Description of a bad day and Empathy

Like Ashley, I'm not sure I can come up with a bad day that compares to Creon or any of the miserable characters in the Brother's K. I have lived a very blessed life. I have had a grandfather pass away when I was 5, but I really never felt I knew him that well. My parents are happily married, they are not alcoholics and, for the most part, they live happily and support me in my life pursuits. I've never been fired from a job and I've been admitted to the hospital a handful of times (all were non-life-threatening injuries). I am an educated white male living in America with more possessions than I know what to do with; my version of a 'bad day' is pitiful to any of the characters in the tragedies we've read or the tragedies we see in the news.

I'm assuming the point of this assignment was to generate empathy for the characters in Antigone, but its hard to do if you can't even come up with a bad day. I'll go out on a limb and assume most of the class hasn't killed anyone or witnessed a death for that matter. I'll also assume most of us aren't in the position of sentencing members of our own family to death. Professor Sexson will most likely say that Sophocles' message can still be related to the present generation. At some point in our lives their has been or will be strife that we have to work through. Tough decisions will have to be made.

I just feel like I haven't crossed those bridges yet. Thusly, I feel no empathy towards the main characters in Antigone nor any of most of the tragedies we've read. Which brings me to the thesis of my paper:

The large group of American youth of ages 16-23, does not find the Brother's Karamozov interesting because they lack the empathy that is required to invest themselves in the characters and themes. This is why our professor finds it interesting because he has experienced life more. He has had enough bad days to relate to the characters. I and many others of my generation are in a current state of pampered lives where deep thoughts of religion and strife within the family is not a part of our daily lives. We do not have fathers that are philanderers nor do we have a daily battle of questioning God and his whims. There may be some of us that bring it up from time to time, but it does not plague us, it does not bring us suffering. Survey the class and they will either be religious, non-religious, or indifferent to their faith. I firmly believe we are the apathetic generation. There are definitely young people who have a great passion towards issues that are centuries old, but the large majority of college students are simply in college to get a degree and make money. Professor Sexson wanted us to be inflamed, but sadly young people are choosing not to. Out of the 12,000 undergraduate and graduate students at Montana State, 75 students turned out for the most recent Service Saturday, a fairly well-known community service organization. Most of the students who join many of the departmental clubs on campus do so because it looks good on a resume or they get credit in a class for going. I think its worthwhile to have passions in life and I'm sure reading great works of literature such as the Brother's Karamozov can provide guidance to those passions. But for some of us, it's too soon. We are not mature enough to read a book such yet. I hope one day after enough attempts I can.