Should the Past Be Judged?
Should the Past be Judged?
We can learn a lot from consulting the past. We learn more about our world, more about our history, and even more about ourselves. Spanish aphorist George Santayana once said: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” (qtd. in Moncur 1). In general terms, this famous aphorism means that it is important for us to study and learn from history in order to avoid repeating the same mistakes. However, the standards and values that we use today to judge the present are much different than they were in the past. What may have seemed like the right thing to do one hundred years ago might not be viewed the same way today. In her essay “At the Buffalo Bill Museum, June 1988,” Jane Tompkins questions whether or not we should judge the past by the standards and values of today. While visiting the Buffalo Bill Museum, Tompkins mentions that she is disturbed by the scenery of the museum and the statement made by William Frederick Cody, or Buffalo Bill, in the museum’s introductory video. Cody mentions that he wants to be remembered as “[the] man who opened Wyoming to the best of civilization” (Tompkins 588). However, Tompkins isn’t sure if he can be viewed as that man because of his controversial actions in the past. Although today’s standards and values are much different from those of the past, that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t use them to judge the past. If anything, it is beneficial to judge the past by today’s standards, because we can use it as a learning experience. Society benefits when it judges the past from the current standards and values because as George Santayana mentioned, we must learn from history in order to avoid making the same mistakes.
To some people, Buffalo Bill is one of the greatest heroes in American history. Buffalo Bill spent most of his early years working for the army. Cody served as a Union scout in the campaigns against the Kiowa and Comanche during the Civil War. He later
We can learn a lot from consulting the past. We learn more about our world, more about our history, and even more about ourselves. Spanish aphorist George Santayana once said: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” (qtd. in Moncur 1). In general terms, this famous aphorism means that it is important for us to study and learn from history in order to avoid repeating the same mistakes. However, the standards and values that we use today to judge the present are much different than they were in the past. What may have seemed like the right thing to do one hundred years ago might not be viewed the same way today. In her essay “At the Buffalo Bill Museum, June 1988,” Jane Tompkins questions whether or not we should judge the past by the standards and values of today. While visiting the Buffalo Bill Museum, Tompkins mentions that she is disturbed by the scenery of the museum and the statement made by William Frederick Cody, or Buffalo Bill, in the museum’s introductory video. Cody mentions that he wants to be remembered as “[the] man who opened Wyoming to the best of civilization” (Tompkins 588). However, Tompkins isn’t sure if he can be viewed as that man because of his controversial actions in the past. Although today’s standards and values are much different from those of the past, that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t use them to judge the past. If anything, it is beneficial to judge the past by today’s standards, because we can use it as a learning experience. Society benefits when it judges the past from the current standards and values because as George Santayana mentioned, we must learn from history in order to avoid making the same mistakes.
To some people, Buffalo Bill is one of the greatest heroes in American history. Buffalo Bill spent most of his early years working for the army. Cody served as a Union scout in the campaigns against the Kiowa and Comanche during the Civil War. He later
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