Analysis Of Andrew Solomon 's Son And Lelie Bell

It seems to be that the previous generation always picks on the new one. It’s something that’s been going on for decades, with the cry of “When I was your age!” at the tip of every adult’s tongue when they see the slightest bit of laziness or incompetence. In reality, each new generation brings waves of progress and innovation, built on top of the old. In this respect, it’s because every generation has the duty to do better than the last. Each generation needs to be bigger, greater, and bolder but this proves to be a challenge after countless centuries of people accomplishing the very same task. However, this problem can be simply solved by breaking the components down into the individual level. People just need to stay true to themselves and the rest will follow. Of course as Andrew Solomon 's Son and Lelie Bell’s Hard to Get demonstrate, creating an identity is much easier said than done. People have an obligation to be better than the previous generation and accomplish this by discovering who they are and then staying true to themselves.
As a capable person with many resources, the individual has the obligation to become a proactive, contributing memeber of society. This belief first comes from parents’ expectations. They want their children to be doctors, lawyers, etc. Parents want their children to be the best that they could be and try to instill this sense into their children. Sometimes, they go further and try to change their children on their personal beliefs. Andrew Solomon 's own mother forbid him to take a pink balloon but as Solomon insightfully states, “Forbidding the pink balloon must be held as partly a protective gesture.” (Solomon 375) Solomon 's mother was afraid of the consequences of a boy picking a culturall...

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...rtainly reaped the benefits of having the experience of a heterosexual man but he came back from it. People might try to suppress who they are but at the end of the day, they 're going to go back to who they truly are. For Solomon 's case, that was being gay. Despite his parents and society telling him it was wrong, he reached the point where he is comfortable with who he is.
Each generation has a duty to be better than the previous one and this can be realized by individuals discovering who they are and then staying true to themselves. Son by Andrew Solomon and Hard to Get by Leslie Bell both use the idea that identity is very complex. But by people sticking to true identities, they can create a better generation than the last. With this idea in mind, by this generation, people will be able to confidently say that this generation is the best the world has seen yet.