The Iron

The Iron

Introduction

The essay by Rollins is a study in the search for self actualization. He has drawn upon his own experiences to relate to the reader. In the process, he also tries to address many doubts many people have about the concepts of strength and survival. Rollins' childhood was not the happiest, and he was frequently bullied and physically beaten by his classmates. At home, his life was equally difficult as his father seemed to ignore his needs as an individual and he often seemed out of sorts with the situation. The struggle that he went through is common in many school going children. Nevertheless, his spirit persisted, and he grew out of his misery and problems. He learned to beat the sense of self-pity that had swallowed him (Rollins, 2012).

The thing that was most obvious during Rollins' childhood was the fact that not only everyone around him seemed to hate him, he also never gave it much thought. Basically, he had accepted the lifestyle of a failure and what other thought of him, did not matter much. This was most dangerous and had it not been for his teacher Mr. Pepperman, he would have continued to live in the sorry state. Mr. P, as Rollins called him, was instrumental in telling him what was lacking in him. He became his mentor and advised him to take up practicing with weights. Significantly, the weights did not only help him with body-building, they also taught him a lot about basic human values. The values included self restraint, appreciation for others and the need to get rid of the aggression.

The essay requires us to see how the teachings of Confucius and the principles of Daoism affected him as a person and how it is reflected in the essay under study. We would concentrate on each portion of the essay and see where the writer is bearing a resemblance to either of the two ancient teachings

Discussion

Let us start by looking at the paragraph where he talks about what others thought about him. Rollins has used the word crazy to sum up the opinions of his peers. Even though, he was good at boxing, but even getting into the ring was not enough for him. The problem was the aggression, and it made him act in ways that could not be taken as normal. Even when boxing was supposed to inculcate in him a sense of discipline, it hardly helped. It did not help in improving his stature among the other boys, and it didn't help him because he still hated himself. We can quickly skim through Bruce Lee's essay and draw a quick parallel here. The Champion himself confesses that whenever he was in a match his mind would fill up with rage. He would give up his 'self' and change into some monster. All the monster was concerned about was to win somehow or the other (Lee, 1962).

Lee knew that this was a weakness,, but not before someone came to him and ...