"TO AUTUMN," BY JOHN
KEATS
We are presently living in
an era of material affluence. Never before in man's history has
the production of goods been so scientifically manipulated by the
use of technology; never before have the natural sciences advanced
with such speed and skill so that even nature, that unpredictable
force of life, has come under its control and the outer limits of
our Universe, as a result of scientific exploration has lost its
mystery. It is an era in which it is generally believed that
Science and Technology are the answer to human suffering, and that
in time we will find the key that will open the door to happiness
for all. Science and Technology have thus become the religion of
the 20th century. Consequently, we find that we are in the autumn
of our civilization, our granaries are filled to capacity, and yet
the leaves, of the trees of life are falling. Man has not
succeeded in finding "happiness", for as Marcuse says, "The people
recognize themselves in their commodities; they find their souls in
their automobile, hi-fi,set, split-level home, kitchen equipment."
Thus man is alienated and isolated from himself and, like a
gleaner, is picking up the remaining grains of love and
communication rather than capitalizing on them. It is the thesis
of this, paper that the advances in Science and Technology, which
are seen as a redeemer of the human soul, have achieved the
opposite condition and that only by human intercourse can man hope
to revive filial affection.
Looking at our present society, I am struck by the desperation
shown by individuals who are seeking ways of finding some meaning
to their lives. Young adults and teenagers are running away from
home and their parents' values and means of achieving "success."'
Their parents, who fail to understand that their children are
looking for affection and meaningful relationships keep asking,
"Why? we've given them everything possible." But their material
offerings do not appear to fulfill the human need for communication
and love. These parents, who have struggled all their lives for
material success have found little time for their families, and the
family structure as an institution has suffered greatly. Children
are sent out of the home to attend nursery schools at the age of
two, three or four years and early in life they become aware of the
need to achieve. They are told that they must receive a good
education because education is essential in obtaining a good paying
job. They are told that they must be polite, personable, and
attractive because these qualities win friends and spouses.
Consequently, life begins to appear to exist outside of them, and
all too soon the child experiences a feeling of depersonalization.
This depersonalization is depicted by the sociologist Robert E.
Parks, who writes:
Everywhere in the Great
Society the relations of men which were intimate and personal have
been more or less superseded by relations that are impersonal and
formal. The result is that in the modern world... every aspect of
life seems to be mechanical and rationalized. This is particularly
true in our modern cities which are... so largely inhabited by
lonely men and women.
Where are these young people running to? Many are escaping into
the world of drugs, a world they claim where life appears beautiful
and where experiences are heightened. Others are engaging in
emotionally premature experiences, possibly hoping to find relief
from loneliness, and still others are taking part in mass community
experiences, such as The White Lake Music Festival where thousands
of people joined together to experience communally, a common
interest --music, or the mass political demonstrations where
thousands have voiced their opposition to discrimination.
And what about the older
members of society? have they been happy in their strivings? The
answer must be no. With the advent of the huge corporations, men
and women have become numbers on a payroll rather than individuals
necessary for the functioning of a company. Automation has
threatened many employees with the loss of their jobs. The rapidly
changing society has threatened their security. Even religious
institutions have lost their influence over the masses. Their
material acquisitions provide little comfort, against the threat of
fear, loneliness and insecurity. This dissatisfaction is well-
stated in the following statement by Sigmund Freud:
One would like to ask: is there...no increase in my feeling of
happiness, if I can hear the voice of a child of mine who is
living hundreds of miles away or if I can learn in the
shortest possible time after a friend has reached his destination
that he has come through the long and difficult voyage
unharmed? Does it mean nothing that medicine has succeeded
in enormously reducing infant mortality and the danger of infection
for women in childbirth, and, indeed, in considerably
lengthening the average life of a civilized man? ... But here
the voice of pessimistic criticism makes itself heard...If there
had been no railroad, ... my child would never have left
his native town, ... if traveling across the ocean by
ship had not been introduced, my friend would never have embarked
on his sea voyage...What is the use of reducing infant
mortality... when that reduction imposes the greatest
restrain on us in the begetting of children... And what good is a
long life if it is difficult and barren of joys and if it is
so full of misery that awe can only welcome death as a
deliverer?
Although Sigmund Freud's interpretation of Technology is a
pessimistic one, the point he makes is poignant. Scientific and
technological advances alone cannot achieve human happiness. I see
that to combat human isolation is communication. Not the
communication of the telephone or the mass media but the verbal
expression of one's human needs. Man will soon discover that the
uniqueness of his being is not altogether unique, but his feelings
are shared by millions of others throughout the world. I pose the
question: Will our autumn turn into a deadly winter, where even the
hope of happiness will be lost, or can man unite with nature (life)
and breathe deeply the aromas of love and beauty?
THE INDEPENDENT CHILD: HUCK
FINN AND TODAY
One may find Mark Twain's
Huckleberry Finn an extremely independent child for a young boy of
fourteen years old. He is first abandoned by his father and then
forced to go out on his own. When he grows totally accustomed to
his own way of life, the Widow Douglas adopts him exposing him to
the strong feelings towards the new restrictions which we all have
in society. At this point, the limitations bestowed to him make
him feel as cramped and uncomfortable as do his new clothes (190).
He heads out on his own with the freedom of the river, but even the
river has its own restrictions. He is not alone. There are other
people on the river with him, and he cannot ever tell anyone or let
anyone suspect who he and Jim really are. The King and the Duke,
who would certainly hand them over if they knew who they were, make
Huck help them with their schemes. They even take away Jim and
Huck's sleeping place, but Huck has no real choice. Huck has an
apparent independence which is greater than that which most
children have, but, at the same time, is more confined and limited
than any other. This ambiguous freedom is not only true for Huck
but also for many children today.
The average teenager today, even in
the best family, wants to get away from the confines of the family
and find his own individual identity. This is not necessarily
something bad. The teenager wants to see who he is himself when
there is no one to define him. There is a time when he must be
able to stand alone and he wants to be prepared for this first
stage of adulthood. During this preparation period, he also wants
to enjoy himself. After all, it is true that he will never be a
teenager again. Half of himself in adolescence and half aiming
for adulthood, he sets off for his life of independence. Like
Huck's life on the Mississippi River, the good times are wonderful,
but the bad times are oppressing and painful. Independence,
although necessary, can be a lonely state of mind. The only ideal
independence exists in an ideal world. The teenager has a gift for
distorting the size of a problem. He would rather die than get a
low grade on his SAT scores. The end of the world comes when his
girlfriend breaks up with him. He may even feel the need to get
his own extra "medical help" to get the energy to cram for college
entrance exams. Whether alone in a school dorm room or among his
family at home, he is often consumed with feelings of loneliness
and fear of rejection. Although he may have his independence, the
restrictions of society allow a "freedom" which takes a great deal
of adjusting to. Once out of the confines of the family structure,
the young person must survive the cruelties of society without
being consumed by the rigid molds which it offers.
Many times, the restraints brought
about by the parent feels greater than any controls on children
from the rigid molds we are used to in our society. In the poorest
parts of Argentina, mothers leave their newly born babies in the
street because they cannot afford to feed them. Most of them die,
but many are picked up and raised by young children who have lived
through the same treatment. The children raise themselves and,
like packs of animals, they survive on their own. All of them beg
for food when they see a person who is better off, but one cannot
give a child food or money without having ten more children run
over for the same treatment. Not surprisingly, their main source
of survival is stealing. The condition of these towns is so
extreme that they cannot be helped but are given an unlimited
"freedom." There is a similarity between this and Pap's treatment
of Huck when he locks him in the cabin and leaves him alone for
days. Huck enjoys the independence that he does not have at the
Widow's house (203). However, he admits that he suffers physically
and feels lonely and scared. Pap rejects him even when he is
treating him like an animal. The rejection of the Argentine
children is also one which originates from the parent and spreads
to the whole society. They have nowhere to run, but these
restrictions do not come from the customs of their society. The
condition begins with the parent who, pressured, supplies this
drastic independence.
The
independence of a child turning into an adult and facing adult
limitations is not always negative. I cannot imagine Huck Finn
dying in the Western Indian Territory after his being the rational
survivor on the raft throughout the trip. The Huck we know would
probably use the resourceful survival skills he applies from the
river adventure to survive his adventures in the "uncivilized"
territory and make himself a capable, ingenious man. He is
somewhat like a young adult who moves away from home and the
influences at home, but finds himself saturated in the molds of his
previous homelife. In this same way, Huck lives with the mercy and
love which the Widow shows him, the inventiveness of Tom Sawyer,
the deceptive cunning of his father, and the caring of Jim. He
brings these characteristics together to form his own very special
personality. The ingenious Huck fabricates his own death so that
he never has to return to any society. He does this a second time
when he wants to cut off any connection with the society in which
the Shepherdsons and Grangerfords destroy each other, disgusting
Huck. But he cannot escape the restrictions, for Jim is a
fugitive. Huck feels that he cannot become a permanent part of
society again, and he does not want to. Free and independent on
the raft with his good friend, he has everything he has ever
wanted. He proves to himself that, in a serious atmosphere, he can
live without compromising with society. Many people have bargained
their desires away to conform in society or family, when influenced
by conformity.
There was a time in my own life
when I felt like Huckleberry Finn. I felt I needed the
independence from the conformist mold of my family. I simply did
not agree with my parents in a specific area. Like Huck, I tried
to be happy in my confinement at first. I tried to see it from
their point of view, but finally accepted that I was right. My
parents may not have been wrong but I certainly was not either. I
converted from my set family beliefs, contented and exhilarated.
My parents were not as happy when they decided to move away and
leave me alone. Still a teenager, I did not know quite what to do
with this sudden independence. I went to school, worked, came and
went as I pleased, yet I could not shake the feeling that I was
imprisoned by the rejection of my family. I gradually adjusted to
being on my own, and I made peace with my parents. At this point,
I simply could not go back to the dependent state in which I had
been. I was not sure if I was independent because I had not
compromised and given up anything I believed in, or was still
restricted by responsibilities I had never experienced before.
These responsibilities could have consumed me and made me quit
altogether, but they did not. Time passed and now I see that
although we all live an ambiguous freedom, it is freedom. To not
let limitations confine us completely as human beings, is greater
than even what Huck Finn does. Huck has to run away from society,
but we face it everyday. We live in it, we are part of it, but we
are our own selves. Even as young adults we can prevent being
molded and cramped if we want to. In this way, we hold on to a
pure independence, as Huck does when he "light[s] out for the
Territory ahead of the rest" (361).
