Rodney Curtis

Prompt: “Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant.”  ~ Horace

Consider this quotation about adversity from the Roman poet Horace. Then write an essay that defends, challenges, or qualifies Horace’s assertion about the role that adversity plays in developing a person’s character. Support your argument with appropriate evidence from your reading, observation, or experience.

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things: Cancer and Magic

Horace certainly did have it right—adversity plays a tremendous role in developing a person’s character. The theme of trial by fire, of temperance through the storm, plays out time and time again throughout our world’s history. Specifically, though, I believe that Horace’s quote pertains especially to two people very near and dear to me — my father, and Harry Potter.

The Harry Potter series has been the bildungsroman of my generation. The story about a scrawny orphan boy and his quest to rid the world of evil in the face of nigh-on-impossible challenges resonates with kids the world over—sure, we might have to deal with acne or bullies, but my God, Harry Potter has to save the entire wizarding race from destruction at the hands of a noseless, bigoted madman! The reason the Potter series enchants us all is because Harry is so defined by his struggles. From the moment he’s born, he’s had the future of wizarding kind riding on his knobbly little shoulders. He would never have cause to believe so strongly in the powers of love, or quest to be a highly skilled wizard in defensive magic, or become a loyal friend — three things that completely define Harry’s being — without facing down Voldemort from the moment of his birth. And that’s the draw — if a charming, warm, but completely fictional wizard can take the adversity he’s faced for hundreds of pages and use that to better himself — well, can’t we all?

In my personal life, too, I’ve seen someone completely shaped by adversity. My father — always romping outdoors with us, preaching the merits of organic food and spiritual yoga, never sick a day in his life — was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia last year. His own father had passed away from cancer when he was my dad’s age, so our family sort of shut down, retreating into our own internal hospital rooms — mental closets much gloomier and loathsome than the sunny living space my father spent the next few months in. But even though the rest of us started to wither under adversity’s crippling gaze, my father started to change. He’d always been a bit reserved and hesitant to let us see him struggle — the ideal American man of the house, albeit an “enlightened” one. But as the leukemia started to make him wither outwardly, his spirits became more and more vibrant. My dad started a regular blog, to share his feelings not just with his family, but with any strangers on the internet who might want to stumble upon the experiences of a cancer patient.

He used humor and frank insight to bolster everyone else’s spirits in a way that he never would have dared to before his diagnosis. Paradoxical as it may sound, I never realized how strong my father was until I saw him at what should have been his weakest point. Horace wrote that hardship can bring out certain “talents”… here was my father, suddenly writing brilliant prose and trying out comedic monologues on the nurses, suddenly finding the honesty to share his feelings, and even learning how to cry — when he eventually emerged from the hospital a few months ago, my father was a new man, who had used his adversity to shape his character into a better person.

So… where does that leave us now? Two examples of adversity developing someone’s character — Harry Potter, boy wizard, and my father, a wizard in his own right. They may not be much, but to me, they’re irrefutable proof that Horace is right — hardship truly can bring out the best in us all.