Man as a Social Animal - Essay Example

 Man is a social animal and the most important feature that distinguishes him is his ability to intellectually interact and form decisions. Within the set format of social paradigms, he is the only creature who has an intrinsic capacity of bonding with others through myriad ways and form meaningful relationships that help to mould his personality and character at each stage of his life. It is therefore, not surprising that, in the ever changing world, man is often prone to form relationship with books mainly because of his exposure to and long association with them through his student days. It is vital part of his growing up period as the reader-writer relationship encompasses various elements that facilitate in extending the scope of mental, spiritual and ideological growth of the reader. It is true that man is prone to accept the things at face value and based upon that, he often pronounces his judgment or impression of the person or things or his surroundings which may have considerable influence in his perception towards those things. Indeed, it is a human failing that governs their outlook in general and is one of the main reasons that fosters conflicts in interpersonal relationship and promotes unhappiness and frustration within him. But various literatures are proof to the fact that the writers have huge capacity to influence the readers and make significant impact on their decision making prowess and ideological perspectives. Rodriguez, a Mexican-American writer of eminence, openly declares in his book ‘The Scholarship Boy’ that he was immensely impressed by the author Hoggart who has written ‘Uses of Literacy’. In the writings of Hoggart, he (Rodriguez) had not only found the solace to understand the wider perspectives of the multi-cultural society but it had also helped him to identify himself with the characters, thereby helping him to come to terms with the environment that was vastly different to that of his native culture. According to him, Hoggart, through the book, had literally become his guide during his years in the college where he had gone to study on his scholarship. His working class ideals and cultural values had been jolted by a culture shock that he had faced at the college premises. His college represented a multi-cultural society where the so called values had acquired unique meanings. Despite the differences in language, color, race and culture, students were seen to struggle and then adapt into their new environment. The process of assimilation was difficult but imminent. The students often lost the sense of their core identity in order to identify with their student fraternity. Hoggart’s book had gone a long way in helping Rodriguez to assimilate new values and gel with other students. The persuasive writings of Hoggart had made a big impact on the psyche of Rodriguez’s young mind because he was not prepared for the extent of culture shock that had awaited him in the college. The book let him into the secret that he was one of the many students who had undergone the same experiences that he, himself was undergoing in the alien atmosphere of the academia. Once the mystery was unfolded, it was easy for Rodriguez to mould himself into the character of Hoggart’s book and emulate him so that he could adjust into his new environment because “working-class child is usually least prepared… unlike many middle-class children, [they] go home and see in [their] parents a way of life not only different but starkly opposed to that of the classroom” (B & P 548). The reader-writer relationship is an important aspect of student life that plays prominent role in the wider perspective of one’s life. The reading habit inculcated during the early days have the promise of awarding the reader in countless ways, not the least of which is opening new vista of experience for the reader to explore, both as a reader and a critic. The academic too, has its own unique way of expanding the knowledge bank of the reader which he interprets according to his understanding of the content and later applies the same in his day today dealings as he sees fit. It is an important factor between the reader and the writer that the contents are written in a way that the reader is able to absorb and retain with ease. Academic literature serves its own purpose of gaining academic excellence in its specific area of specialization, though it may prepare the students to handle issues in other areas of considerable worth. Another crucial aspect of the reader-writer bond is that it is dependent on the writing style of the writer and the readers’ mental frame of mind at that time. The reader must be in the mood to read and grasp the rudiments of the writings, which need to be persuasive enough to capture and hold his attention during the reading. It is when both the reader and the writer become comfortable, that any type of relationship develops between them. Once a relationship is established, the writers have no difficulty in influencing the reader and very often, the vulnerable reader can be persuaded to forego his own ideological values in favor of writer’s ideals. Rodriguez too had ultimately realized that though Hoggarts’ book had helped him to assimilate better with his academia environment, he was still not totally comfortable and felt strangely alienated with his individual and unique cultural values. Hoggart says that “the scholarship boy grows nostalgic because he remains the uncertain scholar, bright enough to have moved from his past, yet unable to feel easy”. As mentioned earlier, the various elements of the writing have varying degree of impact on the reader. It is important that the reader exercises his discretions in adopting the values and emulating the actions of the character to gain his experience. It is an important learning experience and one of the major aspects of reader-writer relationship. The reader must be able to differentiate and adapt those critical experience or changing values that promote and facilitate his personal and professional growth, both as a person and as a scholar. This is the mantra of a good reader-writer relationship and it must be recognized to understand the delicate nuances of good reading and writing practices. It must also be emphasized that reader-writer relationship is never stagnant. It is a dynamic relationship that changes with the mood and evolves with the experiences. In fact, it is imperative that the relationship must help the reader to evolve into a proactive personality that is capable of independent decision making and inculcate courage that facilitate his evolution into a better human-being. Bartholomae and Petrosky, eminent writers have affirmed that the students or readers must do “reading with the grain” and understand the wider meanings of the author’s thoughts and ideals. Thereafter, they should start thinking “against the grain” so that they are able to form diverse opinions and apply those to gain fresh insight into the same events or issues. They were also quite emphatic that in the book ‘The Scholarship Boy’, Rodriguez had imitated the experiences of Hoggart and it was only in the end that he had come up hesitantly with his own opinion (548). They suggest that Hoggart “only partially suggests what happened to [Rodriguez] in [his] last year as a graduate student”, as he was committed into a “community of scholars” (B & P, 561). This important fact had more prominently come into light when Rodriguez wrote his next book ‘Achievement of Desire’. He had imbibed the essence of reader-writer relationship that had helped him to develop into a writer with original thoughts and writing style. He had gained an independent stature, both as a reader and as a writer which was vastly different to that of his mentor, Hoggart. The essential ingredient of any relationship is its ability to influence each other to improve and broaden one’s area of knowledge that encourages independent thought and freedom of choice. It is a gradual process and every relationship goes through stages to emerge finally as the embodiment of good relationship. In the case of reader-writer relationship, only one person is an active participant and therefore, the onus on the writer becomes all the more significant that his writing style acts as a catalyst for exposing the vast potential of the reader as an independent entity. He should be able to help instill into him (reader) the necessary courage and confidence to create better options for himself where he can explore and expand the boundaries of his as yet unexplored potential to the benefit of the society at large. Reference Upload1.doc Read More