The Bound Man finds happiness in his disadvantage

The Bound Man by Ilse Aighinger The thing that I found most compelling in the story ‘‘The Bound Man’’ was that the man was not worried about being released from the rope, rather he wanted to be bound and with that disadvantage he learned to adapt with it and live life as if he wasn’t bound at all. The reason why I find his situation and his own reaction to it so compelling is because while I was reading the story, I was putting myself in his situation and I would not of thought to react in such a way as he. In the beginning, where the man had awoken from his sleep to find that he was bound, he found happiness in that situation.

Through out the story there were people who were amused by his situation, but also had sympathy in which the bound man was completely against; he took that situation and made it seem like it was not a problem, that perplexed me. - But still I find it all truly compelling. ''His arms were tied to each other but not to his body, and had some free play too. This made him smile. '' pg. 68-69 Even though his arms were not tied to his body, I felt myself becoming uncomfortable. To wake up bounded, I would see no good in that situation besides still being alive.

Not only was he bounded, he was outside and woke up to flies around him which made the situation even worse. I read this story and put myself in his position; I could only contradict all his actions. My perspective comes from me not being an outside person whatsoever. I come from a family that if decided, we even go camping or to a national park, we don’t go in tents we rent out a cabin, lodge or a hotel. I wasn’t raised to be an outside person or to even like animals, so when I think of waking up to flies and being tied up outside I think of myself going crazy, screaming for help.

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It amazed me however, to see that someone can wake up in the position the bound man was in, without crying out for help. It seems carless to me, carless about life... But also so brave and courageous because through his situation he built strength and adapted to being bound, something I wouldn’t of ever been capable to do. ''These antics amused the bound man because he could have freed himself if he had wanted to whenever he liked, but perhaps he wanted to learn a few new jumps first'' pg 73. The bound man was amused by the antics the people in the circus tried in order to set him free.

There was many cases that the man could of freed himself, but he didn’t. He wanted his body to get used to these ropes and he was going to make the best out of his situation and learn from it. To my surprise, the bound man had ran into a wolf and was able to protect himself, even with being limited to movement. This man was powerful. The fact that he found a way to take action and be positive with being bound and refused to free himself, gained him a lot of power. He was the victim at first because he was robbed and bound, but he became the one in power by overcoming it, and not letting it stop him from anything.

In my opinion, the ones who can overcome huge obstacles in life are truly the ones with the most power and strength. When I think of bound ‘‘MAN’’ I think of strong and fearless. Men are believed to have a lot of pride and to not show their weaknesses; they want to be looked at as superior, and in the story I think the bound man was superior. People were interested in him and his life, but didn’t understand his purposed. I tend to appreciate people who are very positive because it changes my perspective on how I live my life. I often feel like I react off of little things, and make small situations bigger then they are.

When something goes wrong, I feel like everything is wrong and nothing can be fixed. As an example. Last week my shoulder was dislocated, I felt helpless and I had 2 feet and another arm that could be used. With just my one arm not being able to function like it normally can, I was upset and angry and acted like the whole world was over. I didn’t do anything besides taking pain medication and lay in my room. This story brought about a different perspective on how I reacted to my shoulder. I could of been happy that at least my shoulder was put back in place, and that it was a minor issue and would be back to normal soon.

But I am a dramatic person, and I’ve never looked at the good side of things, which is something I wish I did. As a result to the man being bound he became powerful. The condition the bound man was in and the actions he took during, gained him strength. I do believe that there is a consequence to everything you do. Whether it be good or bad, is how you react upon the situation. At the end of the story when the circus proprietor decided that telling the people in the village the bound man had killed a wolf, he though that there would be a good consequence out of doing that; to ‘’revive the triumphs of the summer’’.

He was wrong, his actions lead to the bound man having to prove his superior. And because people did not believe in his superior he was forced to prove himself by being in a cage with a wolf. Not only did he kill the wolf, but he was no longer one with his rope. The proprietors wife did not believe in the bound mans power, so she cut him free of his rope while he was in the cage. The consequence of her actions lead to there being no point in killing the wolf, the man was now unbound and he no longer had a purpose. So he shot the wolf instead. Without his bound the man felt weak, and blood rushed to his feet.

Her actions not only lead to the death of the wolf, but soon to the death of the man himself. - The way that the bound man saw his situation had a consequence as well. It gained him power, and he learned to do new thing with just a little amount of movement, and with that I felt the story was compelling. Reading this story changed my whole perspective on how I react to certain things. It made me think that it would be so much easier in the long run if you just see the bright side of bad situations... But also, to not have so much pride that you feel you must prove yourself to others, because that itself, can lead to bad consequences.

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