Theo Economos

Mrs. Belmonte
AP English

Anger Synthesis


Anger can both help in being productive and destructive. We see it as
productive when accompanied by passion for striving towards a goal, yet crosses
over to become destructive when reality starts to become distorted through
either actions of our own, or actions from others.
As the world recognizes, anger is a bad thing. Anytime the word comes up
in our head, we instantly think negative. However, that is not always the case. As
Ehrenreich summarizes in her essay, negativity is oaky to have and should even be
thought of as a positive trait to have. We Americans have always been exposed
and taught that being pessimistic and negative is bad, while being optimistic and
positive is always the way to go. This is not always true; anger can be good and
can be used to accomplish a goal or achievement. As Aristotle states, A man is
always aiming at something (Aristotle, Page 3). Anger always has a reason or
goal. When we unleash anger, we normally use it in order to win something or
prove a point over an opposing view or thought, which in turn, is used as a
productive purpose. As Fuller says, Take heed in doing irrevocable acts in thy
passion (Fuller, Page 2). Here, Fuller furthers Aristotles main idea and continues
on to emphasize that it is moral and okay to use anger in order to complete an
inevitable act as long as you have passion and ambition to complete it. Take into
account many of the numerous rebellions and revolutions that occurred
throughout history. The reason for these events? Simple. One group believes they
have lost liberties and rights and they turn to war in order to win back their
fairness. We obviously know anger is used by ever revolutionary but it is
productive because they carry passion with them in order to win back their
equality.
Now on the flip side, anger does have destructive traits. Anger starts to
merge into destruction when reality becomes disfigured through certain actions
caused by ourselves or others. One way this happens is when we hold in anger
within us for too long. As Fuller displays to us, keeping in anger for too long starts
to destroy you from the inside and makes space for evil (Fuller, Page 3). Fuller
conveys the message that it is better to release your anger sooner than later.
Getting mad at a friend and holding in your true feelings and/or lying instead of
releasing them and being honest, is more disastrous in the long run. It seems false
and immoral to do, but it is true. Bottling up your emotions leads to all sorts of
problems such as depression and ulcers. In turn this all leads back to destruction
through anger.
The second way anger becomes destructive is through actions or outcomes
from others or things we cannot control. Barreca claims that anger evolves when
life is unfair to either us or loved ones ( Barreca, Page 3). Aristotle agrees off this
and continues onto say that anger builds and weakens us when we receive the
opposite of what we were expecting. We become upset when we dont get what
we were looking forward to ( Aristotle, Page 3). On top of that, continuous
circumstances and occasions cause us to become more easily stirred at everything
thus misshaping reality in front of us.
In conclusion, anger can be part of both the productive and destructive
field. Anger is known to be productive when it relates to accomplishing a goal yet
forms into a destructive character when reality starts becoming contorted
through actions caused by us or others.
Works Cited

-Aristotle, Book II. Rhetoric, Trans, W. Rhys Roberts. New York: Modern Library,
1954. N. Internet Classics Archive. Web. 3 Feb, 2014.
-Barrece, Regina, The Fires Within. 10 Sep, 1995. 1-3. Print.
-Ehrenreich, Barbara, The Menace of Negative People. The Bedford Reader. Ed.
X.J. Kennedy, Dorthy. M. Boston, 2012. Print.
-Fuller, Thomas. Of Anger. Holy State & the Profane State. London: Hardpress,
1841. 154-156. Web. 3 Feb, 2014.