Elephant Tied To A Stake - The Context Of History

As I pondered the story of the elephant tied to a stake, I realized that there was more that this story had to teach. The man who walked up to the scene saw a full grown elephant that was choosing not to escape its feeble prison. But the man who owned the circus saw an elephant that he had subjugated and mentally dominated years ago. The difference between the two is that the first man had no context of history. 

Life is the way it is now because of how things used to be. Every person has a history. So does every relationship, every building, every metaphysical concept. You cannot simply look at a given scene or person and understand what is going on or what people are thinking unless you know all of their contexts. Otherwise, you can make incredibly logical, yet utterly wrong assumptions. 

As a writer, this is why it is crucial to give your audience the proper context of a situation before you elaborate on it. Otherwise, you will leave people scratching their heads the whole while through.