No Man is an Island

No man is an island entire of itself; every man

is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europeis the less, as well as if a promontory were, aswell as any manner of thy friends or of thineown were; any man's death diminishes me,because I am involved in mankind.And therefore never send to know for whomthe bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

These words by John Donne from the 1624 Meditation 17,

from Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions

How do these texts explore similar themes?

I think that the main theme for this piece would be that all men are equal and we are all the same. There is not better man or no worse man. The saying " No Man is and Island" means that no man is isolated and we are all together and are to help each other in whatever we need help with. We are not individuals in the world we are a team, a community, and we are all to help each other. There are so many people in the world who suffer from segregation and cannot receive any help because they are different. This piece of writing tells us that it doesn't matter how different we are, we are all equal and should help each other.

How do the texts provide insight to prejudice and "otherness"?

Well John Donne was saying that every man is equal in the world and no man is greater than another. Because some people in the world believe that they are greater than others and will refuse to help anybody under their status. What John Donne is trying to say is that we are all the same, there is no difference. For example if I cut myself I will bleed, if you cut yourself you will bleed. There is no difference in mankind we are all equal.

Why do people make distinctions between "us" and "them" ?

People make distinctions between "us" and "them" because they are probably jealous, or afraid, or maybe just being cautious with the other "kind". Some people might not want the "others" to take over their power, they might be afraid of losing it. They might be afraid that the "others" are different and may harm them. In the end it just depends on our emotions with the "others" and what we think of them that makes us make distinctions.