People have a habit of constructing boundaries and constantly conceiving new ways to divide themselves from one another. We can observe this not only in the obvious places––such as geographical separations––but also on a more personal level––such as within relationships. Although these boundaries are formed as a self-protection mechanism with the goal of separating oneself from harm, in reality they also separate oneself from potentially positive situations. Bub, the main character in Raymond Carver’s short story “Cathedral,” is a prime example of how self-imposed limits can be detrimental to oneself and their surroundings. “Cathedral” is also an effective demonstration of the potential within everyone to stretch and approach their limits. …show more content…
We can also speculate that Bub’s personal limits have been modified and expanded, allowing us to generalize that, since many limits are self-imposed, they can change over time and adapt to different situations. However, can personal limits ever be crossed, or is the liminal position the furthest reachable point for any given limit? I would argue that, yes, the liminal position is the furthest reachable point for any given limit. However, It is important to remember that we previously established the idea that limits can be reshaped and expanded. Therefore, going beyond the liminal position would instantly extend the limit; it is no longer limiting any given person to the same restriction that it initially was. Saying that the liminal position is the further achievable position for any given boundary doesn’t sound like a particularly positive statement. Perhaps though, after generations of reshaping and expansion, limits will become so broad, so blurred, that their existence is nearly imperceivable. This outcome doesn’t sound nearly as gloomy. Someday, humanity may stretch its self-inflicted limits so far that they may as well not exist. Assuming that limits cannot be dissolved completed, this is the best possible outcome. This day is not today, but there is still the desire for all limits to be as imperceivable, as minute, and as infinitesimal as possible. Bub
A tipping point can be viewed as the significant point in a developing condition that precedes to contemporary and irreversible change. This notion has been illustrated in Malcolm Gladwell’s book “The Tipping Point”, he provides us with an understanding as to how we could perhaps induce a tipping point or plague in our own lives. If we obtain cognizance about what makes tipping points, only at that point will we be able to understand exactly how and why things happen in our world. The tipping point is that miraculous moment when a thought, style, or public actions crosses a brink and proliferates like a cell. Gladwell’s ideology can be seen in a variety of settings; some examples are when someone ill starts an epidemic of the flu, when an aimed
Alex Amir Ms.Lau English 10R Sunday January 22 The Microcosm of Injustice: Examining Man's Inhumanity in John Knowles' A Separate Peace We often hurt those closest to us in our attempts to assert our own power and superiority. Knowles delves into the toxic dynamics that can arise in friendships, particularly when one person is striving to be the dominant force. John Knowles utilizes the literary device of symbolism in order to show the theme of man’s inhumanity to others by portraying humans looking to dominate over others for self benefit.
Having boundaries is important for yourself and society! It is always
A perfect example of the way we embrace things that limit
The author use of the title “Cathedral” was misleading at first. “Cathedral” is about a husband who had an interesting experience with his wife’s blind friend. The narrator, also known as the husband, had difficulty understanding other people thoughts and personal feelings. The narrator knew how important the blind man is to his wife, yet he still makes careless jokes about him. “Maybe I could take him bowling” was a comment made by the narrator after finding out that the blind man was staying over his house.
His darker, more ominous and pessimistic code became his truth, his reality, which caused him to become spiritually alienated from himself, becoming bored with reality. When it comes down to it, as Jimmy grew older, he turned to other things and lost his ability to strive for a greater purpose. Allison J. Pugh, author of Planned Obsolescence of Other People, argues “Insecurity in our dealings with each other lead us to fall short of our hopes and expectations, failing each other repeatedly, and widening the chasm between what we would hope for our relationships and what they are” (299) which strengthens the correlation between individuality and coming into a larger group: one impacts the whole. Jimmy’s parents were insecure and projected their
Over the last fifteen years, I have grown mentally and socially. I credit my growth to my ability to analyze and understand the world for what it is. Social imagination is the use of information to understand the world and ourselves for who we are. Possessing the quality of mind that can develop reason and the capacity to shift perspectives are the basis of social imagination (Mills 2000). As I mentioned in reflection one, I came to realize that my way of thinking is what helped me overcome living a poor lifestyle.
Chapter 16 of Readings for Sociology, titled "Deviance and Liminality" by Beth Montemurro describes liminality as "being 'neither here nor there'" in reference to the in between phase of transitioning from one status to the next. An example of liminality is seen at the stage at the end of senior year of high school, but before graduation. Many students participate in senior pranks in the final weeks, or days, of their high school careers. Students often adopt the mindset of thinking that their actions will not matter in a couple months because they will soon be graduated. Students view this time period as an opportunity to break from the conformity of following the rules and participate in an activity that will leave a mark on the school to
“We were all talking about the space between us all and the people who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion. Never glimpse the truth – then it’s far too late when they pass away” quoted George Harrison, an English guitarist and songwriter. He meant that some people cannot handle reality, they need a way to escape and be what or who they want. However, when they create these illusions, they create distance between themselves and the real world (a space is made). And the only time people regret having that space is when their loved ones are gone; then they realize that they had something good.
In Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral,” written in 1983, the author points out that empathy and perspective are the only way to truly experience profound emotion. The narrator is struggling is sucked into his own comfort zone, he drowns his dissatisfaction on life, marriage, and job in alcohol. A man of limited awareness breaks through his limitations by socializing with a blind man. Despite Roberts physical limitations, he is the one who saved narrator from himself and helped him to find the ones vies of the world.
I think that is what the author is trying to explain to us. Everything like the increase in buying hushpuppies, to bad things like a syphilis epidemic has it’s breaking point known as it’s tipping point. Finally,this book is something extraordinary. It opens the human eye and shows that we should be more observant and pay more attention.
Everyone today wants to belong. Everyone wants to be like everyone, but it can be misread on what oneself is .Contrary to popular belief, though, individuality brings more success and happiness than conformity. Everyone is unique in their own way and people shouldn’t be fearful of each other’s differences. In the short story Harrison Bergeron the protagonist Harrison is very different from others and has a lot of good aspects but also has some crucial flaws. In the story, everyone is being controlled by the government to be equal to one another.
Sydney Kesling 18 December 2016 Dr. Damai ENG 201-118 Final Paper Wall-E IS Our World "We all make choices, but in the end our choices make us.” – Ken Levin. This quote itself may not seem as if it is much, but in all reality the words behind it go much deeper than at first glance. Each and every day we are forced to make decisions and those decisions make us into the person that we are today. Whether the outcome may be good or bad, it all results back to the choices we have made.
Debussy broke the mold so to speak in the 20th century of music by breaking away from the typical German style laid out by composers such as Beethoven as he often explored dreamy and distant sound worlds in an effort to stand out amongst his earlier peers of the classical period. He began to be drawn to the sounds of the pentatonic scales, whole tone scale, and sounds otherwise known in Asia as his music in comparison often contained a rather circular motion which broke away from the formers heroic cadential style of resolution. This breaks his music away as his was more of an ambient and distant much like the impressionist art movement happening at the same time being led by the likes of Monet and Van Gough. The Sunken Cathedral by Debussy exhibits many traits of the new impressionistic forum of 20th century composers as he exhibits many methods to place the listener into a dream-like state using melodic variation and connectivity amongst voice leading in order to achieve a watery type effect. This effect makes the listener feel as if they are floating along with the piece itself as he adds complexities to the music with the slow harmonic variation throughout the piece.
In this sense, the end of the tether symbolizes the practical limits by which one