“Great ambition and conquest without
contribution is without significance”. These are the words said by Mr. Hundert
in his western civilization class about Shutruk-Nahunte. I see that the
forgotten king Shutruk-Nahunte is somebody Mr. Hundert doesn’t want to be and
he’s afraid that Sedgewick Bell would be like him. The moment Sedgewick Bell
decided to be like his father, he was so devastated. Mr. Hundert saw what kind
of a person his father is. His father is a man who doesn’t care about anyone
around him. He’s a senator but not a senator of good will. He is not a senator
of commitment. He is not a leader that a country needs and be honored and
remembered through the ages. A leader with great contribution might be
remembered. But only a leader of
righteousness will be venerated. As humans, it's our nature to commit mistakes.
It is an annoying but inevitable fact that we have to accept. In the film, we
saw the eagerness of Mr. Hundert to pull Sedgewick out from the misery of
darkness, a place where you think you’re alright because you don’t see things
but never realized the trap that will drag you down. It’s a place where refuge
is there but seems so far away. I admire the integrity Mr. Hundert has. I
believe that if I were him, I would’ve done the same thing, help the same
person, disappoint the same aspirant, suffer the same consequence and cry for
the same reason. It may not be right but I have no regrets for I have already
done my part as a teacher. We are all educators. If the teachers teach why,
what, where, when or how a thing happened; the students teach them how to
appreciate life. And as for Martin Blythe, I admire his heart: the forgiving
and loving heart, the heart that is ready to accept and embrace failure. Mr.
Hundert may have failed him but he didn’t. He deserves to be adored, remembered
and loved. He deserves to be Julius Caesar.
