The Face of the Faceless Crowd

679 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Importance of setting realistic goals

Humans, in general, endure a constant drive towards normalcy, to blend in with everyone else around them like a featureless flock of sheep. However, these sheep also wish to be the shepherd and lead the herd, directly contradicting while also coexisting with this drive for normalcy, but such is the complexity of the human psyche. Humans wish to stand out in their uniformity, to be the face of the faceless hoard. This desire is manifested in dreams, hopes, and aspirations, but our tendency towards anonymity often subdues this surprisingly intense yearning. People’s dreams are rarely fulfilled because they are too afraid to take the initiative and go after what they desire; they wish to make a change in this world but are too frightened by the possibility of failure.

Striking out justifies fear, but a life of apathy is a much crueler fate. I don’t just want to tread water and then die. I live each day by the theory that human life is motivated by goals and that each day is an attempt by everyone of us to accomplish the goals we have set forth for ourselves. People have limitless pot...

Show More
Related

  • Leaving The Iron Lung Summary

    1401 Words  | 3 Pages

    To read a story that deals with this theme makes us realize that it is not everyone that can accomplish what they really want in their

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Martin Luther King And Chris Mccandless

    752 Words  | 2 Pages

    As Chris McCandless once said, “I now walk into the wild,” a phrase that not only represents a future with unknown mysteries, but a phrase that finishes the puzzle of his and Martin Luther King, Jr’s life. When looking at a historical or inspirational person, you may notice they operated outside the usual bounds of society to achieve a particular purpose. Such is the case for McCandless and King. Although Chris McCandless and Martin Luther King, Jr both shared a fatal death, these men had many similarities and differences between how they reached success, encountered obstacles, and left an impact towards people's lives. Generally speaking, success isn’t just about what you accomplish in life, it’s how you accomplished it and the impact you leave behind.

    Read More

  • This Is Water And The New Witch Doctor: This Is Water

    1549 Words  | 4 Pages

    Wallace argues that “[if you wish to live to] be thirty, or even fifty, without [ever contemplating putting a gun to your] head”, you must have enough control over your mind to keep you from going through a “comfortable, prosperous, respectable adult life dead, unconscious, a slave to your head and natural default setting” (Wallace 234-8). Pilcher emphasizes how one can be “persuaded to believe that they are going to die and actually have it happen” so why not do the contrary and persuade yourself to be the strongest, bravest version of yourself possible and conquer all of life’s obstacles (Pilcher

    Read More

  • Selections from Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

    912 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...Boyarin overcome his fear of being labeled by the society by sticking up to his morals and ethics. This shows that an individual’s fear of being labeled by the society can depend on the situations they face which shape their strategies of personal identity.

    Read More

  • Individualism in the Film Jane Eyre

    1037 Words  | 3 Pages

    “He who loses individuality, loses all” (Good Reads, 2012). This quote said by Mahatma Gandhi, one of the most recognized leaders of the 19th century, can easily be used to acknowledge the importance of a society possessing unique individualistic traits and characteristics as individuality is the fuel needed to run a society. In a world, where even a mere speck of individuality is not present, that society is likely to shatter into utter destruction. Moreover, individuals should possess the ability to embrace their own uniqueness through which they will have the ability to understand distinctive phrases such as that said by William Channing, “no one should part with their individuality and become that of another”. The concept of individuality being vital to society is explored within Caitlin Tom’s essay Individuality vs. Fitting in, the American novel Little Women by Louisa Alcott, and the romantic yet empowering dramatic film Jane Eyre. The concept presented in these three works portrays how it the essence of individuality is a fundamental component for society as it aids with the recognition of societal barriers, allows the ability to empower change, and permits appreciation of the invoked change.

    Read More

  • Summary Of The Death Of Shooting An Elephant And On Dumpster Diving

    1055 Words  | 3 Pages

    People’s perceptions of themselves and how they think others perceive them influence their actions. This theme is evident in The Death of Benny Paret, Shooting an Elephant, and On Dumpster Diving, but in different ways in each piece. Once people know who they are and are comfortable with themselves, they have reached self-actualization.

    Read More

  • Arts of the Contact Zone

    1183 Words  | 3 Pages

    One phenomenon Pratt discusses is the issue of fake utopias, or imagined communities. In these imagined communities, she explains, “people ‘will never know most of their fellow-members, meet them or even hear of them, yet in the mind of each lives the image of their communion’” (Pratt, 507). People in these fake utopias believe that the people surrounding them share the same language, beliefs, characteristics and values that they possess, but in reality ...

    Read More

  • William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

    1296 Words  | 3 Pages

    There comes a point in everyone’s life when they are pressurized by society’s demands. One is given the option to either conform or challenge these social norms in order to suit one’s life.

    Read More

  • Emerson and His Impact on Today's Society

    910 Words  | 2 Pages

    Citizens of today’s society have to comprehend that by conforming to the pressures of others and imitating everyone else, they will get nowhere in life. First of all, a teenage boy attends his first big high school party at a friend’s house one weekend and he is pressured into drinking beer and smoking marijuana so he will seem cool in front of the popular jocks and cheerleaders. Since many teens are so terrified of ridicule and downright embarrassment in front of fellow students, they decide to give in to their peers even though their actions may go against their beliefs. Emerson believed that by being an individual “you shall have the suffrage of the world.” Furthermore, an innocent sixteen year old girl’s parents go out of town for the weekend and she invites her cute, popular, senior star quarterback boyfriend over, but he pressures her into having sex when she i...

    Read More

  • The Power of Leadership in 12 Angry Men

    1487 Words  | 3 Pages

    Few situations exist that can strip a person of their ability to influence their world as much as social desolation. In the words of Rudyard Kipling, “The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too h...

    Read More

  • The Simple Gift, Numb, and The Matrix

    1053 Words  | 3 Pages

    Humans by nature, desire to have connections with other individuals in order to have a sense of self worth. Many factors contribute to these connections. The free verse novel The Simple Gift by Steven Herrick, the song Numb by Linkin Park and the film The Matrix all demonstrate that some people purposely disconnect themselves from having connections with other individuals because for them to connect they would first have to modify their personality, people’s life choices can hinder or assist them in forming associations with other people and a person’s measure of how much they belong is defined by their popularity or social status amongst their peers.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Personal Narrative Essay

    703 Words  | 2 Pages

    By leading carefree conversations, by being energetic and positive all the time I believed I was only meeting the expectations of a new society while my another, thoughtful, pensive, sometimes melancholic and sensitive self was hiding somewhere behind. In the very beginning of the semester, I would lie down on the Quad, look at the humongous moon and the sky full of stars and reflect on life. In the middle of the semester, I looked at the sky with the same intention to think and analyze, but I was deeply disappointed to discover that my reflections had become as superficial and shallow as my daily life, I was not able to find thoughtful Elene, the one I was hiding so carefully. I encountered what a philosopher Martha Nussbaum defines as an “ultimate irony of the divided life”: live behind a wall long enough, and the true self you tried to hide from the world disappears from your own view! The wall itself and the world outside it become all that you

    Read More

  • Gender Identity Essay

    1148 Words  | 3 Pages

    You are as others see you, yet others do not always see you as you are. With the importance others play on the sense of identity, it's no wonder that peers influence the minds of individuals early on in life. As young toddlers, children do not recognize biological

    Read More

  • Gender Stereotypes: The Influence Of Gender Roles In Society

    1165 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hence, people cannot rely on those to guide them in life. This contributes to what Frankl (2010) referred as existential vacuum, which is “a sense of futility and emptiness and a feeling of meaninglessness” (p. 41). Consequently, in such state, people are unable to identify their individual wishes that in turn, lead them to conformity or totalitarianism. Frankl (2010) cautioned his readers that such sense of emptiness and meaninglessness are increasingly experienced by young people in the US.

    Read More

  • The Self: Clifford Geertz, Horace Miner, And Andrei Toom

    1177 Words  | 3 Pages

    Humanity is defined by one major factor: one’s understating of the self. By understanding one’s self, one can understand society and the world that surrounds themselves. There is one thing that can often distort one’s personality, one’s identity. By identifying as one thing a person can often change how they act or do certain things. This is often found to hide one’s true motives or intention, but it can also be used to hide hidden factors that aren’t as prevalent. One’s personality and identity are very closely linked, and tend to play off one another. This fact can be show in within multiple works. To name a few authors who demonstrate this fact: Clifford Geertz, Horace Miner, and Andrei Toom. Their works seek to dive deeper

    Read More

More about The Face of the Faceless Crowd

Open Document