"It's now 1990. I'm forty-three years old, which would've seemed impossible to a fourth grader, and yet when I look at photographs of myself as I was in 1956, I realize that in the important ways I haven't changed at all. I was Timmy then; now I'm Tim. But the essence remains the same. I'm not fooled by the baggy pants or the crew cut or the happy smile—I know my own eyes—and there is no doubt that the Timmy smiling at the camera is the Tim I am now. Inside the body, or beyond the body, there is something absolute and unchanging. The human life is all one thing, like a blade tracing loops on ice: a little kid, a twenty-three-year-old infantry sergeant, a middle-aged writer knowing guilt and sorrow" (236).
To a great extent, throughout our lives, we retain many of the qualities and characteristics we were born with. Though experience serves as the greatest teacher and, through experience, people are inevitably shaped as they grow, there are values and traits that will never change. Albert Einstein stated that, "Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death." This quote supports the fact that each and every one of us will change with time as we continually expand and broaden our scopes. This, however, does not mean that we become new people as we age.
There are traits that will be influenced with new knowledge and personal experience and there are traits that will remain from birth until death. Intellect, political persuasion, and the ability to be understanding and empathetic are all examples of things that could change with time and experience. Generally speaking traits involving morals and values do not change too dramatically with time. The basis of our conscience is rooted in the value system instilled in us from a young age by our parents and guardians. Each and every one of us is taught the difference between right and wrong, in varying degrees from family to family and with various interpretations, and this knowledge stays with us throughout life. Essentially, it is the experiences that one goes through that change the person one was and shape the person one becomes but some element of that person's prior self will always remain.
O'Brien writes, "The human life is all one thing, like a blade tracing loops on ice". I agree with this statement because our current viewpoints and feelings are an accumulation of our past. As we grow, we take each and every new experience and add it to our databank of memory and we expand as a person, we do not completely change. We do not forget the way we were before, it stays with us forever and that is what O'Brien means when he says that though he has changed from Timmy to Tim the essence remains the same. The components of our personalities are built on the things we have learned; the "essence" of ourselves remains the same because when push comes to shove we revert back to what we have always known, back to the values our parents taught us. Though critical aspects of ourselves do indeed change as we age and mature, an element of that inner self will stay with us forever.
I know that I am not the same person I was in middle school, for instance, but there are certainly things about me that have not changed and will not change. My personal principles and values have not changed and I recognize that though I am much more talkative than I was then, I will always be the quiet, refined girl I was in kindergarten. By that I mean that, though I may force myself to be more outspoken now, I still have that nagging self-conscience aspect that will most likely never cease. That element of my original self, though I may try to channel it in different ways, will always be there. Some things just do not and will not change. I don't believe that anyone can honestly reflect back on their younger years and say that they are not the same person, in any way, they were then. Some piece of each person travels with them for life, whether they were the little boy who was made fun of for wearing cowboy boots to school or the popular girl who was admired by all. Memories last a lifetime and though things may change, some trace of those memories live on inside of us.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
You did an excellent job in describing the essence in everyone. While things, as you said, like politcal persuasion, intellect, and empathy change over time, I agree with you that the inner being of an individual does not change. That essence is the component of ourselves that links the past, present, and future of who we are. Also, another good point to bring up about your blog, is how you included your own experiences. It really brings whoever is reading your work closer to you; your message becomes personal and more believable. Great job.
You write:, "To a great extent, throughout our lives, we retain many of the qualities and characteristics we were born with."
How do we know what qualities and characteristics we were born with? Do we really know what we were born with? Do we rely on our parents and others to tell us?
I wonder.
Later you add, "The components of our personalities are built on the things we have learned; the "essence" of ourselves remains the same because when push comes to shove we revert back to what we have always known, back to the values our parents taught us."
Is our "essence" defined by the interpretation of our parents, by our behavior? How is it we determine our inner self, our being? Do we always return to the values our parents taught us? Does our inner person change if we do not?
You raise some great points! I believe the basis of our inner selves has a great deal to do with the values and lessons our parents taught us. Though I don't think we always return to the values our parents taught us, in fact some people do the exact opposite in a sort of revolt, I do think that that is what we know; it can be considered somewhat of a comfort zone for us. I know that personally throughout my life I have tended to rely on my own judgment, which has been largely molded by the lessons I have learned as a child, when I do not know the right thing to do in a situation. These lessons and values however do not necessarily make up your inner person; to a large extent you do that yourself as you take on your own views of the world. Thanks for the comment!
How much influence do you think society exerts? Or, segments of society, such as the church, or school, or peers?
Can these influence the esse of the individual? Are all people created good? Are some inherently evil?
I suggest reading Reinhold Niebuhr's Moral Man and Immoral Society.
Post a Comment