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<li> Consider the following quotation.
Shallow men believe in luck.</li>
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<p>-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Do you agree or disagree with this quotation? Support your viewpoint using examples from literature, the arts, history, current events, politics, science and technology, or personal experience/observation.</p>
<p>Your Answer: When the going gets tough, the tough get going. This idiomatic proverb came into play one fateful day when George Washington was leading his army across the freezing forests of Northern America. Washington relied on luck to lead his frostbitten army across five states with a much larger British army trailing closely behind. In fact, most great men rely on luck as a critical part in success. Whenever there are adverse conditions, luck can be the basis of optimism and a method to look past the situation at hand. This thought was exemplified in The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck as a family tries to outlast the Great Depression. Both Washingtons battle for American freedom and Steinbecks novel demonstrate the inherent need for a belief in luck.
George Washington started his campaign against the British on the present day border of Canada and U.S.A. However, due to a large amount of British infantry and the lack of skillful fighters on the American army, Washington was forced to retreat and make a beeline for the state of Delaware. Washington got lucky on his way there because the North American blizzards proved to be quite a hindrance to the British army as their wagons of supplies sunk in the snow or were forced to circumvent fallen trees. This luck stalled the British army and proved quite helpful to the fast but small American army. Great men like Washington relied on luck multiple times during the American Revolution in order to escape and finally defeat the larger, more equipped British army.
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck takes place in the Great Depression, a time period where American families were distraught with the evils of unemployment and hunger. The Joads, a family hit hard by the Depression lost all their land to the landowner and like thousands of other families in the Midwest started the long trek towards a better life in California. They depended on hope and luck for their optimism and strongly believed that with luck, they could establish a new and happy life in California. However, thousands of other families also had the same plans and this large influx of immigrants made the Californians quite angry. The Joads were quite unlucky for their family broke apart along the journey to California both with deaths and through members who didn’t have the desire to continue forward. However, the familys belief that there may be a chance and that they may get lucky proved to be vital in keeping the family members alive.
The real life experiences of George Washington and those of the fictional characters in The Grapes of Wrath depict the necessity of integrating luck in our everyday lives. Without Washingtons hope that his army will get lucky, he could have resigned and America would be forced under British rule once more. Likewise, if the Joads hadn’t believed that they will live a better life in California, they would have starved to death in their home state without even trying to survive. Luck combined with hope is a very essential part to life.</p>