Consider Henry Bemis' situation in the Twilight Zone episode "Time Enough at Last." Answer all of the following questions.
1. Explain irony. Give an example of an ironic situation.
2. Imagine that you were in Henry Bemis' situation. What would you have felt and done if you were the last person alive on the planet?
3. What would you do if you had all the time you needed to do whatever you wanted? Why?
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1. Irony is when something that happens or is said is the exact opposite of what the person wanted to do or hear. Yet, it is funny and amusing for the audience. For example, an old man might win a million dollars in the lottery, but then die the next day. The irony in that is he just won a million dollars and became rich, but he never got to spend it and enjoy it because he was old and passed away.
2. Being the last person alive on the planet is a scary feeling. I would’ve felt lonely and scared. Thoughts of suicide, like Henry Bemis’, would definitely come into my head. But since I am older now and know more about the world’s geography, I would think that there are still other people out there, across the sea or in a neighboring country. So my first act would be to go and find signs of other human beings on earth.
3. If I had all the time I wanted, I would travel around the world and look at all the sights planet earth has to offer. Traveling around the world takes time, time that most people don’t have to lose. But there many places on earth that have yet to be explored and discovered, and if I had all the time I wanted, there would be no rush and I could document all my findings.
1. Irony is when something happens that contradicts or negates a previous situation or condition, often involving humor. An example of an ironic situation would be if a phone company told you to call them if your phone didn’t work. The irony in this situation is that you can’t really call someone if your phone is dead.
2. If I were the last person alive on the planet, the first things I would do would be to collect supplies and find something to use as a shelter. Obviously the most pressing concern would be to find water, then food.
I would obviously feel very, very alone, and probably also scared. Just the thought of being the last person on Earth feels really strange. The situation would feel like something out of a movie or book. I would be reminded of the story of Robinson Crusoe, in which a man was stranded on an island for some thirty-odd years [I think]. If I was in a similar situation, I would definitely try to emulate his actions, collecting supplies, building or finding a place to stay, and looking for any evidence of another person that was alive.
3. If I had all the time I needed to do whatever I wanted, I would probably eventually get bored. I would run out of things to do—playing video games, watching TV, running, drawing, cooking, and reading can only keep me occupied and entertained for so long. I would probably do some random stuff for a while, like drawing or playing video games, but then I would want to do something actually useful, like homework. I feel like I’m wasting my time if I spend a whole day just having fun and doing pointless things.
I’ve actually experimented with doing something like that, in which I had a whole day to myself and I could just do whatever I wanted. After watching TV and chatting half the day, I ended up actually wanting to do some homework or something productive [hey, that’s another ironic situation].
Irony is the occurrence of something very incongruous. It can be used in words, or it can be shown by our actions. An example of irony could be if I wanted to go skydiving my entire life, but at the moment that I’m supposed to jump out of the plane, I back out. That would be ironic because I’m contradicting what I’ve always wanted. Another example of great irony is displayed in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. In the novel, Dorothy passes through many hardships on an attempt to go home, and instead realizes that she had the power to do that the whole time. The same also goes for the three characters in her book. The scarecrow wanted a brain, but was already brilliant. The tin man wanted a heart, but he already loved many things. The lion wanted to be brave, but proves himself as a bold and courageous lion along the way.
If I were in Henry Bemis’s situation, I would have felt incredibly depressed to be the only person left on Earth. The plain fact that everyone I ever knew had died would probably be overwhelming, and I’d suicide.
If I had all the time I ever needed, I’d do an assortment of things. First of all, I’d get through school and learn as much as I could to reach my potential. If I had a successful career, I could have more resources to travel around the world for sightseeing. I’ve always been interested in other cultures, and it would be exciting to exerience it for myself. Second of all, I would try to learn as many new things as I could. If I had limitless time, I would like to take on volleyball, soccer, dance, flute, and trumpet. I’d try to maximize my skills on piano, clarinet, running, and swimming the best I could. I’d do this because to me, sports and instruments are fun, especially because of the competition, and they’re made even more fun the better you get. Third, after I finished the first two, I would try to finish a list of all the things I ever wanted to do. A few things on that list are scuba diving, parachuting, and swimming with sharks (in a cage). I would basically do this just for the thrill of it, and because I’ve always wanted to do it.
When something is ironic it is when you think you do something to help but backstabs you, and you have to undo it. For example in the movie “Pirates of the Caribbean” Barbosa and his crew killed “Bootstrap Bill Turner” because he cursed the crew. After they killed Bootstrap Bill they later learned they needed him alive and his blood to lift the curse. When I was first watching the episode I was thinking how that would so suck being the last thing on the planet. Now if I were in Henry Bemis’ Situation, I would most likely first think of the bright side. I might be like “ Okay, Lets see…. I can do anything I want and when I want. I can do virtually anything…..”. I would then feel happy and good for about 6 or 7 minutes then get into reality. That’s when I would be like “ Okay, well now my family is dead and I’m alone. No shelter except some parts left of the wreck. The food in the grocery store will expire soon enough. No plumbing…. I’m going to smell and not feel clean. No fresh clothes, they are most likely beat up with the rest of the stuff.” I’d then sit and think then a wave of the worst thing would hit me at one time, like a pound of bricks. No electricity. No I-pod charger, No computer charger, No oven/stove/microwave/Fridge, No TV, No video camera, No lights (I guess candles would work but they do run out as well), No electric blanket to keep you warm. Nothing. I guess after I had my melt down I would make the best of it while it lasted. If I had all the time in the world I would do everything I wanted. I’d live life to the fullest and do the things I can’t wait to do when I get home from school. Like maybe I would film (cause I love to act), maybe I would play more on the computer, maybe I would read a series of books I can’t put down. Maybe I would watch all the movies I’ve been dieing to see, and maybe I might go sky diving ( I’ve always wanted to that) but then again If there was no one there, no one to drive the plane or teach me how to do that, I might stay on the ground. I would do all these things because this is what I enjoy, and when you have all the time in the world you would do the things that make you happy.
Irony is the element of literature that when you expect something to happen, the exact opposite happens. An example is when a family builds an iron wall to protect themselves from a bunch of fireballs falling from the sky. The wall protects them from the fireballs but the little baby brother of the family strikes a match and the house starts to burn. The family tries to escape but cannot because of the iron wall.
If I were Henry Bemis, I would have felt very lonely. If I weren’t sure if I was really the only person left on the planet, I would search the planet until I find someone. If I were absolutely positive that I was the only person on the planet, I would make friends with animals. If there were also no animals left on the planet, I would make friends with plants. If there were no living creatures at all except me on the planet, I probably wouldn’t survive with lack of food so I would just wait until I die.
If I had all the time to do anything, I would do all the things I like to do such as playing games, listening to music, playing musical instruments, etc. I would do this because thinking about all the people I loved would only pain me so I would do so I would just enjoy the rest of my life to its full extent before I also die
1. If something is ironic that means that it is unpredictable. When you expect something to happen and the actual outcome is completely different and unexpected, it is ironic. For example, say one built a special house with a bubble around it to protect him from the potential dangers of the outside world, and then died from lack of oxygen. This would be extremely ironic because the person went to lots of trouble to keep them safe, only to end up dying from the exact thing that was supposed to keep them safe in the first place. In the episode of the Twilight Zone it is ironic that once Henry Bemis had all the time in the world and all the books he could want, his glasses broke.
2. If I were in Henry Bemis’ situation I would have been miserable. If I were the last person on earth and all of the things I ever loved were gone, there would be nothing left for me to live for; just like in The Outsiders when Dally died because after Johnny’s death he had nothing left to live for. If all of my friends and family died, I would have nothing, and would probably just wish I had died too. Without the things I loved I would not be happy, and I would not want to go on living unhappily for the rest of my life.
3. If I had all of the time in the world I had ever wanted I would do everything I’d ever wanted to do in my life. Many of us have dreams about all of the things we want to accomplish, but never get around to it. Without limits, I could do whatever makes me happy, and if I had all the time in the world, there would be nothing stopping me from doing just that. I would not have to worry about time management, and could take as much time as I wanted to do something. I would want to play volleyball in the Olympics, write a novel, work in the fashion industry, hang out with my friends whenever I wanted, travel the world, learn how to become a great cook, and do much more. I would do everything I’d ever dreamed of and anything that makes me happy. Without limits such as time, there would be nothing stopping me from getting everything done. There would be nothing that could ‘waste my time’, because I would have all the time in the world.
1. Irony is when a situation describes something contradictory to its itself. An example of irony would be if a man killed dogs for fun, and he was killed by a vicious dog himself. That would a perfect example of irony.
2. If I were in Henry Bemis’ situation, I would be really confused for a while at first. Then I would be really scared. It seems frightening to be the last person on Earth. I probably would have killed myself because of the loneliness, no matter if there was all the entertainment and food in the world.
3. I would probably spend a lot of time with my sister. We would be together all the time, traveling the world, and talking a lot. This would be the one thing I would do if I had all the time in the world because I really like spending time with my sister, and since she has gone to college, I haven’t been able to do that.
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