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devonmeyerOkay so this blog post is tied more into what we were talking about last week. I was really fascinated by the whole idea of how this novel might just be a criticism of the way we live our lives than it is, exactly, a criticism of the idea of cloning for organ donation.
And over the course of the last few days I've been thinking really hard about this idea. I haven't quite finished the novel yet-- I'm about three-fourths done with it at the moment, but I'm astounded by the idea that the novel seems like it could apply just as much to our modern world as much as it could the future world. Whereas the clones have a highly restricted future that they can't really work around, when you stop and think about it, we have the same degree of restrictiveness in our own lives.
In the same way that a donor can't end up just going to America and becoming an actor, I can't end up dropping out of college. Now, of course, for me it's not exactly a full restriction: I could drop out of college, whereas the donors simply cannot become actors. They're not really... allowed, I guess. But for me, it is actually kind of a restriction.
As much as I can drop out, I can't. As much as I can live my life as a manager of the fast-food pizza place back home in Ohio that I worked at a few years ago, I can't live my life like that. As much as I can move into the woods and live on berries and twigs for the rest of my life, I cannot move into the woods and live on berries and twigs for the rest of my life. Savvy?
This all kinda reminds me of my favorite novel ever written in the history of anything ever: Walden by Henry David Thoreau. He recognizes these social norms that we create for ourselves and further recognizes that they evolve from simple stereotype and normality to actual limitations on the ways that we can live our lives. One of my favorite anecdotes that he writes about is as follows (paraphrased):
HDT walks into a clothing shop, and asks the tailor to make him a coat in a certain way. The tailor says "they don't make them that way anymore. Let me make it this way" (Fashion Trends of the 19th century anyone?). And he marvels at the fact that the Tailor is, for all intents and purposes, unable to make a suit in a certain way simply because it has gone out of style. Ain't that crazy?
Well anyways I use any opportunity that I can find to think/write/talk about Walden that I find, which is why I wrote about that for this blog post. But the point I'm trying to make is this: We are all a little sad about how the Donors are basically doomed to die at the peak of their physical health; they're not allowed to live full lives, in a sense. But I ask myself this question: Is anyone?
DUN DUN DUN.
And over the course of the last few days I've been thinking really hard about this idea. I haven't quite finished the novel yet-- I'm about three-fourths done with it at the moment, but I'm astounded by the idea that the novel seems like it could apply just as much to our modern world as much as it could the future world. Whereas the clones have a highly restricted future that they can't really work around, when you stop and think about it, we have the same degree of restrictiveness in our own lives.
In the same way that a donor can't end up just going to America and becoming an actor, I can't end up dropping out of college. Now, of course, for me it's not exactly a full restriction: I could drop out of college, whereas the donors simply cannot become actors. They're not really... allowed, I guess. But for me, it is actually kind of a restriction.
As much as I can drop out, I can't. As much as I can live my life as a manager of the fast-food pizza place back home in Ohio that I worked at a few years ago, I can't live my life like that. As much as I can move into the woods and live on berries and twigs for the rest of my life, I cannot move into the woods and live on berries and twigs for the rest of my life. Savvy?
This all kinda reminds me of my favorite novel ever written in the history of anything ever: Walden by Henry David Thoreau. He recognizes these social norms that we create for ourselves and further recognizes that they evolve from simple stereotype and normality to actual limitations on the ways that we can live our lives. One of my favorite anecdotes that he writes about is as follows (paraphrased):
HDT walks into a clothing shop, and asks the tailor to make him a coat in a certain way. The tailor says "they don't make them that way anymore. Let me make it this way" (Fashion Trends of the 19th century anyone?). And he marvels at the fact that the Tailor is, for all intents and purposes, unable to make a suit in a certain way simply because it has gone out of style. Ain't that crazy?
Well anyways I use any opportunity that I can find to think/write/talk about Walden that I find, which is why I wrote about that for this blog post. But the point I'm trying to make is this: We are all a little sad about how the Donors are basically doomed to die at the peak of their physical health; they're not allowed to live full lives, in a sense. But I ask myself this question: Is anyone?
DUN DUN DUN.
