Post #1 Exoticism

   This image is from when my father took me with him on his sailboat back in September. We were out sailing for about four hours, just quietly enjoying the view. During this, I felt a form of quiet tranquility while watching the waves gently melding into one another. I connected this experience to the romantic element of exoticism because this was my first time going sailing and being so far away from land that it was like entering an entirely different world. My experience is similar to when Victor is lost at sea, although since I was with an experienced sailor, I did not feel the panic and fear that Victor does as he contemplates all the ways he could die, such as being "driven into the wide Atlantic and feel all the tortures of starvation or be swallowed up in the immeasurable waters that roared and buffeted around me." (Shelley 126). This experience inspired me by showing me a beautiful aspect of the world that I was unfamiliar with, and thus made me realize just how much I have yet to experience in life.Victor experiences this form of inspiration in relation to exoticism when he spots land on the horizon while at sea, stating "Almost spent, as I was, by fatigue, and the dreadful suspense I endured for several hours, this sudden certainty of life rushed like a flood of warm joy to my heart, and tears gushed from my eyes." (Shelley 126). From this sight, Victor is inspired to not give into his despair and his fears of death, and begins to realize that there is still beauty to be found in life and the world around him, which is similar to how I discovered that there are still so many beautiful things in this world that I have yet to experience and behold.