Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Cursing Society?

Yes, I understand that if I am to curse society, I should yell it out with pure confidence instead of questioning if I actually curse it or not. It makes my statement weak. But, the reason for my question mark is confusion.
First of all, I love Mrs. Dalloway. Nothing really happens for a good 2/3Rd's of the book, but throughout all of those pages, so much is going on. I feel connection to this modernist style, because I've often felt that many people could miss out on a considerable part of life if they loose connection with other people; especially a large, diverse group of people. Yet, how do we connect with these people? How do we get inside other people's thoughts and begin to understand differences and similarities?
I refuse to believe that everyone reacts to art in the same way. My uncle and I live for poetry, yet my mother looks down upon the art form. And Erik and I don't perceive poetry in the same way whatsoever. Have you ever gone to a movie with someone? That right there on the big screen is a giant piece of many frameworks of art, and whoever is sitting next to you is not going to like every moment that you do.... You are both going to disagree on a number of things such as a) actors, b) music, c) script or plot in general.... Art may give us something like a common denominator a.k.a. a similar foundation, but, in the none Modernist view, doesn't the notion of God actually give us all a true string that can connect us all? However, even in the Modernist rejection of God, what of love? Is there such a thing as Universal love? Or can love only be between two people?
I also disagree that sex is the only other way to connect with a person. If sexual intimacy leads to connection, shouldn't there be a fundamental love between the two people before making love? I just don't believe that if you were to make love to somebody without the essential bond of love between that person it would 'expand this luminous halo' that we belong in.
So, we must establish some form of, some way, to communicate, and 'share the burden of your mind'. (I think that's from a song....) And it is true, as we go through life, we will find those who can go 'in and out of each other's minds,' and we don't actually need to speak before we are understood. "Happiness is this" because this alienation seems to disappear when our own confusing thoughts actually makes sense to someone who is outside of our own personal worlds. -At the beginning of this book, I was sincerely convinced that every person on the face of the planet was potentially insane to different degrees. My reasoning: because we are all confined to what is in our heads and our own perceptions, and we are living the lie of relative truths, we can never clue anybody else in on what we are going through, what we experience, and how we deal with everything.
But please enter in the word experience. Isn't it is our experiences that we are able to share that somehow connect us? Clarissa and Septimus never share the same experiences, but they do think in the same way, and because their thought processes are so alike. Because of this, do they automatically share a connection? Of course I cannot ask this question and avoid the crazy questioning of loosing a sense of self, and keeping. Egocentrecism. Which would be worse, the death of the soul, or death of companionship? Or can we have balance? And how do we communicate? With words, or with body language? How exactly do we execute the souls, or our friendships? Alienation? Individualism? How can we protect these equally important aspects of life????
But to finally reach my main point: Civilization has ingrained in all of us, to some extent, that alienation is the death of humanity. Therefore, in trying to maintain humanity, people loose their individuality. Yet, when people deny themselves, how are they to see in order to understand? (In less confusing wording: How are we as people expected to make any connection with anyone else if we have been taught to deny our individualism and become one with the masses?) Look at Clarissa, who is so concerned with keeping her own soul in tact. She loves and absolutely lives for parties! Well, what is wrong with this? She just loves the life that a party invokes in each person. One cannot be at a party and simply mope about with no uplifting life in them. And all this while, people look down at her for giving parties. Neighboring thoughts give way to the 'materialistic' and 'lazy' stereotypes associated with her. And here she is stuck between what she loves and what others may think of her. Her sense of self, of alienation, is ironically the exact opposite: She loves bringing people together. What would make her give this up? Simply: What others think poorly of her. So, another's alienation, or sense of egocentricism, forces her individual personality to be alienated.
And now we look at Septimus. (Who I absolutely love!) Anyways, poor Septimus is loosing his very soul. "The Death of the Soul!" Actually, I take this back. He is loosing his sense of alienation, while gaining this sense that his doctors wish to take away his Egocentricism. (I'm really sorry I've spelled this wrong just about three times.... and is it simply egotism?) By reaping Septimus of his Egotism, civilization is bearing down on his individuality saying this is completely wrong. I think Septimus represents God. Whoever is ruler of the entire universe knows EVERYTHING. Yet He has experienced OUR pains through his son, Christ. Anyways, Septimus has these moments when he is connected to the very roots of the trees and the wind blowing through the leaves all at the same time, and HE has 'understood things' (after the war of course) only through his prolonged invention of Evans. Evans tells him things that he must carry out. Maybe this connection is a little crazy. Maybe a lot crazy. Maybe even ridiculous. Unfortunately, Septimus did not want to die. But he has to escape somehow! Becoming one with the universe...is this really the worst fate? No, the worse fate was what Septimus was already living. Now he is an actual part of everything in the universe (according the Modernists, and I don't know how many agree with this...) and there is NOTHING out there to say to him "you cannot be this!" This death was not/ is not the worst Septimus and anyone can experience. I know Clarissa is wondering and perhaps even fearing death because 'will all of this even matter?' Well, we can go into this giant discussion about existentialism, but I'd rather not. Just to ponder though: Does our life only matter if we influence another's life? If we bring about change for the world, is our life better than someone who didn't do anything to invoke change? Finally, how do we grasp individualism without conforming to societies wish that we are never alienated?

1 comment:

David Lavender said...

What a wide-ranging and INTERESTING post! (Thanks--I enjoyed reading it). Septimus as God? I wonder.

There's not much her that helps narrow your focus for your essay (something we'll be working on in class come Wednesday), but that's okay, too. Sometimes you need to open things up before you narrow them back down.