Crossing borders and boundaries can occur in many different and unique ways. Whether crossing literal divides, such as mountains, rivers, and walls, or social divides, such as discrimination against gender and culture or the boundary between gods and humans, there are obstacles and challenges one must overcome to achieve the goal of crossing the border. border they want. When someone embarks on a journey to cross certain boundaries, be they literal or figurative, they do so with a certain reason in mind and do not think or care about the challenges or reactions they will face on their path. However, when a “border” is crossed, their conception of life changes. They kind of lose their sense of home and self and country and are kind of disoriented and confused when they get home. Their journey can somehow change one's beliefs and cause a person to lose a sense of who they are, where they belong and feel at home. That said, the sense of pride and self-recognition you feel after achieving your goal outweighs the feeling of being lost and disoriented. In this unit we see this happen in almost all the stories and poems we have read. From Odysseus to Sinbad or Ezekiel to Isaiah, each of them pushes boundaries on their journey and ultimately feels proud and accomplished with what they have done. Crossing borders is a strenuous and exhausting task that can often change and disrupt a person's life for better or worse, but each person has a different reason why they do what they are doing and, in the end, they feel it was for the better and I have a great sense of personal accomplishment. When you begin the journey to cross a border, you do so with certain reasons, benefits and opportunities in mind. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In the story of the Odyssey, Odysseus is on a mission to return home to his family. Odysseus has been separated from his family for twenty years and is on a mission to return home and realizes that he will have to cross many borders to do so. The story talks about who Ulysses “met, the pain he suffered in the storms at sea, and how he worked to save his life and bring his men home”. As Odysseus tries to return home, he comes to the island of Calypso, who is a god, and there he crosses the line between mortals and gods as he interacts with the goddess Calypso. However, while Odysseus is there, Calypso does not let him go, so the Greek god, Zeus, sends Hermes, his son, to talk to Calypso because “Odysseus' eyes were always full of tears; la dolce vita cried, longing to return home, for he no longer liked her. He had no choice. He spent nights with her in his hollow cave, not wanting her even though she still wanted him. By day he sat on the rocky shore, weeping and sorrowful, gazing heartbroken at the fruitless sea.” This quote is so powerful in showing that Odysseus sincerely wanted to return home and that this was his reason for taking this journey and crossing borders. In the Tales of the Arabian Nights, Sinbad the sailor goes on similar journeys to Odysseus, whatever his motivations are quite different as first he wants to get rich and then once he gets rich he goes on journeys because he is restless and wants to have fun. For example, after Sinbad the sailor returned home to Baghdad from his second voyage, he did so with “a great number of diamonds, as well as cash and a splendid display of all kinds of goods,” which somehow allowed him cross the line between being poor and rich. Later in the story Sinbad states that after returning to hissecond voyage he was happy and satisfied with the money he had earned, but then “he began to feel the need to travel again and see the world and profit from trade", which is why he undertook his third voyage. Although Sinbad undertook similar voyages to those of Odysseus, it can be seen that his motivations were clearly different, and this is the case with many people when they cross borders. In the story of the prophet Ezekiel, the reason he crosses borders is to spread the word of God. Ezekiel crosses the border between the humans and the gods when he receives and is told that the word of God must spread to the people of Israel. For example, when Ezekiel converses with God about the people of Israel, God states: “Do not be afraid of their words and do not be dismayed. from them, although they are a rebellious race; but speak my words to them, whether they hear or not, they are rebels" (Ezekiel). God then gives Ezekiel a scroll to eat and Ezekiel states: "He gave me this scroll from eat, while he said to me: 'O mortal, feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll that I give you. 'I ate it and it seemed sweet like honey." It is unique and interesting that as Ezekiel eats the scroll, which is a piece of paper, he states that it tastes like honey to him, because eating the scroll represents the fact that he has been given the word of God to spread, therefore the fact that it tasted like honey to Ezekiel means he is motivated and excited to spread the word. Likewise, the reason and reason why the prophet Isaiah crossed the border between humans and gods is so that he could spread the word of God. However, in this story God's message is very different. God's “anger was kindled against his people” because he felt there was a lack of faith and hypocrisy in Jerusalem, so God sent the prophet Isaiah there to spread his message that a great catastrophe would come upon the city until “all the nations would not have recognized the one true God.” Whether it is for personal gain, to spread the word of another, or to return to a place where one once lived, everyone has a different reason and why they cross borders. When you undertake the journey to cross a border you run great dangers. Whether it is encountering the power of a god or a non-human being, the effects of nature, or the backlash from people you meet on your journey or from people who have opposing points of view, there are a variety of dangers in which you may come across. they “cross the border”. ”In the Odyssey we see the abundance of dangers that Odysseus encounters as he tries to return home. In particular is the interaction between Odysseus and the Cyclops known as Polyphemus, son of Poseidon. Odysseus arrives at Polyphemus' island and enters his cave without him being there, however upon Polyphemus' return Polyphemus begins to eat Odysseus' men and states that he will save Odysseus last. However, Odysseus manages to blind Polyphemus and escape by stabbing him in the eye with a wooden stake. Although this allows Odysseus to escape, he then runs into another danger when Polyphemus speaks to his father and states: “Hear, Earth-shaker, Lord Poseidon of the blue hair: acknowledge me thy son, and be my father. Let's assume that Ulysses, the plunderer, never returns home. Or, if he is fated to see his family again, he arrives there late and without honor, with sorrows and without ships, and having caused the death of all his men, and finds more trouble in his house." .After hearing this, Poseidon destroys Odysseus' ship, leaving him stranded in the ocean until he reaches an island These examples show that when you try to cross a border you may encounter danger perhaps not from an otherworldly being orunnatural, but from people in the real world who don't like them and want to see them fail on their journey. In the story of The Arabian Nights Tales of 1001 Nights, Sinbad, similarly to Odysseus, encounters foreign creatures who want to destroy him. For example, on his third voyage Sinbad claims to have come across a large black creature who "examined" each of his men the way "the butcher examines a sheep for slaughter", until he came across the strongest man of which he killed and then ate. While it is neither practical nor possible in the real world today to encounter such creatures on a journey to cross a border, they figuratively represent the challenges one will face when meeting people with opposing points of view. In the poems in the Exeter Books there are many examples of the dangers one can face when crossing a border. For example, in The Seafarer, The Wanderer, and The Wife's Lament, all three main characters are sent into exile and "cross the border" between a promising and prosperous life, and a life in exile filled with danger. and horrors of loneliness, worry and pain. In The Wife's Lament, the narrator tells how she was sent into exile and forced "to live in a grove, under an oak in an earthen cave", and now must live with the danger of being alone and with the problem of having a lot of pain. The dangers you face when crossing a border do not necessarily have to be physical dangers, from this example you can see that crossing a border can have a negative emotional and social effect on your well-being. This is also highlighted in The Wanderer, as the narrator states that ever since he was sent into exile, he has been "troubled in mind" and longed for mercy. During the journey to cross a border there are many challenges and dangers that arise along the way, however each person acts and responds differently, and this in some ways can change and disrupt one's sense of who they are and where they belong. The long and arduous journey one undertakes when crossing a border, be it physical or social, can have a negative impact on the person and, ultimately, disrupt their conception of home, self and country. In the Odyssey, how Odysseus finally returns home and does so as a different person. From the moment Odysseus began his journey back to Ithaca, he did so with the thought in mind of being the king of Ithaca and wanting his power and fame back. This leads Odysseus to brag and brag about who he is during his journey. For example, after Odysseus blinds Polyphemus and begins to leave his island, he shouts “Cyclops! If any mortal asks you how your eye was mutilated and made blind, tell him that Odysseus, the plunderer, son of Laertes, who lives in Ithaca, destroyed your sight” (The Odyssey). This type of boasting that Odysseus makes during the journey home is not characteristic of him, because in his home in Ithaca he was used to being praised and not having to boast about who he is. However, on the journey home he lost all sense of who he was and felt the need to brag and receive recognition for his accomplishments because he wanted to be recognized for what he had done. Along his journey home Odysseus changes from being the humble king who received praise without boasting, to the extroverted traveler who needs to be recognized for what he has done. From the moment Odysseus left the city of Ithaca he was forced to kill and fight everything in his path. Whether it was when he fought in the Trojan War, or when he fought against Polyphemus, Odysseus became accustomed to violence during his journey. This led him to strive for who he was as a person because when he returned home to Ithaca he went on a “killing spree” because he had been accustomed to violence for so long.