Honor seems to be a concept that is far away from our modern world. The very word conjures up images of heroes slaying dragons and knights saving ladies. Honor feels like an outdated idea for an outdated world. But in my personal opinion, I think honor still exists. Honor for me is twofold; it is both outward and inward.
Discussing any concept such as honor requires a definition but this is a concept I define in two specific contexts. As part of my culture, I consider honor to be a family matter. South Asian culture dictates that family is held in the highest regard. Loyalty to family comes before loyalty to one’s self. Therefore I would define honor in this context as sacrifice for the good of one’s family. I may have grown up in America for the vast majority of my life but my Pakistani heritage is apparent in my home life. I have seen this concept of honor manifested in many ways. For example, my father goes to great lengths to provide for his parents. Despite the fact that he is the only working member of my family, he would still send money to Pakistan to cover their medical bills and their mortgage. There are currently plans to move my grandparents into my home; sending them to a nursing home is out of the question. It is an expectation that the children will take care of the parents once they grow older. The entire family unit in South Asia is based on responsibility and obedience. The phrase “Honor Thy Father” is perhaps the best way to describe the way I was raised. It is a much different dynamic than the average Western family. The sense of duty to my family is how the cultural aspect of honor affects my life.
The other aspect of honor is far more personal but retains the sense of duty. My own personal sense of honor is the set of standards I hold myself responsible to and the moral code I attempt to live by. This code of honor grew out of my own personal experiences. The sense of duty to family is still there but is supplemented by my desire to help people regardless of my relationship to them. Personal honor, for me, is a commitment to self-sacrifice for the betterment of others. It is perhaps not the most practical outlook (since it necessarily forces me to do things that aren’t always in my best interest) but is indicative of my perspective on life. It has greatly influenced the way I interact with people as well as shaped my vision of my future. But I did not view my personal values as honor at the beginning of this semester. Studying the concept of honor throughout ancient cultures has shown me how these people made sense of the world. The concept of violence relates to honor as a method of proving superiority or dominance. In my life, I tend to not exercise violence as a means of achieving honor. War is no longer a vehicle for bestowing honor upon the combatants. Being a soldier in the modern world is not as glorious as it once was for a great many reasons. Violence is not as important to being honorable anymore.
But honor does still exist. We do still have the ability to stand up for the things we believe are important. To be honorable is to adhere to one’s own moral sense of what is right and wrong. In our modern world, we have more places and opportunities to be honorable. I believe that honor can be something as simple as helping a stranger with his groceries or something as important as taking a bullet for a loved one. I personally see it as a commitment to an idea above one’s self; the specific idea is not as important as how invested you are in it. The ways in which to prove this in the world are immeasurable. Even then, watching a movie such as Braveheart and seeing the Scots fight to the death for freedom cannot help but make one long for the days when honor was something far more obvious. But in the end, honor does not belong to any time period; the ability to be honorable is something that all human beings possess.