Gilgamesh ch 4-7: Here's the Moral by Sophia Colbert

   There are some books out there that are so painful to read that I can't wait until I reach the end so that I can slam it shut, throw it across the wall, and feel justified that I could call it a horrible story. For some books, I want to reach the end because the story is so good that I can't put it down. Usually for these books, I get an empty feeling in the pit of my stomach when I finish because I wanted the story to continue. Gilgamesh was one of those books for me. While I barely liked his character throughout the story, I couldn't help but feel sorry for Gilgamesh at the end. He spent years on a quest to find the bane of his greatest fear. He gave up everything, even the clothes on his back, to find eternal life. When he can't get eternal life, he gets the next best thing, the "fountain of youth." As he holds the blossom in his splintered, blood-covered hands, the closest thing he can get to his life quest, the thing that is so close he can taste it, one mistake takes it away (or should I say miss snake?). He takes a bath, turns around, and the flower is gone. Everything he went through has been a waste. Or has it? Life lessons are boring and painful, but they can be worth more than gold. Gilgamesh learns in his journey that man cannot escape death no matter what lengths they go to escape it. What does he do with this information? He finds a new purpose in life. He stops focusing on himself and focuses on his responsibilities as king. When I saw the new man he became, I wanted to know what he would do next with his newfound wisdom. But then he died, and I was just starting to like him. That empty feeling sunk inside of me as I closed the book, but in reality everything we needed to know from the story was already said. I suppose we were supposed to leave with the same moral he did: life is too short to be focused on yourself.

P.S. I commented on Will and Kayla's posts.