| |
|
Generally, humans tend to function rather well, not taking into account
external forces. However, as soon as these external forces, such as societal
pressures, begin to affect the person, their personality begins to change.
Reactions to outside stimuli cause individuals to lose parts of who they are. In
an effort to please everyone but himself or herself, they lose a piece of their
humanity, often to their detriment. At times, they forget who they are to such
an extent as to forget that they lost anything or, at best, dimly recall what
might have been had they taken another path. Overall, humans don't try to lose
their identities: nonetheless, they do, and their decision-making patterns
change. Although humanity intends to achieve something positive when choosing
options, inevitably they all lead to one thing: self-harm, a topic writers are
particularly fond of.
In "Pathedy of Manners," a short poem written by Ellen Kay, the protagonist
pursues an unsatisfactory life, embracing the emptiness she feels. In the first
stanza, she lives the short-lived life of a social butterfly, "brilliant and
adored." Nothing is mentioned of what she thinks of this lifestyle, if anything
at all. Already, she has lost her voice. At this moment, she already begins
assimilating her personality into the accepted "norm," merging her own
personality in what society expects her to be. After she gets tired of flitting
about her circle of shallow friends, she decides to take up more intellectual
pursuits, or at least what appear to be cerebral subjects, such as using
"cultured jargon." She learns to judge a book by its cover or, in this case, to
praise "the Degas dancing girls." She feels society wants her to act in a
certain way: therefore, she does, going abroad after "hanging up her diploma"
and rejecting potential suitors. After going on the usual post-collegiate trip
abroad, she settles down with a rather bland, bright man, who soon dies. This
didn't quite fit into her plan: she had expected to leave a posh, comfortable
existence in an "ideal marriage," "an ideal house" and with "ideal...children"
(lines 15-16). Her children notice how shallow their mother truly is: albeit
they live in the same house with her, they don't know her.
All of the family members inhabit the same house, but no one's really at
home. After one family member forever leaves the house, this unexpected turn of
events leads her to believe that she thinks, "toying with plots to kill time and
re-wed illusions of lost opportunity" (lines 19-20). She doesn't realize that
she never quite thought for herself: before she could, she began to be one with
the well-off crowd, becoming more like everyone else than like herself. She
thinks of other people's ideas, "choosing to infer tenets of every mind except
her own" (lines 23-24). So, committed to this empty shell of a life she chose to
live early on in her life, she continues on, forever unfulfilled, all of her
potential wasted.
Often, postmodern writers tend to embed little vignettes and dramas
involving complex characters into pieces of literary art, adding more meaning
and depth to the overall plot. That's why soap operas and the like enjoy so much
popularity. These writers employed the use of dysfunctional characters as well:
stories become far more interesting when the added friction and tension caused
by misguided efforts plays out in a given plot. Humans enjoy seeing others
blunder: it makes us feel better about ourselves.
|
|
