses

that the life of a person should be placed value by the development of time. Throughout Pastans

poem, she shows how in her early years she claims a perspective, but as she grew older, that
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perspective changes. The opportunity of being exposed to certain behaviors and perspectives

encourage Pastan and others to see things differently and stand up on what they believe in. Even

though life can be valued in a cognitive side, it can also be valued as a currency side.

If someone loses their life today, what are they worth? There are family members that

suffer from a loss of a loved one on a daily basis but, how will they manage to survive on their

own without that loved ones income? This concept complicates the idea of converting

someone's value in life into actual currency. Amanda Ripleys article from Time magazine,

Whats A Life Worth? provides the opinions of the family members from the victims of the

World Trade Center attack. She quotes a lawyer who understands the two different perspectives

in this situation, stating People have had a loved one wrenched from them suddenly without

warning, and we are only five months beyond that disaster They are desperately seeking, from

what Ive seen, to place as much value on that lost loved one as they can Thats not greed.

Thats human nature (Ripley, 22). The fact that the family members are placing more money

value on their loved one is comprehensible. No one would want that a loved one is valued less

than another person. Ripley believes that placing monetary value on someone can be a

squeamishly, callous act. These family members took action on what they believed in, which was

the life of that loved one was more precious than anyone else's. Losing a loved one can be a hard

challenge that life presents to people, and so are other things.

Illness is a period of sickness where the body is affected and malfunctions. There are

many types of diseases out in the world and being discovered, but there are ones that are very

common and are the secondary cause of death in the United States. Chris Jones interviews a film

critic, called Robert Ebert, who passed away from cancer of the thyroid and salivary glands. In
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his interview he excerpts from Eberts blogs to portray how he valued life. Battling cancer was

very challenging for Roger Ebert, but he never gave up. He believes that life is truly valued if

people have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a

little happier, that is about the best we can do (Jones, 34). He believes that people can contribute

to society in a good way. Life should be valued based on the good experiences people have and

the actions taken to contribute. Although life is full of happiness and love, theres also challenges

and disappointments.

Constant challenges are seen on the daily basis such as discrimination and lack of motive

in life. Authors portray these challenges in their work like Shakespeare in Hamlet and 2Pac

Shakur in his song Changes. The character Hamlet goes through tough times because he found

out that his father died and his mother remarried with his uncle, he questions his value of life and

contemplates suicide, To be or not to be (Shakespeare, 1). In 2Pacs song he expresses that

theres discrimination in todays society, questioning the value of life of those being

discriminated. He questions if his life is worth living, if theres ever going to be a change

(Shakur, 3-4). Although both artist and characters challenges are heartbreaking, people should

not give up on their pursuit of unknown experiences that life can offer. It is important to realize

that life can be complex, but that is no justification to give up on life.

Comprehending how life is a precious opportunity because of the multiple goals and

experiences, it would be the proper way of valuing life. It is inevitable that life is ever going to

get easy, but it gives people hope, development, and courage. Every individual has the right to

express their opinion and values, but there is a certain point where they should question how they

perceive life and who benefits from it.