Hamlet Foils

1) Reading Hamlet reminded me of a humorous moment in my life. I was a young soldier in the US Army's Airborne School, preparing to make my first jump out of an airplane. Every logical and rational thought I had was telling me not to do it, but there was also a raw urge pushing me to do it. There was no reason for me to jump, except that it was what I just had to do. Compared to life, this decision was very minor. Many of us are faced with much larger decisions, with very real and permanent consequences. So why do some of us back away from them, while others seem to just plunge right into them? The answer is not as simple as some would believe.
(2) Hamlet was faced with a decision upon learning that Claudius murdered his father. Should he believe the ghost, and avenge his father's murder? Or is the ghost evil, trying to coerce him into killing Claudius? Throughout the play, we see Hamlet's struggle with this issue. Many opportunities arise for him to kill Claudius, but he is ...