(no subject)
Reaction to quote-homework assignment.
Brittnay McCombs
“If one’s different, one’s bound to be lonely.”
There are several examples of this quote portrayed in the book. For example, there is Bernard. Bernard is extremely intelligent, but seems rather withdrawn from the others and “normal” activities such as obstacle golf. Bernard is the type of person who can be lonely in a crowded room. His height doesn’t make matters much better, because he is an Alpha-Plus and is supposed to be dominate. The others start rumors about him, but it is more or less him who isolates himself from social situations and tries not to conform to social standards, almost the exact opposite of what is done in our society today.
Another example is John. John is different, because he is from the savage world. He is a total shock to this protected society. At first he is popular and appraised for his differences, because he is such a mystery, but later on through the book he decides that he is too different from the characters of this brave new world. Therefore, he retreats into loneliness, to collect his thoughts and pay for his sins. John is very important, because he displays emotion and free-will, things that our almost obsolete in the utopian.
The third and last example is Linda. Linda is strange, because she was a part of this world. It isn’t her mind that makes her different, but her physical appearance. The thing that makes he different from the first two examples is that she wants to be able to be a part of the utopian again, while the other two are trying to escape the repression.
I would argue that the quote is true. Through my experiences I can vouch that being different has it’s consequences and alienation from others is the worst one that I’ve encountered. The most prominent thing that I’ve noticed in the highschool social scene is that if you don’t succumb to the already established ideas, trends, and activities then you are automatically dubbed “weird.” It’s very hard to try to hold on to your beliefs when people are constantly trying to persuade you to think differently. I’m not sure why it’s so, but teenagers will try anything to make you feel bad for not being the same. Therefore, I’ve decided that conformity is the key to popularity.
Still I don’t think that it’s always going to be total loneliness. Certainly there more “strange” people then not and most likely the “strange” people are going to band together. So I could argue both sides. Yes, if one’s different then they are bound to loneliness, but there most be a lot of lonely and different people that could have a stronger bond, simply because they understand each others differences.