Hardships change people, often for the better and often for the worse. I've always been one to lean on the nurture side of the nature vs. nurture debate when it comes to personality. I don't believe that someone's genetics change who their going to become, but rather the environment around them. People aren't born wanting to do good, nor are they born wanting to do evil, all they want is food, water, and sleep as an infant. Society is what shapes them, teaching them the "right" way to live and throws them out if they refuse to follow it.
So people end up being molded, to fit the shape they've been told to fit. It's almost as if everyone is thrown into a gorge at birth, and society is above ground watching over that chasm. Except, some people are carefully placed in shallow potholes, and others are thrown into abysses too deep to imagine. The people left in potholes easily climb out and mix in with society and learn its values, implementing those rules into their daily lives. The people stuck in abysses call out for help, for a rope, a ladder, anything; but society simply turns its head the other way. The people in the abysses ask why, and society simply shrugs, and says, "we got out of our own holes on our own, why can't you?"
The pothole people have now become society, and the abyss people turn to waste. The abyss people protest, dig steps into the walls of their pits and try to climb to the ground. But society's eye doesn't miss anything. When the abyssers sleep, society throws pails of water onto the abysser's dirt steps, dissolving every tear and drop of sweat to simple mud. In the morning, society pretends to care, when the abyssers cry in agony, and "offers" to "help," without any intention of really doing so.
So the abyssers become survivors, not truly living, but not having the freedom to die either. Some end up as survivors that live, somehow and still manage to find slivers of hope and fragmented happiness, but some end up as "different [people]," turning against each other to make it through the day.
This is sooo deep!! I love how you crafted your own analogy to the way society runs things. I totally agree-- no one is born with the knowledge of how they will live and act; rather, society shapes them into what they've become. Awesome blog!!
ReplyDeleteI really liked your blog this week! It was very insightful reading about what society molds people to be like. Thanks for the interesting read!!
ReplyDeleteWow this post is so cool! It's so interesting how you developed you analogy over time to compare the "abyss people" and "pothole people". It reminded me of Lars Eighner's comparison between the can people and himself. Awesome post!
ReplyDeleteI love your deep analogy for the way society ignores people's struggles. The language here is really powerful and insightful.
ReplyDeleteI love how you were able to connect this to what we did in class! This is really interesting, and your language really captures society's disregard for certain struggles.
ReplyDeleteWow! I love the style that you incorporated throughout this post, as well as the amazing analogy. I thought it was really neat how you mentioned people being placed into "shallow potholes" or "abysses too deep to imagine" at birth. It's definitely interesting to consider how the seemingly random circumstances of our environments can shape our lives to be completely different from others.
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