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The Present and the Past Demonstrated in My Present Age by Guy Vanderhaeghe

Autor:   •  February 1, 2018  •  1,251 Words (6 Pages)  •  640 Views

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All men find the idea of strength in a woman – strength of any kind - enormously threatening. Bill certainly did. What are all you men afraid of? 4

By trying to show her strength, she also comes off as a little self-absorbed. She concentrates on her health, working out at the gym, and other peoples’ business, which are activities all taken place in present times.

Marsha, true child of her generation, believes something ought to be done about death. If it can’t be abolished, arrangements should be made to have it indefinitely postponed. “Still,” Marsha says, diet is very important. And exercise. Exercise is wonderful.” As she says this I’m sure she casts an appraising eye at my girth. 5

This quote shows that she is trying to fix Ed as well as influence him in her way of life. Another quality in present society is the fact that people are constantly trying to change themselves and others. Through actions, Vanderhaeghe shows the Marsha is situated in the present times.

The present and the past both have their advantages and disadvantages. In general it is thought that new is more advanced with better technology and with trendier ways of thinking. Vanderhaeghe put a lot of emphasis on people stuck in the past compared to those pressing on in the present. The characters all held their flaws and were unlikeable at times. In the same way it is hard to say whether Vanderhaeghe favoured the past or the present.

The world is billions of years old and getting older by the minute. Now here’s a thought I had. Maybe Evolution, or whatever, is slowly turning Mr. Disraeli’s apes into angels, but it’s all being done so gradual we don’t realize it. Wouldn’t that by something quite unique? Stranger things have happened. Look at the platypus. This is Tom Rollins, this May 23, asking all you good people to keep thinking about it. 6

Neither the past nor the present had angelic people in it, or perfect qualities. It was either Ed and McMurtry in the past wishing for things that could never happen and spouting off racist ideas, or it was Rollins, Benny, and Marsha in the present displaying the negatives of the present’s greed about “stuff”, vanity, and trust in a the occasionally corrupt media. The past was idyllic in some eyes but old-fashioned in others, as well as the present was preferred by some over the past. No time period is perfect, but it is what you make of the time you are given and how you live out your life that makes the difference.

Bibliography

- Vanderhaeghe, Guy. My Present Age. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Inc, 1984 pg.33

- Ibid, pg. 93

- Ibid, pg. 36

- Ibid, pg. 81

- Ibid, pg. 80

- Ibid, pg. 251

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