Author: Lawrence
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features: Lawrence's heroic deeds in the Arab world are well-known. His actions after the war are too extensive to be detailed in this short essay. Here, the author can only mention his exceptionally complex personality, and the contradictory, depressed, bewildered, and self-mocking state of mind he displayed in the later period of World War I after being wounded. Lawrence was a contradictory composite. He rode slowly across the desert on camels, yet drove swiftly in civilization. His soul embraced the simplicity of nature, breathing in the vast spaces of Arabia, while also looking ahead to the future century. He said, "In my opinion, the only major task of our generation is to conquer the element that follows—the atmosphere." He was a brilliant military strategist and warrior, yet also an explorer of the soul as a writer and translator. He fought alongside the bloodthirsty Arabs, and was also a friend to many modern writers such as Shaw, Hardy, Graves, and Pound. He was one of the greatest adventurers in the world, yet he was also so timid, introspective, and insecure. His life was complex and contradictory, far exceeding that of a thousand ordinary people—how many crevices does his soul truly have? However, are all great souls not filled with contradictions, so magnificently filled with them?