Unit One: Freedom 5/21

I would prefer not to write any blog posts today.

For the sake of my grade, I guess I should anyway.

Bartleby the Scrivener is an story about extreme non-conformity. I wish that the "I prefer not to" method was effective in real life, but unfortunately, life doesn't work that way. Obviously this is an exaggerated fictional story about non-conformity, but it is intended to make the point that we all have free will. Of course, there are consequences for disobeying authority (like me getting a zero for not writing a blog post today), but some times it is necessary. I think the author is trying to suggest that non-conformity is necessary at times, but can also be a dangerous thing when taken to an extreme.

This story reminds me of the movie Office Space. For those who have not seen it, I will summarize the plot in a few sentences. The protagonist, Peter, hates his job, his girlfriend, his apartment, his boss, etc. and at one point states that each day of his life is worse than the last. One day he visits a hypnotherapist for relationship counseling with his girlfriend, and as he's being hypnotized the therapist has a heart attack and dies. He has some type of revelation and decides he cannot maintain his life as it is currently. He stops going to work, stops answering phone calls, doesn't talk to his girlfriend, and starts doing whatever he wants every day. This is reflective of the "I would prefer not to" mentality. Despite massive lay offs at his company, the consultants decide to promote Peter because they think his honesty and straight-forward attitude show ambition. Ultimately, Peter becomes a construction worker because he would prefer not to pursue any type of corporate job or responsibility. The plot continues, but I think the similarities are clear by this point.

Anyway, the resonating theme of the film is that you need to do what makes you happy, not always what society dictates.

As a side note about the Youtube video, I think that these students have gone a little too far. The 'meaningless' tests they are referring to help assess schools so that schools and students can be compared nationwide and statewide. If schools weren't tested, they would have no real reason to improve their teachers, facilities, etc. Just because you don't want to take a test, doesn't mean that it's meaningless. This is all kind of beside the point, but I just wanted to share that. Does anyone else agree with me, or am I just being overly critical?

The Allen Ginsburg poem Sunflower Sutra definitely celebrates individualism and non-conformity. Personally, I did not like this poem very much. I agree with the message that we should celebrate our flaws rather than hide them, but I didn't care for the style of writing or the excessive use of certain words (locomotive, in particular,) over and over again. I also found this poem to be very hard to follow, but the video really helped me understand what was going on.

I believe that Ginsberg is saying that America has been overcome by the prevalence of industry and massive corporations, but it can be saved by breaking the mold. Americans need to embrace their individualism, not associate and model themselves after someone else. Ginsberg suggests that it is easy to be yourself, but non-conformity is often met with opposition.

Both of these pieces of literature emphasize the American quality of personal freedom and its necessity to our society. This is a part of our identity as Americans. Some cultures embrace and encourage conformity, but as Americans we have the right and the will to be individuals when appropriate.