Essays

Why Does Imagination Sometimes Overcome Reason?

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Woooooooo first essay of the 2017-2018 school year!!

Anyway, the prompt was: Why does imagination sometimes overcome reason? I hope it's decent. The page numbers are from in my textbook. Also, based on my word count this is the longest essay I've written.....(maybe it's because there is a personal story...¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )
Edit: Getting an A on something you thought was pretty shit is great🙂

Fears are a vital part of how our minds operate. They are a key part of survival, allowing our brains to process and analyze threats keeping us safe. However, our fears can be a burden as they can motivate our imaginations to overcome our rational thinking(more than some of us may like to admit). Our imagination is complex taking what we have experienced and combining that with what could be; our fears can take our cotton candy cloud fun land, and drive it down into a deep, dark rabbit hole. The image of fears influencing and often corrupting our minds is commonly seen throughout many forms of entertainment such as horror movies and stories, as well as in our own lives. Fear can overcome our reason when we are directly confronted with our fears(even ones we may not have realized or fully accepted); it can be triggered by sights or sounds connected to that fear, sending us through the fight or flight response; and though it can occur often, it is our brain and imagination doing the work.

When we are thrust into a situation where we are face-to-face with our fears, they can overcome us and in turn, we can overlook an obvious and logical course of action. In the short story "The House Taken Over", by Julio Cortázar, a woman named Irene and her brother live alone, however, they start to block off parts of their house, and their lives because of "Them". The brother had stated, "Irene and I got used to staying in the house by ourselves" (Cortázar 38), but after hearing strange noises in parts of the house caused by "Them", the two siblings completely leave parts of their lives behind to avoid confronting "Them"(a presence that they never visibly see). The most logical conclusion one can draw from Irene and her brother feeling the need to run than to confront "Them" is that our imagination can overcome our reason because of our fears and the image our minds can produce from what may occur if they did do confront them. In the sibling's case, they may have been afraid of being separated after being together for so long. Throughout the story, they show a clear bond and the mere idea of a person separating them or simply intruding into their world is enough to make them flee. Although Irene and her brother hold their ground for some time, they do eventually decide to leave their possessions behind to stay together. Additionally, in the short story by Edgar Allan Poe, "The Fall of the House of Usher", the narrator visits an old friend, Roderick Usher, as he and his sister, Madeline, have fallen ill. While at his stay at the Usher house, the narrator learns that Madeline is gravely ill and will die. This gives Roderick great concern seeing as Madeline is his only sibling and that the Usher family tree, "lay in [a] direct line of descent" (Poe 15). Madeline soon dies and is buried in a crypt, but Roderick begins to act different and near the close of the story he becomes hysterical. He believes that Madeline is still alive. Based on Roderick's behavior and grief, one must conclude that imagination can overcome reason when our emotions take hold of us. When the idea of being alone sunk in for Roderick he begins to withdraw into himself until he can't hold back his fear of being without someone. Our fears can manipulate what our mind sees turning something that may be harmless, or just tragic, into something that may truly put our lives on the line.