“Being There” by Jerzy Kosinski

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Brief Synopsis of Being There
Elaboration on Author’s Thesis
Author’s Image of Chauncey Gardiner
Elaboration on Socrates’ Way: Seven Keys to Using Your Mind to the Utmost
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

I hope that every person gets a chance to read a book called Being There by Jerzy Kosinski. It is amazing how the author managed to create a person completely independent from the real life’s circumstances. Moreover, the main hero named Chauncey Gardiner is described as a person able to emerge from nowhere and rise up to the legatee of Wall Street tycoon. The book is absolutely clear and understandable for everybody. The author made it possible for the sentences to flow from one to the other unnoticeably. The message is deep enough to remain in your mind long after you have read the story or watched the movie of the same name by Hal Ashby. Since the purpose of this paper is to unveil the theme and the thesis Kosinski wanted to convey to the reader I am going to unearth the slightest details of the book’s and movie’s plot. After the book has been turned into a screenplay, a huge amount of people got wonderful chance to acquaint themselves with the classics of the twentieth century.

Brief Synopsis of Being There

So, the protagonist of the story Chauncey Gardiner is a gardener of the rich Old Man. The latter managed to keep Chauncey behind the gates of his house since he adopted Chauncey as a little boy. Unfortunately, our protagonist doesn’t acquire any education skills useful for this life and career perspective since he had been under the iron grip for too long. It is even possible o compare him with contemporary Robinson Crusoe living in his own small site not being aware that there is something else outside his place, something new and even worthier. Of course, the environment of our life, tenses, and pressures are a little too much for Chauncey, but he doesn’t know about it yet, though he is about to find out because the life’s challenges are unexpected. Ultimately, Chauncey gets out of his master’s ascendancy which brings him to completely new stage of his life.

Just when the Old Man finally dies, the main hero is left all alone to do as he wishes. This is when the story develops in the most interesting way. It seems like the author is trying to show the dominance of fortune every person has, namely that the good events will certainly appear in your life no matter what, because there must be a balance of good and bad in one’s destiny. This is the reason the new stage of Chauncey’s life is implemented. Ultimately after he steps in the real life, though seen only on television before, Chauncey finds himself moving upwards the hierarchy of business. To be more exact, while being a gardener of Benjamin and EE Rand has a conversation with the landlord and is being accidentally misunderstood. However, this only plays a beneficial part in Chauncey’s life because a few aphorisms about gardening lead him to the new life of the political insider. So, after Benjamin took Chauncey wrongly, he decided that the latter was very brilliant and talented businessman.

Gradually, Chauncey reaches the utmost of his career by simply saying what he thinks in a very distinctive and odd manner. Though he is barely understood the most of the times people still think he is very charming, insightful and has a point disregarding the topic. Eventually, Chauncey appears in mass media and is quoted. The important thing that has to be mentioned here is the way the protagonist dresses up. Since he took the expensive suits from the Old Man it can be said that the image makes the man because clothes count for first impressions, besides this helped him to get promoted. What is significant within the Kosinski message is that Chauncey Gardiner does not know about his status himself.

Elaboration on Author’s Thesis

It has to be said that the overall book’s plot is intriguing and compelling. Of course, there were some moments in the movie that aroused controversial feelings of misunderstanding and pity for the society we live in. Thereby I would like to elaborate on the author’s main theme that can be compared to the scathing criticism that describes mass media and their products in the worst way.

Moreover, there is plenty of evidence in the book and the movie that prove Chauncey to be the victim of television. Of course, one can argue that the influence of TV can be counted here only because the main hero was cocooned in that house. However, the pernicious effect of mass media is also noticed within the public watching Chauncey on the TV without even knowing where he appeared from at first place. Neither the public nor the actual show creators knew Chauncey’s origin; nevertheless, the main thing was developing the show just like it is nowadays.

If we look at Chauncey behavior precisely we can understand that he was acting just like the heroes he watched on television. He compared everything to the movie screen shots: “This is just like television, only you can see much further” (Ashby, 1979). This happened only because he didn’t have any other examples to follow. However, let’s have a good look at the modern society. The mass media shapes our opinion, culture, and what is even worse – our behavior. The way of conduct one has differs from others, however, each of follows the television characters subconsciously. There is nothing we can do about it besides having a strong will-power and firm convictions about specific issues. This is the result of the progress the humanity has been striving for. Chauncey is depicted as the hero who had no substance, the sheet anchor of the current world situation is hoping that we will not become the similar.

Author’s Image of Chauncey Gardiner

Unlike the success Kosinski granted to ho main hero in the book the real image that has to be read in between the lines s very pitiful. There is nothing more to say about the man who had no past, real present, or future. Moreover, criticizing the impact of mass media Kosinski made all of his heroes imply unexcited details and characteristics to Chauncey. This happens when a person does not have any specific ego or character which is what Kosinski is trying to convey within the entire story. The main hero’s pathetic being is exaggerated in terms of limited development. Of course, it is merely impossible to find such a person in the real life. But to my mind the author intended to show the impact of mass media within a pure influence. The message is to reveal possible outcomes the television may cause within one hero’s story.

Elaboration on Socrates’ Way: Seven Keys to Using Your Mind to the Utmost

Sometimes it gets tremendously hard to set up all the inside issues that are going on in your head and mind. Some people go to the psychologist, whereas some dare to dig deep into their soul and get what is wrong on their own. This is a nice affair to get involved in. Moreover, in regard to the mass media invasion in our lives, people have to watch for their own identities changing. Therefore, I would like to present a wonderful book by Ronald Gross called Socrates’ Way: Seven Keys to Using Your Mind to the Utmost. Namely, the seventh chapter is under consideration that teaches us how to become stringer and survive in this world. In short, a person needs not forget about self-discovery and self-development otherwise everything lived through is in vain. Socrates said “Care most about improving your souls. I say that money does not bring virtue…” (Gross, p.154) neither will television profits bring any virtue to its owners.

Conclusion

So, the main task of ours is to stay humans in all means. A good example of Chauncey represents the exaggerated consequences of mass media’s impact for us to understand what we are since we live in the society which cultural beliefs are shaped since the television was invented. So, in order to develop one’s virtues it is important to find your inner self. No matter how this life challenges you it is necessary to face the problems of any kind appropriately. Nobody knows what the future holds for us, so the utmost we can do is preparing ourselves at least by means of finding the right way of conduct and interacting with each other in everyday life. Every person needs to be treated well so why don’t we start doing it today? There is a great comparison between plants and people in the book Being There: “plants were like people; they needed care to live, to survive their diseases, and to die peacefully” (Kosinski p, 3). So, the right conclusion to make out of this book is to start working on ourselves just as Socrates bequeathed, one has to “strengthen his soul” in the way to uphold the spirit strongly.

Works Cited

Ashby, Hal. Being There. Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine. Warner Home Video. 2009.

Gross, Ronald. Socrates’ Way: Seven Keys to Using Your Mind to the Utmost. New York: Tarcher, 2002. Print.

Kosinski, Jerzy. Being There. New York: Grove Press, 1999. Print.

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