REFLECTIONS: Julius Caesar

I like to think that Julius Caesar died so that all of us... most of us could become better writers and perhaps better people.

One thing is for sure the older I get the more people in the play I see shades of myself in.

Let's get in The Wayback Machine and "look" at who I was before Julius Caesar and after.


Raymond at 16.

All my life , I have looked at certain "classics" as over rated.
Some I feel are over rated and some I deemed "over rated" but then as the world turned, I understood the appeal. (Such as films like Casablanca.)

The first classic I put back on my mental pedestal was Julius Caesar.


Let's Take a Moment Here To Salute The Great Teachers at Atlantic City High School.

I did not learn a whole lot collectively about the mechanics of English at Atlantic City High. I came in  with a pretty good understanding of how to diagram a sentence.

However several teachers including : all of my English Teachers Mrs. Swartz, Mrs. Martin, Mrs. Cash and Mr. Goldstein taught me to appreciate concepts in ways that I could grasp as a 16 year old.
I didn't so much learn lines from Shakespeare as I learned how these words would enrich the fabric of my thinking.

I still remember feeling that I would skim Julius Caesar to a B plus and wow Miss Martin with the "brilliance" that is "16 year old writing at it's best." Yeah , the "Me" today is laughing out loud too.

Through class reading, explanation and discussion. Through Miss Martin's passion for the material.
I learned to love not only Julius Caesar, but other works by William Shakespeare, The Catcher In The Rye and other books I thought were not relatable to me as a young black kid growing up in the mid 80's. I learned that in my life even at 16 there were times I had went to the floor of the senate fully expecting to be crowned KING...and other times when I said "Dammit give me the knife."

Each March 15th. I reflect on both Julius Caesar and how I came to love this work of art...this TIMELESS CLASSIC.

My thoughts on Caesar are varied and broad and I will share in another post.
 
My thoughts on how I got to enjoy finding myself in almost every story ever told? 
I thank Miss Martin where ever you are.
I never saw her again after graduation but I have spent time with her and revisited her class room so many times over the years.

If you still have an "Eileen Martin" in your life? Thank Them and enjoy The Ides Of March.

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