I believe that individualism is extremely important because it allows you to be different and special. It also allows you to express who you truly are. It allows you to contribute something new and inspiring to society instead of just blending in with the crowd. Mr. Keating quotes a line from the poem "Oh Me! Oh Life!" by Walt Whitman. He recites "That the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse." to his students, basically saying that life will go on, and that you will contribute something to this world, so you might as well make it something important and unique. If everyone were to conform to society like Mr. Perry and the other teachers at Welton so encouraged, then nothing innovative would ever occur. All the great discoveries and inventions have all risen from the powerful force of individualism. Examples would include Galileo, Copernicus, Thomas Edison, etc. All these individuals went against common belief to go above and beyond to better the world with new knowledge and innovations. Mr. Keating says, "No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world". This quote is just one of the many things that Mr. Keating says to encourage the boys to strive to seek out their voice and to use their unique qualities to make a difference in the world.
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Individualism: Dead Poets Society. By: Laurie Xiao
One of the main conflicts throughout the Dead Poets Society is individualism v.s. conformity. The film takes place at Welton Academy, which is a very prestigious all boys prep school. At the school conformity and discipline is highly stressed, and there is a lacking of any creativity and voice. All the boys seem to say are "yes sir", and "no sir". That is, until Mr. Keating arrives at the school and begins to teach the English class. Mr. Keating has a very orthodox view on teaching, and is exciting and inspiring. Through poetry, he encourages the boys to "seize the day", and inspires them to be free thinking individuals. One specific group of boys become especially inspired and rekindle the Dead Poet Society. The group includes Neil Perry, Knox Overstreet, Charlie Dalton, Gerard Pitts, Todd Anderson, Steven Meeks, and Richard Cameron. Each of the boys deal with some sort of oppressing power in their life that forces them to conform. However out of all the boys, Neil seems to struggle with it the most, and provides a perfect example of the conflict between individualism and conformity. Neil's father is extremely not tolerant, and doesn't seem to care about anything that Neil feels. Neil's life is already completely planned out by Mr. Perry. Mr. Perry believes that he is doing what is best for his son, when in reality, he causes his son's suicide. Neil is an extremely bright and charismatic boy who has a passion for acting. However that clashes with his father's wishes. Neil is extremely inspired by Mr. Keating and decides to audition for a play. He ends up getting the lead part. Neil continues to perform in the play even though his father forbid him to. Mr. Perry attends the play and sees his son going against his word and becomes furious because he believes that acting is a immature whim that will ruin Neil's chances of becoming rich and successful. So Mr. Perry decides that he will withdraw Neil from Welton, and enroll him into a military boarding school where he will continue to Harvard University. Neil realizes that no matter what he did or wished, his father will always have him caged and will always have his entire life planned out. Neil sees no escape or light at the end of the tunnel, so he commits suicide. This oppression makes me extremely sad because Neil had such a bright future ahead of him, but the inhibition of his voice and views lead him to see no future. Or at least no happy future. Neil's story makes me so sad because Neil was such a wonderful person who just had such a positive energy. He had a lot of potential and talent, and he never got to bloom to his full potential because of his overbearing father. Neil's tragic death shows exactly how important it is to be an individual, and to do what make you happy without worrying about conforming to society.
Monday, September 29, 2014
Broken Dreams: Winesburg Ohio by Sherwood Anderson. By Laurie Xiao
Dreams, it's something every man, woman, and child has experienced at some point in their life. Dreams are something that makes life more bearable, it gives you something to strive for in life. Unfortunately, most dreams remain fantasies, and never cross into the realm of reality. It's a sad thought isn't it? As a child, you have multiple dreams: dreams of becoming an astronaut, dreams of becoming an Olympian, dreams of becoming the president of the united states. However as the years pass, each dream slowly unravels into dust. As you grow, you learn to rationalize your dreams into more practical outcomes like getting into a certain college, or receiving a promotion. As most people grow old, they reflect back upon their life. There will be a multitude of accomplishments, however among these accomplishments, there will be broken and dead dreams sprinkled here and there as a constant reminder that reality is much more disappointing than what they dreamed of as a child.
In Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson, the idea of lost dreams is laced through every story.
One example would be in the chapter Adventure, the dream of love and companionship is lost. Alice Hindman is a woman in Winesburg, and as a young woman she fell in love with a man named Ned Currie. However he leaves for Chicago to seek fortunes and she remains faithful to him because she feels that she can only see a future with him. Over the years, Ned forgets about Alice, but Alice's love for him still burns on like an endless candle. As the years pass, her dream of being married to Ned dies as she realizes that her fantasy will never step foot into her reality. In the chapter, the narrator states "she thought, and turning her face to the wall, began trying to force herself to face bravely the fact that many people must live and die alone". This statement embodies the depressing idea that many dreams die with age, no matter how much we refuse to let them go.
Another example can be found in the chapter Loneliness. Enoch Robinson is the main character in this story, and he dreams of expressing himself and being understood. Enoch moves to New York City with the aspiration of becoming an artist. He eventually falls into a group of young artsy people, and he often invites them to his apartment where they can examine his artwork and have intellectual conversations. However because Enoch's paintings are so cryptic, no one understands them except for himself. And because he is so immensely inept at expressing himself, he never explains the meanings behind his artwork. He soon becomes frustrated at the fact that these people cannot understand him, and his dreams follow the guests out the door and out of his life. Enoch soon starts to create his own imaginary friends to accompany him in his apartment. He creates these imaginary friends because they are figments of his imagination, and therefore they always understood him, and always agreed with him. The narrator states, "Among these people he was always self-confident and bold. They might talk, to be sure, and even have opinions of their own, but always he talked last and best". Because these friends are imaginary they further support the idea that his dream never crosses it's way into reality, and that his wish of being understood and the ability of expressing himself will utterly remain imaginary.
These two examples is clear evidence of the idea of lost dreams through out the novel, however there is a passage out of the chapter Sophistication that embodies everything mentioned earlier in the first paragraph of this post. The narrator of the story states, "There is a time in the life of every boy when he for the first time takes the backward view of life. Perhaps that is the moment when he crosses the line into manhood. The boy is walking through the street of his town. He is thinking of the future and of the figure he will cut into the world. Ambitions and regrets awake within him. Suddenly something happens; he stops under a tree and waits as for a voice calling his name. Ghosts of old things creep into his consciousness; the voices outside of himself whisper a message concerning the limitations of life". This passage is so significant to the idea of lost dreams because it literally states word for word about the "limitations of life", and how as an adult you look back to your youth and realize that so many aspirations and dreams slip through your fingers as you march forward in life. That realization that limitations in life prevent you from achieving so many of your dreams is unfortunately the wake-up call that you have crossed the line into adulthood.
Its a sad thought when you realize that so many of your dreams have never come to pass. And it's an even sadder thought watching a child burst with a million dreams and aspirations, knowing that most will never materialize into reality.
In Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson, the idea of lost dreams is laced through every story.
One example would be in the chapter Adventure, the dream of love and companionship is lost. Alice Hindman is a woman in Winesburg, and as a young woman she fell in love with a man named Ned Currie. However he leaves for Chicago to seek fortunes and she remains faithful to him because she feels that she can only see a future with him. Over the years, Ned forgets about Alice, but Alice's love for him still burns on like an endless candle. As the years pass, her dream of being married to Ned dies as she realizes that her fantasy will never step foot into her reality. In the chapter, the narrator states "she thought, and turning her face to the wall, began trying to force herself to face bravely the fact that many people must live and die alone". This statement embodies the depressing idea that many dreams die with age, no matter how much we refuse to let them go.
Another example can be found in the chapter Loneliness. Enoch Robinson is the main character in this story, and he dreams of expressing himself and being understood. Enoch moves to New York City with the aspiration of becoming an artist. He eventually falls into a group of young artsy people, and he often invites them to his apartment where they can examine his artwork and have intellectual conversations. However because Enoch's paintings are so cryptic, no one understands them except for himself. And because he is so immensely inept at expressing himself, he never explains the meanings behind his artwork. He soon becomes frustrated at the fact that these people cannot understand him, and his dreams follow the guests out the door and out of his life. Enoch soon starts to create his own imaginary friends to accompany him in his apartment. He creates these imaginary friends because they are figments of his imagination, and therefore they always understood him, and always agreed with him. The narrator states, "Among these people he was always self-confident and bold. They might talk, to be sure, and even have opinions of their own, but always he talked last and best". Because these friends are imaginary they further support the idea that his dream never crosses it's way into reality, and that his wish of being understood and the ability of expressing himself will utterly remain imaginary.
These two examples is clear evidence of the idea of lost dreams through out the novel, however there is a passage out of the chapter Sophistication that embodies everything mentioned earlier in the first paragraph of this post. The narrator of the story states, "There is a time in the life of every boy when he for the first time takes the backward view of life. Perhaps that is the moment when he crosses the line into manhood. The boy is walking through the street of his town. He is thinking of the future and of the figure he will cut into the world. Ambitions and regrets awake within him. Suddenly something happens; he stops under a tree and waits as for a voice calling his name. Ghosts of old things creep into his consciousness; the voices outside of himself whisper a message concerning the limitations of life". This passage is so significant to the idea of lost dreams because it literally states word for word about the "limitations of life", and how as an adult you look back to your youth and realize that so many aspirations and dreams slip through your fingers as you march forward in life. That realization that limitations in life prevent you from achieving so many of your dreams is unfortunately the wake-up call that you have crossed the line into adulthood.
Its a sad thought when you realize that so many of your dreams have never come to pass. And it's an even sadder thought watching a child burst with a million dreams and aspirations, knowing that most will never materialize into reality.
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