No one in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is exempt from suffering. (Heck, is anybody?) The colonists on Nimbus III suffer from politicians' manipulations and exploitation. McCoy and Spock suffer from pain in their pasts. Everyone's got something tough to deal with. Enter a weirdo Vulcan named Sybok, who claims he can help individuals unlock their immense potential by revealing their "secret pain" and giving them strength from it. But is suffering something any of us can escape?
Questions about Suffering
- What does Sybok mean when he refers to "secret pain"? What does it mean to release that pain?
- Are Sybok's efforts to relieve suffering successful? Explain.
- Did McCoy make the right choice in relieving his father's suffering? Defend your answer.
- What is Kirk's conception of suffering? Does it differ from Sybok's?
Chew on This
Take a peek at these thesis statements. Agree or disagree?
Unlike Sybok, Kirk sees suffering as something to learn from, rather than something to erase.
Although Sybok can be criticized in many ways, his efforts to relieve others' suffering seem largely successful.