I'd really appreciate feedback - the texts that I've drawn on are 'The Shark Net' (where the creative intro is drawn from) and 'A Streetcar Named Desire'.
2009 Insight ‘Whose Reality?’ prompt:
Our realities are never solely determined by ourselves.
“Hey you!”
The boy, trudging along, scuffing his shoes into the bark of the playground inclines his head slightly towards the speaker, as to save himself from utter humiliation (should the intended recipient of those words not be himself).
“Yes, you.”
Upon hearing those words, the boy looks up, only to be confronted by the sneering face of the older, richest boy in school.
“Yes?” he asks, timidly.
“Nice shoes you’ve got there mate. Actually, I just bought a pair for my dog as a chew toy,” he replies, throwing his head back in utter hilarity.
The younger boy bowed his head in shame, staring fixedly at the Dunlop ‘Bumpers’ which his dad had bought him for his birthday. And the birthday before that. And the birthday before the last. In fact, the boy idly wondered, had he ever received a birthday gift of anything different? ‘Hardly surprising though,’ he surmised – ‘dad’s life revolves around the company, what better way to demonstrate his loyalty to said company than by buying a never-ending stream of Dunlop products?’
He was brought back to the present by a rough shove to his shoulder. ‘I will not cry…’ he repeated like a mantra, ‘I will not cry…’
“Don’t wear them again. They’re an embarrassment…such beastly things should never see the light of day.”
So he didn’t. The boy never wore his ‘Bumpers’ to school again. He went home to smash his piggy bank, and used every cent to his name to purchase a pair of black leather shoes identical to the older boy’s, to save himself from any further embarrassment.
Indeed, while our realities are shaped by ourselves in some aspects, it is the people that we encounter in our lives that can impact the way we view the world strongly. Children, particularly, are very susceptible to such impact, as they possess malleable mindsets at a young age. Thus, they are somewhat like plaster – fresh, white and unmoulded. However, once they are moulded, painted and dried, the shape which the plaster has taken is exceedingly difficult to change. This simile, to an extent, proves relatively true for children – as they grow older, their mindset and way of thinking is less likely to change, having been matured by time their encounters with others. Salvador Dali is a prime example of this. Indeed, the revelation from his family that he was born as a replacement child, a mere 9 months after the death of his older brother had a massive impact upon his psyche – from a young age, to his adult years. The reoccurring theme of death in his artwork certainly reflects this, for example, his painting entitled ‘Portrait of My Death Brother’ (1963). His standing as a ‘replacement child’, exacerbated by his being bestowed with the same name, caused him to feel as if he could never reach the measure set by his predecessor, and hence, his reality was altered significantly due to the impact of his family from his childhood years.
Our realities are also strongly impacted upon by the society or time/era in which we live, for it is they which we immerse ourselves in, and thus we are inevitably forced to adapt to survive. Women, particularly, before it was viewed as socially acceptable to work and vote, were, in a sense, trapped in roles of housewives and trophy wives due to the hampering expectations placed upon them. Certainly, Stella, in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, lives a reality which is not dissimilar from other women at that time – 1950s USA. Her reality is to be domestically-bound, and with the booming industrialisation occurring during that timeframe, is forced to rely solely upon her husband as the ‘breadwinner’ of the home. Hence, due to her inability to find a job, she is trapped in an economic bind – without money, without a job, without a home unless she is tied to a man. Thus, while Stella tells Blanche endlessly about how “there are things that happen between a man and a woman in the dark – that sort of make everything else seem unimportant”, it is more than her desire for Stanley that keeps her tied to him: her financial situation and her pregnancy. This is also why Stella cannot leave Stanley despite his deplorable victimisation and treatment of her sister – “no matter what happens, you have to keep on going”, if one wants a viable future.
Other than our families, it is also our backgrounds which shape the way in which we view the world, and the lessons which we are instilled with and learn from them. Indeed, homosexuality is an example of something which has only recently been, to a degree, socially acceptable, albeit same-sex marriages still deemed immoral by most states. Conversely, only decades ago, the concept of homosexuality had not even passed the minds of many, particularly in sheltered towns and cities. Indeed, Blanche’s reaction to finding out the “degenerate” sexuality of her since deceased husband, Allan Grey, is hardly unexpected – prior to this, she has never been taught about, or confronted with such a pairing, and thus, labels her husband as a disgrace. The resounding gunshot which follows her outburst not long after haunts her for years to come, indeed, she feels an immense sense of guilt for Allan’s death, and thus, rebels against the background which instilled her with such morals, by giving licence to her body. Furthermore, despite claiming to be “adaptable – to circumstances”, Blanche is seemingly unable to overcome to prejudices which she harbours from her background/upbringing. Upon her arrival to New Orleans, she cannot accept that times have changed, cannot accept that ‘Negroes’ are considered equals, and cannot accept that the working classes are of the same calibre as she. Thus, she deems Stanley to be “common” and possess the qualities of an “animal”, and is unable to overcome her ‘reality’ of “hoity-toity[ness]” above such people.
Thus, it is our immersion in external factors which play a huge role in shaping our realities and everyday lives. While we do play a part in shaping our own realities, it is ultimately the people we encounter, that times and places in which we live, and the backgrounds that we come from which impact the most upon the way in which we view the world.
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