Tuesday, March 30, 2010

JC Essay on Brutus

In the very beginning of the novel “Julius Caesar”, when we first meet Brutus. He says “…let the gods so speed me as I love the name of honor more than I fear death.(Pg. 32; Line 87)” This quote could foreshadow specific events or even how Brutus might act in the future. The death he fears in the quote could be seen as Caesars death. Brutus commits this murder because of two powerful motivators; his sense of honor and his deep patriotism for Rome. By getting rid of Caesar, Brutus thought he was doing the right and most honorable thing for his country.

Brutus’s true patriotism and his love for Rome motivates him in doing great acts and events for Rome. He thinks by killing the most noble Caesar will be good for Rome, people might even appreciate it and he thinks good things will happen from this. Brutus’s reason for being so patriotic is that he wants his citizens of Rome to have a better life. To make his citizens like him more, he had to do something good. He says that killing Caesar will make the citizens happier because Caesar is not a good leader and he wants Rome to have freedom. He truly thinks this is a better option. Brutus is a very patriotic person, and when his love for Rome ‘pushes’ him, he acts in a certain way. He thinks once he does something for Rome, everything will be okay and he doesn’t have to worry. He believes that people will agree with him and that will make him look good for himself and in front of Rome. It will give him a good name for himself and people will feel so great to have him. He tries to do everything he can to make this happen. An example for his patriotism was when he and the conspirators had a meeting of what they were going to do with Caesar, how they would kill him and how they would look like in front of Rome if they did kill him. Brutus gives some examples of what they should do and what they shouldn’t do. “…our purpose necessary, and not envious; which so appearing to the common eyes, we shall be call’d purgers, not murderers. (Pg. 74; Lines 177-180)” Brutus wants to make Caesars death necessary and not just wrathfully kill him. He wants to look good in front of Rome, so he would like to be known as healers not murderers. He believes what he is doing is great for Rome and he wants to be recognized for that. He is very cautious of what he is doing. He loves Rome so much he does not want to disappoint anyone, so he tries to sound as harmful as possible and look good. He wants Rome to know that he is doing this for a good reason, and most of all, keep Rome happy. Brutus is ready to do something great for Rome, but he is also ready to kill himself for Rome, and that is a huge step that anyone could take. Just after Caesars death, Brutus makes a long speech to the people of Rome. He says that he will kill himself if his country wants him to die. “ …as I slew my best lover for the good of Rome, I have the same dagger for myself, when it shall please my country to need my death. (Pg. 130; Line 41)” Brutus is saying that if Rome disagreed with Caesars death, he is ready to kill himself for his country. He has so mush true love for Rome that he is willing to kill himself! Just by looking at this quote makes all of us surprised and how patriotic he is for his own country. There is true patriotism in this quote above, whoever would do that for their country has a strong heart. After Brutus’s acts of patriotism and what he does to make himself look good, it makes the people like him more, and they don’t want him to die. Brutus doesn’t just have true patriotism, but he is a very honorable man, and does what is best for Rome.

Brutus Is an Honorable man who thinks wisely, does what is true and does what should be done. Brutus is motivated by Honor because he thinks he is doing what’s right for Rome. He loves Rome so much he wants to be Honorable so people will respect him and follow his rules. Being honorable is a big key factor to lead you to success. By being truly Honorable, he thinks very carefully about things. He always considers the consequences and the different options or even roads he can take to lead him to what’s right. He always does what he thinks is noble. Brutus was very Honorable when the conspirators and himself were talking about how they should kill Caesar and what they should do. “Let’s kill him boldly, but not wrathfully; Let’s carve him as a dish fit for the gods…”(Pg.74; Lines 172-173) Brutus wants to kill Caesar in a noble kind way instead of in a horrible way. He wants to kill Caesar as quickly and cleanly as possible. It shows Brutus’s Honor because he thought of the consequences and his choices. He thought honorably and a lot to make him sound like a good person. Even if he wants Caesars death to be noble, he wants it to have a reason. He doesn’t want people to think he did it for no reason at all. In the same paragraph as the other quotes, Brutus shows more honor when he talks about how Caesar should die and what they will do. “To cut the head off and then hack the limbs, Like wrath in death and envy afterwards” (Pg. 74; Line 163)

The main conflict in the Novel is that the people wanting to reach there goals and everyone to be happy. But Brutus had to decide if killing Caesar was the right thing to do. To help Brutus choose if he should kill or not, was his key motivators, his ture patriotism and his sense of honor. This made him focus on his goals more, but he was also arrogant and this made it hard for him to work with. In the end Brutus’s arrogance and over confidence ended him up on the ground like his dear friend Caesar. Brutus did not achieve his goal because at the end of the novel, people started to realize he wasn’t doing any good to Rome and started to dislike him. Antony became an enemy of Brutus. Brutus later fell down, and lost his power. Eventually he had killed himself. This goal he had was not noble or even worthy. Killing someone, no matter the reason is never worthy or noble.

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