Esolen on Manhood

Anthony Esolen was interview by the Catholic news service ZENIT on "Finding the Masculine Genius." The link here should get you to a list of articles, and that title should be included. If not (because it's updated) you can go into the archives and search under April 23 (which happens to be St. George's day).
Tony Esolen notes:

Many millions of boys in America, for instance, are growing up in homes without fathers, so they find "fathers" of their own on the streets or in the diseased and silly fantasies of mass entertainment, musclemen who can take down a city, or charismatic gang leaders who move caches of drugs and make exciting things happen.

They miss the more subtle fortitude of moral vision and farsighted self-sacrifice. Male heroes in popular literature for boys, 80 or 90 years ago, might be all right with a gun or a sword, but they might also be bespectacled dons like Mr. Chips whose discipline was a form of love.

I see manhood as the drive to lead -- to serve by leading, or to lead by following loyally the true leadership of one's father or priest or captain.

The man exercises charity by training himself to be self-reliant in ordinary things, not out of pride, but out of a sincere desire to free others up for their own duties, and to free himself for things that are not ordinary.

The man also must refuse -- this is a difficult form of self-sacrifice -- to allow his feelings to turn him from duty, including his duty to learn the truth and to follow it.

There's a whole lot more in the interview, so go to ZENIT and enjoy.

Comments

[Beth]

Excellent! I have already sent the link to several people.

[Gintas]

For those who want the full link to the article:

http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=106436

[Bill R]

Tony Esolen's new book:

"Ironies of Faith"

[David Mills]

FYI: A chapter, or actually a revised version of a chapter, of Tony's new book is appearing in the June issue. In it he compares King Oedipus and King David.