FREE ESSAY ON ROOM WITH A VIEW

ROOM WITH A VIEW

A Room With A View 
The actions of people speak for their character. Some approach life through the senses
and some approach it through spirit. Others adhere to convention and some do not. Yet,
any way one approaches life, every action one makes indicates defining characteristics
about who the person is as an individual. In A Room With A View Mr. Eager and Mr. Emerson
are quite opposite in the way they approach situations. Therefore, they demonstrate their
character by the things they do and the words they say throughout the novel. When Mr.
Eager attempts to separate the "brother and sister" on the carriage, Mr. Emerson says the
following: "'Leave them alone,' Mr. Emerson begged the chaplain, of whom he stood in no
awe. 'Do we find happiness so often that we should turn it off the box when it happens to
sit there? To be driven by lovers-A king might envy us, and if we part them it's more
like sacrilege than anything I know.'" (Chapter 6) He does not want love to be
interrupted under any circumstances. Mr. Emerson does not understand why anyone would
want to take away happiness, when there is so little to go around. He even uses the term
'sacrilege' because Mr. Eager is a priest and maybe that would be easier for him to
understand. Mr. Emerson's view of life is: he sees things as being about happiness and
love. According to the standards of his time, he is flying in the face of convention.
When the two lovers are separated Mr. Eager proclaims, "Victory at last!" But Mr. Emerson
quickly retorts, "It is not victory. It is defeat. You have parted two people who were
happy."(Chapter 6) According to the way that Mr. Eager views life, two lovers hugging,
touching and kissing is vulgar. But, Mr. Emerson thinks that it is wonderful and that
there should be more loving in life. Nevertheless, Mr. Eager thinks that it is not proper
conduct because he is a priest and in his world, it is not appropriate to show affection
in public. Conversely, Mr. Emerson regards the behavior in the carriage as a beautiful
and natural part of life. In general, Mr. Eager looks down on mankind. He thinks that on
the average, man is ignorant and unconscious. "If you will not think me rude, we
residents sometimes pity you poor tourists not a little...living herded together in
pensions or hotels, quite unconscious of anything that is outside Baedeker, their one
anxiety to get 'done' or 'through' and go on somewhere else."(Chapter 6) This is a very
negative stereotype of tourists. He thinks that all tourists are uninformed and
preoccupied. Mr. Eager's view is very odd because he is a priest and he is supposed to
embrace all of mankind. Italy is a large country and it contains many historic sites.
Tourists will often be fascinated and move quickly in order to see the entire country:
another example of how oblivious Mr. Eager's view of life is. Mr. Emerson is 'sleeping'
through all of Mr. Eager's ramblings and generalizations. He does not even dignify him
with an argument on the matter because Mr. Emerson knows that all people, including
tourists, do not fit Mr. Eager's description. He knows that people, by nature, are
curious and can be energetic, which, according to Mr. Emerson, is a natural facet of
human life. He believes that people should have a passion for life. Even though the times
have changed, there are still distinct differences between liberals and conservatives. No
matter what people say about how times have changed, there are still opposing forces. The
world contains many different cultures and religions, each with different views of
"acceptable" behavior. Today, it would be rare that someone would stop a carriage because
two people where embracing in the front. This is because today's society has changed so
much. But, one can understand both where Mr. Eager and Mr. Emerson are coming from. As
the world becomes smaller, educated societies are becoming more tolerant of opposing
ideas an