THINKER'S ALMANAC - December 11

Subject: Stoicism - Invictus

Event:  The film Invictus is released, 2009

When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves. -Viktor Frankl

On this day in 2009, the film Invictus was released.  The movie is a biopic of the South African leader Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) and focuses on his efforts as newly elected President to unify his country in the 1990s.  Although apartheid had ended, South Africa remained a racially divided nation.  To bring the country together, Mandela turns to Springboks, South Africa’s underdog rugby team.  Mandela puts his full support behind the team, encouraging his entire country to rally behind the team as it competes in the 1995 World Cup Championships, which were held that year in South Africa.

The title of the movie comes from a poem that Mandela drew inspiration from while he was imprisoned for 27 years for his anti-apartheid activism.  

Invictus was written by the British author William Ernest Henley.  Suffering from tuberculosis since he was 12, Henley was frequently hospitalized.  In 1875, his leg was amputated due to complications from the disease.  That same year as he recovered from his surgery, he wrote Invictus (Latin for “unconquerable”) (1).

The poem’s brilliance revolves around its expression of the indomitable human spirit.  Also, the poem’s generalized statements of human anguish –“bludgeonings of chance,” “fell clutch of circumstance” — make it applicable to all manner of human struggles.  The poem embodies the philosophy of Stoicism, specifically its emphasis on not being a prisoner to your circumstances but instead using your mind and reason to master emotion and pursue virtue.  While the external body may be injured or weakened (“my head is bloody”), the internal (“unconquerable soul”) mind can only be weakened if you allow it to be.

A short poem like Invictus is perfect for memorization.  As Mandela demonstrated, it is the kind of poem that can lift your spirits or the spirits of your compatriots when courage is needed to face what Shakespeare called “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.”

Invictus by William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,

      Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

      For my unconquerable soul.

 

In the fell clutch of circumstance

      I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

      My head is bloody, but unbowed.

 

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

      Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

      Finds and shall find me unafraid.

 

It matters not how strait the gate,

      How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate,

      I am the captain of my soul.

 

In his book The Stoic Challenge, William B. Irvine explains his Stoic approach to external, chance events that might make him frustrated or angry.  He calls it the “Stoic test strategy”:

[W]hen faced with a setback, we should treat it as a test of our resilience and resourcefulness, devised and administered . . . by imaginary Stoic gods. Their goal in throwing these curveballs our way is to make our days not harder but better.

The key dichotomy in Stoic philosophy is differentiating between what we can control and what we can’t.  Both Nelson Mandela and William Ernest Henley were bludgeoned by negative circumstances that they had no control over.   What made both men victorious and unconquerable was their unwillingness to focus on what they could not change.  Instead, both men focused on what they could change, what they had influence over:  their reactions to those circumstances.

 

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:  Why was the poem ‘Invictus’ important to Nelson Mandela?

Challenge -  I Am the Master of the Poem: What are the keys to effective memorization and recitation of poetry? What process would you use to learn a poem by heart? Begin the process of memorizing Invictus.  Read and reread the poem.  Read it aloud.  Write the poem down.  Break the poem down into smaller parts.  Then, memorize it line by line and stanza by stanza.  Decide what keywords you want to emphasize and experiment with, reciting them using different tones.  Finally, use the words of the poem to inspire your goal of memorizing the poem.  Don’t give up! 

 

Sources:

1-The Poetry Foundation. William Ernest Henley. 

2-Henley, William Ernest. Invictus. 1875. Poets.org. Public Domain. 

3-Irvine, William B. The Stoic Challenge:  A Philosopher's Guide to Becoming Tougher, Calmer, and More Resilient.  New York:  W. W. Norton & Company, 2019.