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Lexy Johnson

Miles P.1

Pre- AP English 10

4 May 2018

“Hearts live by being wounded” Argumentative Essay

Having a hole, or tear, or scratch, or cut in your heart is viewed as allowing the heart to

survive, according to Oscar Wilde. Wilde asserts that “Hearts live by being wounded,” which is

proven to be false through tragedies in history and entertainment that portrays teen social

struggles.

When the unimaginable strikes, the following life-long heart break fails to allow the heart

to live. In history, tragedies, such as school shootings, have conveyed the loss of strength among

communities following such horrific events. In the recent past, a shooting occurred at a high

school in Florida that ultimately resulted in seventeen people dead, and left millions affected.

After the shooting occurred, families and U.S. citizens were enraged about the lack of gun

control laws to prevent horrific fatalities such as this one. Families across the nation were

mourning and heart-broken for the innocent lives taken that day. In effect, people became hostile

with the government and began to rebel, while direct family members or peers of the victims

became depressed and terrified to return to school. Despite not being there, people across the

nation will forever grieve the tragic loss of innocent lives, and a part of their heart will never be

fulfilled again.Consequently, rather than strengthening the heart and allowing it to thrive, as

Wilde claims, this heart-break caused collateral damage across the country, with widespread

mourning, which will never permit the heart to live up to its original potential.

In movies and other forms of entertainment rejection, or heart-break, is portrayed to lead

down a dark path with a depressing resolution. As an example in the Netflix hit- series 13
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Reasons Why, the main character Hannah Baker takes the audience through a series of events and

influential people that essentially led up to her suicide. Through rejection, mistreatment, and

unawareness, Hannah Baker’s heart is slowly damaged, and eventually crushed leading her to

seek suicide as the best option to escape her poor mental health. In relevance to Oscar Wilde’s

quote, the television series proves that heart break doesn’t result in strength or a prospering heart,

instead, everyone’s hearts, like a domino-effect, become depleted of resilience.

Although some people may claim that often heart damage causes a unification of people,

there are countless examples to prove otherwise. After a family tragedy such as the loss of a

family member, a divorce, or the burning down of a home, families tend to have tensions rise as

a result of heightened stress levels. In effect, they grow apart, fight over little things, and mental

health decreases, as mentioned previously. All of these factors cause an overall strain on family

unity and endurance. Therefore, the heartbreak doesn’t influence the heart to flourish, but

initiates a slow process of deterioration of the heart’s strength and inflict pain.

Oscar Wilde’s statement that “Hearts live by being wounded” is continuously

substantiated to be invalid, when considering the results of tragedies and the self- destruction

inflicted by heartbreak portrayed in popular entertainment. Hearts do not thrive by being

wounded, rather they become more damaged and hurt from the initial wound.