What is the ‘measure of a man’?
Of late we are left to ponder what is the real measure of a man, a woman, a person? In his memoir, The Measure of A Man, the Bahamas born American actor, director, Sidney Poitier, known for his highly successful movies including Guess whose coming to dinner and To sir with love, describes the importance of values as the bedrock of how well a man measures up.
Such values include ‘integrity and commitment, faith and forgiveness, … the virtues of simplicity, … the difference between ‘amusing ourselves to death’ and finding meaningful pleasures — even joy.’
You don't need to be a public figure or celebrity to be measured for your excellence as a person. You just need to stand for something, as Malcolm X aptly said once, ‘A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything.’
Yet, how do you define the measure of a person? Let’s explore this topic further through one of my favorite movies, the 2003 Edward Zwick’s The Last Samurai which stared Ken Watanabe, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Tom Cruise.
The story is set in 19th century Japan, at a time when the Samurai culture was strong and revered. The story is inspired by a few different episodes of Japanese history in which the westernization of Japan was greatly challenged by the Samurai who ruled Japan for over 700 years. Check out this montage for a quick synopsis of the movie, accompanied by the haunting soundtrack by the highly acclaimed composer, Hans Zimmer.
The two main characters in the story are Lord Katsumoto, the head of the Samurai, and Lieutenant Algren, an American soldier who is hired to train and modernize the Japanese army against the Samurai.
In their first encounter with the Samurai, the Japanese soldiers were ill-prepared to fight using the new weapons. Algren is captured and taken to the Samurai stronghold in a village deep in the mountains, as the Samurai kills their enemies and wins the battle.
The story follows the two ‘enemies’ — Katsumoto and Algren, as they demonstrate their measure as men, as enemies, ‘as students of war’. They encounter many obstacles at the beginning as there is great distrust between them. However, Katsumoto appears more compassionate and even intrigued by his prisoner of war as he reads through Algren’s journals. He doesn't keep Algren at a distance. He sets out to have ‘conversations in English’ with Algren, getting to know ‘his enemy’, as he says. In fact, he places the heavily wounded Algren who killed his brother-in-law under the care of his widowed sister. He allows Algren to roam free and observe the daily rituals of the villagers and the samurai as they continue to train and strengthen their craft of sword fighting, archery, and close combat fighting. Algren is even allowed to learn the art of sword fighting. In the course of the autumn and winter seasons that they spend together, they develop mutual respect and acceptance of each other.
There is a scene when Algren finally embraces the concept of ‘no-mind’ which was his biggest hurdle at the beginning. Where previously he fought by attacking his opponent and appeared to overthink his actions, in this scene he appears at one with himself and merely responds to the situation, and in so doing is able to hold his own against a formidable opponent. Algren at this stage has achieved the Zen state of ‘Mushin’ or a state of ‘no-mindness’.
The values displayed by the samurai as they rest and prepare for battle, which Algren observes, can be summed up in these words, honor, purpose, and self-discipline towards a collective good. This clip captures the essence of the samurai philosophy of ‘us’ and ‘we’, and not ‘I’ and ‘me’.
The journey that Katsumoto and Algren take is akin to traveling the road and meeting a stranger. How does one greet the said stranger? What values do you use to relate to the stranger given that he is from a foreign culture, whose lifestyle and choices appear at times at odds with yours? These words from Sidney Poitier’s The Measure of a Man may hold a clue:
“If you walk down the street and someone is with you, he’ll adjust to your pace or you to his, and you’ll never be aware of it. There is no effort. It simply happens. And the same thing can happen with the rhythm of your life.”
There is something comforting about the ability to connect to others. To perceive the commonality between people. There are many opportunities to label each other as barbaric or uncivilized for the marked difference in the way others choose to live and practice their culture. Yet the true measure of a man, a person, is in the values one lives by, the choices one makes to measure up, and how those values and choices help inform us in our treatment of others.
