Light in the darkest tunnel

In tablets eight and nine, Gilgamesh goes son a journey to Utnapishtim. He is afraid of being sentenced to the same destiny as his friend, Enkidu, and tries to get information about his future and what to do. He is lost and devastated by the loss of his loyal companion, and is looking for a way to get back on road. He looks for guidance and walks in the dark for a long time before he gets a glimpse of sunlight again. “The darkness was total, nothing behind or before. He made his way, companionless, to the end.” (p.51). Gilgamesh was experiencing confusion and fear, as we all do at some pint of life. As our character, most people go through dark and lonely times and fight to overcome them. We might fall into sadness and misery, but we can never give up our hope and our will to live. Even if we lose that which is most valuable for us, there are always infinite reasons to live and go on. And even though Gilgamesh lost his friend and companion, Enkidu, he is looking for someone to help him overcome those times and to help him make decisions about his future. We all should do the same when we are going through difficult times, because when we are alone we may surrender to sadness, but with a guide and friends we will always be able to overcome the troubles of life no matter how big these seem.

Gilgamesh is afraid of death, and powerless against it, seeks to confront it with a different kind of power. “He said to himself that he would seek the son of Ubartutu, Utnapishtim, he, the only one of men by means of whom he might find out how death could be avoided” (p.48). Even when we are powerful and think we are the center of the world, we all know our time here is limited. The one thing we have for sure is that we won’t be here forever, and we all fear the day when our time in earth finishes. Gilgamesh does fear death as well, and decides he has to avoid it by all means. He seeks power beyond his to fight that enemy which he doesn’t stand a chance against if he confronts him alone. Sometime we also think we can avoid death, and some people act as if they are to be in the world for ever. We all know the reality, and because we can’t change it, we must make the most out it. No one knows when his/her time on earth will end, so while we can, we should try and make it a wonderful experience. We should live every day at its full extent, and experience everything completely. Make out of your life something worth the time, because you only get one chance to write your history, and there is no going back to correct this writing. So live your life to its extreme, and live every day as the last, because it could be.