There are few pleasures in life greater than watching someone you mentor grow. Buck Holler joined the CiRCE apprenticeship far beyond any need for me to mentor him, and yet he has embraced my instruction with an eagerness that shows why he hardly needed it. It is my great pleasure to introduce Buck to you as our newest Quiddity author, from whom you will be hearing much in the coming aeon. This is Buck’s third post, and those of you who visit often can already see why I’m so happy to have him on board.
Something Buck doesn’t mention in what follows is that the kids he’s teaching are not yet in high school! With that, over to Buck:
The question I ask my students with nearly every book we read is, “Who most rightly acts?”
We recently finished reading act one of Julius Caesar, and that question divided my class of 18 into three groups. (I will narrate their replies as accurately as possible.)
The majority of students sided with the Sooth Sayer because he simply gives Caesar the truth without force or going overboard. He gets to the point and allows Caesar to do what he will.
The rest of the class divided those favoring Brutus and Cassius from 2 students who chose Mark Antony and one who supported Caesar. What occurred was beautiful. I will share two particular highlights that I enjoyed.
A Cassius supporter challenged the Caesar fan by asking, “Which is the greater injustice” — I love that lead — “killing someone, or destroying something that took hundreds of years to build?” This student then drew the analogy of a man seeking to destroy the Vatican.
Another student who supported Brutus drew a parallel to the sacrifice of Jesus calling on the necessity at times of a sacrifice. The young lady supporting Caesar replied, “I need to think.” Ah, I love it. I told her, “Thinking is good; it is all right to think.” Approximately five minutes later she returned with this reply. “The difference between Jesus and Caesar is that Jesus knew he was being sacrificed and Caesar did not. If you truly love someone, you tell him the truth, help him, and even allow him to make the decision of what to do with his life.”
Then class was over.
So, who most rightly acts? What sayest thou?
