Emperor’s Club Essay

English question 5 It is not existing that is important, but living rightly and honestly. The definition of success varies depending on who is defining it. By the end of the novel, Hundert and Sedgewick ships bell each believe that they have reached success in their own lives. Sedgewick, following in his Dads footsteps of using and humankindipulating every situation and opportunity in order to advance his inconsiderate goals, feels winning as a wealthy and powerful businessman.Sedgewick by the example, set by his distant, judgmental, and uncompromising fuck off has learned that being honorable and having good character are qualities that are unimportant when measuring a mans success. Just like his father who did not get together the merit of developing a moral conscience, Sedgewick chime rejects the moral guidance of his caring teacher, choosing instead to cultivate the cut-throat tactics his father instilled in him as necessary to achieve the fame and fortune vital for succe ss.In contrast, Hundert is only able to feel successful when he has regained his dignity and honor by confessing his breach of trust and asking for forgiveness from the student he betrayed. Once Hundert does the honorable thing and tells Blythe about Hunderts cheating during the selection of the contestants for the Emperors gild competition, Hundert is able to reset his moral com clear up, and move on with his life.Hundert comes to understand that it was his selfish desire to see doorbell succeed that drove Hundert to disregard what he knew was right in order to avoid the truth that Sedgewick Bell had no desire to become the honest and with child(p)working student Hundert willed him to be. Through this realization Hundert is able to see that even though he may not have succeeded with Bell, this one failure does not downplay the constructive contribution he has made to the lives of his many other students.Hunderts success is evidenced by the fact that even after 25 years, Hunder ts students throw him a party to show their perceptivity of the advice, instruction, interest and guidance he gave them when they were students at St. Benedicts. Hundert is considered by the majority of his students to be a mentor, and positive role model. It is this realization that helps Hundert see that his success lies in the fact that his students have taken his message of living a moral, and honest life with them into their world and used his words to help shape their own fruitful lives . s well as, that of their children.Hundert realizes that success should be measured not by the money in a mans pocket, or the job he has, but by the positive impact he has in the world and on the lives of others. As the film progresses Hundert comes to terms with the fact that no matter how hard he tried he could never compete with the powerful negative influences that were present in the Bell home. Sedgewick was raised to view a successful man as being self-serving, untrusting, insensitive, and controlling.It was when Humdert tried to set a new moral example of success for Sedgewick that Humbert was driven to compromise his own beliefs. Hundert learned that when one compromises him for the pursuit of another the relationship is doomed to fail. It is when Hundert is able to accept that he is not responsible for the selfish, immoral man Sedgewick has become that he can rid himself of the feelings of failure that resulted in him leaving the profession he loved.When Hundert is rewarded by the positive comments of his students he understands that his success is in the fact that he has made the world a give away place because he has educated a generation of kind, caring and moral men and fathers who will pass on his appreciation of honor, dignity, kindness, sensitivity, creativity and integrity to future generations. Hundert and Sedgewick each define success differently and it is up to each individual viewer to watch and listen to the movie carefully in order to make up which definition he/she will use to evaluate the success of his/her life.