Imagine John Lennon’S Beliefs

John Lennon was born on October 9th 1940 in Liverpool, England 1. His father left the family to sail the seas before Lennon’s earliest childhood memory and his mother was taken away by a car accident when he was 18 2. A year after his mother’s death, the Vietnam War took place, which is The United State’s longest military dispute ever. The world famous band, The Beatles, debut on 1961 not long after the start of the war and through this band, Lennon was able to demonstrate his feelings to the people across the world. “Revolution,” performed by The Beatles, was created in 1968, when the anti-war demonstration was on the move. After the separation of The Beatles in 1969, Lennon composed the song “Imagine” (1971) 3. This song proves that Lennon is a Peace-Loving-Atheist and a “Voluntarist” 4 that believes in the scheme that people’s ideas can change social reality; however simultaneously admits that there are constantly wars going on in the world. As a result, he could be a mixture of all four, Realist, Liberal, Marxist and Constructivist. On December 8th 1980, approximately five years after the end of the Vietnam War, Lennon was assassinated by Mark Chapman 5. It is not for certain that the word assassination could be used on a singer, song writer who also published books. However there is no doubt about the fact that Lennon touched many people’s hearts around the world and maybe was even praised as an almighty figure.

In the 1960s, the anti-war movement grew rapidly in America. The party reached the summit in 1968 by collecting members of various age ranges throughout the country 6. The song “Revolution,” produced by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, expresses the irony of the political group. Although the party is against having wars, they have created “destruction[s]” 7 at demonstrations and forced their ideas with power, not peace. The group of people mentally believes in peace with no war; however, physically they move with violence to have a peace innovation. This is similar to the Marxists’ method of approaching revolution. In order to overthrow their adversary with their ideas, violence is needed. Chairman Mao, the founder of People's Republic of China who committed the crime of mass-killing, is a representation of aggression and massacre in the lyrics. The appearance of Mao in the song conveys Lennon and McCartney’s thoughts against brutality to have peace. By admitting that there are people who follow Marxism, Lennon and McCartney were able to show how violence may not be the solution to peace and barbarity may perhaps cause more conflict instead.

It was the time of war when Lennon wrote the song “Imagine.” Five years after the First Indochina War from 1946 to 1954 that separated Vietnam into North and South, the start of the Vietnam War was set off 8. This war was the most prolonged military battle and could be the most brutal fight in the United States History. The wars around the world provided evidence for considering Realism and Marxism as the truth, by presenting facts that wars are continuously happening around the world to show power and try creating peace with violence. However these thoughts go against Lennon’s perspective of gaining true peace. The title “Imagine” could suggest that people can only have mental conceptions of the ideal world of peace with no violence. This may perhaps propose that the world is made up of Marxists, who believe revolution occurs with violence. The division of Vietnam into North and South could possibly indicate a realist’s method of thinking and how territories are fought over for power. On the other hand, this hope for the future by being able to picture an ideal world with no destruction is one of the optimistic view points that Liberalists have in idealism. Lennon could have believed that if people can think like Liberalists, the society could change to a better place. Therefore overall, Lennon perhaps thinks in a Constructivist view point, because he believes that the social reality could be constructed by people’s ideas.

The first verse could be taken as a message from Lennon that people should stop imagining what heaven and hell could be and impede people from worrying about their future вЂ" death. Instead, see the sky above the people that live today and think about the present. Liberalists believe that people could overcome fear and the world is always progressing, therefore instead of worrying about the end of their life, people should see the positivity in the present world.

Lennon may want people to imagine if we can possess nothing at all in the second verse, “…no countries…nothing to kill or die for, no religion too.” 9 Without owning anything,