A Rack is also defined as "An instrument of torture on which the victim's body was stretched"
I came across this usage of the word for the first time ever long ago during a literature course that had Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare as a compulsory read. I could only imagine what the victim felt like when his tendons snapped and bones and skin gave away. The amount of physical pain that he would be undergoing in such a circumstance. His pleadings to the executioner to just take his life away and spare him the pain. His prayers to God to release him from that pain. The multiple thoughts he would be undergoing just to keep that pain out of his mind. What all and what not must he be think. Or could he even think of anything at that time? Hell No!
I stumbled upon the process once again when I was watching the movie "Braveheart". Mel Gibson essays the role of William Wallace the revolutionary 13th Century Scottish warrior who led the Scottish army in their first war for independence from the tyrannical British rule. He met his death on the Rack, which was one of the cruelest form of punishment at that time.
That was the physical part of it. The person is dead and the pain is gone. Most of them were forgotten and some became immortal. But there are many of us out there whose souls are stretched on a rack, day in and day out. And trust me there is no panacea for it except maybe some would suggest meditation and most commonly suggest to "let go". But then how easy is it to let go? Many a times one would find out to one's sheer dismay, that those memories that we never want to remember, gnaw at our existence like a perennial parasite making us never forget them.
Human mind is tuned to adjust. Some take a longer duration and some take a shorter one. And obviously in the process they must forget what they stood ever for. They efface the memories, the laughter, the squabbles, the sweet making ups, the love, the care and the warmth. Perhaps, that is what is let go. All that remains is the pain and the associated nausea. And that becomes the substance for one's existence.
I stumbled upon the process once again when I was watching the movie "Braveheart". Mel Gibson essays the role of William Wallace the revolutionary 13th Century Scottish warrior who led the Scottish army in their first war for independence from the tyrannical British rule. He met his death on the Rack, which was one of the cruelest form of punishment at that time.
That was the physical part of it. The person is dead and the pain is gone. Most of them were forgotten and some became immortal. But there are many of us out there whose souls are stretched on a rack, day in and day out. And trust me there is no panacea for it except maybe some would suggest meditation and most commonly suggest to "let go". But then how easy is it to let go? Many a times one would find out to one's sheer dismay, that those memories that we never want to remember, gnaw at our existence like a perennial parasite making us never forget them.
Human mind is tuned to adjust. Some take a longer duration and some take a shorter one. And obviously in the process they must forget what they stood ever for. They efface the memories, the laughter, the squabbles, the sweet making ups, the love, the care and the warmth. Perhaps, that is what is let go. All that remains is the pain and the associated nausea. And that becomes the substance for one's existence.
I would interpret the core idea here as: How much do we allow the external environment to impact us? And which way? We build our own interpretation of the world as a reflection of our attitude. As we learn more, even this reflection changes with time. What William Wallace went through had an element of his own choice. If at all, we only allow pain and struggle a place in our lives. We attract who we are. But we often try to attract what we want. That's the catch.
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