Category: Reality

The short story, “The Black Cat,” was written by Edgar Allan Poe. The main characters are the speaker, his wife, and a black cat named Pluto. The conflict occurs when the speaker constantly gets mad at everyone and suddenly snaps, committing a crime. The speaker grew up with a childhood filled with abuse, and as a form of protection, he shut himself out from the world and befriended animals as a form of companions. He married someone who had the same experience as he did, abuse, but both had the same strong love for animals. They had many pets, but the speaker’s favorite was a black cat named Pluto who always followed him around the house.

Everything went downhill when he became an alcoholic and would get mad at everybody except Pluto. One night he thought Pluto was ignoring him which led up to him cutting one of his eyes out with a knife. The relationship between them became worse, and the cat started ignoring him for good. This made the speaker irritated at Pluto, causing him to hang the cat in the basement, where on the same night it got burned down. Time passes until the speaker sees another cat similar to Pluto, but with a white patch on its chest. After following him home the cat reminded him of the crime, which caused him to become insane. He tried killing that cat with an ax, but his wife got in the way as she tried to protect it. He ended up killing her. He decides to hide the body behind a wall in his basement. The police came and started looking around, only to find nothing until a sudden howl came from behind the wall, alerting the police of his crime. Edgar Allan Poe uses symbolism and imagery to convey the theme of man vs reality.

Poe uses the symbolism of Pluto to convey the theme. “I had walled the monster up within the tomb.” The symbolism of the name Pluto, the God of the Underworld, to a black cat he had as a pet. His view of the world around him changed drastically, and how almost anything can be a threat to him if he thinks it is. Poe also uses symbolism of the cat’s eye, which represents judgment. The thought that the cat can no longer judge him finally makes him realize what he has done wrong.“I took from my waistcoat-pocket a penknife, opened it, grasped the poor beast by the throat, and deliberately cut one of its eyes from the socket!”

Characterization heavily influences the theme of this story. “Yet, mad am I not and very surely do I not dream…” In the first few sentences, we can tell that the speaker is insane and how throughout the story he changes from being a nice, calm man to a violent, abusive serial killer. “My original soul seemed, at once, to take its flight from my body; and a more than fiendish malevolence, gin-nurtured, thrilled every fiber of my frame.” Poe also portrayed the speaker to have a desire for evil, a worse fiend than drinking, taking over his soul, leaving his “original soul.”

Sarah an actor known for having depersonalization disorder, a disorder characterized as a sense of disconnect from the world around you, relates to the story and theme since both are man vs reality. Sarah struggled to feel love and sometimes sees her body in 2D as if it were flat. Just like the speaker, he battles with his inner self, trying to grab on to reality, but is easily taken over by his own imagination.

Virtual reality is an artificial environment that is created with the help of technological innovation and presented to a user in such a way that they create a very different understanding, which is very different from the real life as we are used to.The ability to view images in 3-D has been enabled through the invention of virtual reality. This is the latest technological innovation, which is having a great influence on how humans can view images in another form. Virtual reality works in different ways and this essay provides a significant focus on how virtual reality functions.

Virtual reality currently can only be experienced based on two senses, which are sight and sound. The aim to create a superior world from the real world makes virtual reality a highly engaged technological innovation based on illusions and seeking to create something out of imaginations. The existing simplest form of virtual reality that exists today is the 3-D image, which can be exploited interactively using a personal computer. Human being sees on based on 2-dimensional, and this means that 3-D provides a very different focus to the real world, which aims at modifying the existing environment and create a well-developed technology that is based on the imaginary world. The interactive world that is developed based on virtual reality focuses on important aspects in technological development aiming at improving the manner in which human beings can perceive things (Dorta et.al., 2016).

The focus on virtual reality is aimed at navigating through the limits to an individual since it is aimed at making it easier to allow an individual have a high definition 3-D view, which is impossible in the real world. The development of an imagined world focuses on improving the overall focus on the existing human challenges. The developments in the field of technology have led to a very complex and surprising world where it is very difficult to predict the next line of innovation. Virtual reality can be experienced based on virtual reality headsets that an individual is using. Different companies have developed highly developed virtual reality headsets, which can provide top quality sound and images. However, with the advancement of virtual reality, there is also an improving where the applications of virtual reality can be highly defined (Gan et.al., 2017).

The current virtual reality used is mainly implemented based on computer technology where virtual reality is an innovation, which has advanced key aspects of computer technology, which was one of the unique innovation to date in human history. There are some systems, which are used to achieve virtual reality. These systems include headsets, omnidirectional treadmills, and special gloves. These systems are used mainly to stimulate our senses uniquely so that we can be able to create an illusion of reality. The manner in which this illusion is created is much more difficult to understand although the imaginary environment that is created plays a key role in influencing the important aspects that are being considered within a given environment.

The virtual environment systems need to display images to a user using a high resolution. It is important to note that virtual experience system can only be effective if there is positive understanding of the underlying aspects, which shape the environment under which the system is engaged. Head Mounted displays which are headsets having two monitors one for each eye. There is a high-level coordination between the images displayed on both sets of monitor, which are key in improving the virtual experience. The images that are developed in this case create a stereoscopic effect which gives illusion if depth.

The early monitors used on HMDs used cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors, which were not very good when considering the image quality that, were being displayed on these monitors. Liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors have been well engaged creating a unique environment where it is very easy to develop a crucial understanding of important considerations that are being considered within the virtual environment. The LCD monitor displays are more improve based on the screen resolution and high color saturation. The LCD monitors have become more common than the CRTs because they are more engaged and focus on important issues especially screen resolution, which is an important aspect of the virtual environment. The display technology is highly improving which is aimed at creating a better environment where it would be easier to develop a better understanding on virtual experience, which is highly depended on the hardware that is being used within a given environment.

Having a better Virtual environment experience depends on the output devices that a given user is using. Headsets have formed a key part of virtual technology. Many technology and electronic based companies are developing high tech headsets, which are aiming at enhancing user experience in the virtual world. The quality of headsets that are developed for virtual technology purpose are unique and have specialized features which seek to create a better environment where it would be essential to have a high-level interactive environment based on enhanced features that are developed on these headsets.

In today’s generation, it is evident that media and information technology is widely used by people all across the globe. Kids and teens are taking massive amount of it everyday. As I grew up, I became more and more interested on media and information technology. I constantly engage with it. It played a vital role in my day to day life as it became part of my daily routine.

Media and information technology has its pros and cons. If they are both used in a right way, they can actually impact our lives in a positive way. Like what Uncle Ben of Spiderman said, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Media keeps me aware by blaring the happenings on the outside world. Happenings of what the world is like today. There are so much more than what I can perceive. Media gives me access to grasp those information I haven’t known yet. Information technology gives me opportunities to branch out my social circles. I can remember my grandma telling me stories of their days where information was limited to oral transmission or written letters only. Nowadays, distance is not an obstacle and the world seemed to have shrunk into a small place. With just one hit of the send button, you can exchange messages with others in a matter of few seconds regardless of how far are you form each other.

But these benefits cannot clothe the negative impacts of media if used extensively. It can be useful but it can also be harmful at some point. There was this time during our examination week, I procrastinated and was too confident that I can pass the exam without reviewing my notes. I allotted much of my time interacting with my cyber friends and binge watching all day long. As a result, my 4th quarter grades are lower than that of my 3rd quarter grades. Moreover, I sometimes tend to forget the happiness that the outside world is offering due to too much consumption of social media and information technology. Instead of collecting memories of me having quality time with my friends and family, I collect likes and comments in my social media apps.

The media and information technology is irresistible and alluring to teenagers. But they are just like any other things around us, how we use it depends on us. I came into a realization that I should be the one controlling social media instead of I am being controlled by the social media. Also, it takes us an amount of discipline and responsibility not to let it steal too much of our time. Therefore, media and information technology is helpful but too much of it is bad.

Love and Vertigo is a contemporary autobiographical novel that maps the lineage of the speaker Grace and her parents’ imminent immigration to Australia. The novel moves through three pertinent spaces of Singapore, Malaysia, and Australia and intriguingly all these three spaces are interlocked with cultural and political myths and trauma. Hsu-Ming Teo in her text intricately engages with moments of transformation from Birth to Social influx, Traditional Chinese culture to Westernised English Culture, and in relationship dynamics within family. Love and Vertigo as an autobiographical novel tries to draw attention to the convoluted life of a diasporic family where the struggle of assimilation not just results in complicated social and religious relationships but the absent present past and isolated presence within the space of Australia results in cultural and identity anxiety which is experienced differently by all the characters involved. She draws attention towards how trauma, myths, religion, anxiety, abuse, and assimilation are highly individualistic experiences which can be gendered and culturally specific at the same time.

This paper intends to explore the central element of myth making within the novel and how this seminal quality is not just essential in weaving a Chinese cultural and individual identity in the beginning of the story but a movement away from it after the racial attack represents a need and anxiety necessary to assimilate within Western culture for survival with its nexus within euro-centric ideals. Further, this paper will engage in an analysis of Trauma as presented in the novel that is experienced by three different generation and how gendered the space can be and simultaneously productive where the political trauma leads to creation of dichotomous myths between East and West, evincing politics of assimilation.

Hsu-Ming Teo’s preference for Autobiographical narrative is incidental as autobiographical narrative is a preferred mode of narrative within marginalized and diasporic groups. The usage of autobiographical narrative with the context of Love and vertigo could be looked at through a necessity to establish a sense of control or ownership over voice and representation which would be often overwritten or shadowed by the interpretation of the white gaze. Teo’s choice for an autobiographical narrative not just evokes this sentiment of need of control but through this form of narrative she engages in an excavation of her roots, culture, and tradition leading to a comprehension of the liminal space she exists within.

Autobiographical narratives often lead to a problematic discussion with regards to the split between the writer’s personal “I” and the speaker’s “I” within the narrative as they are distanced and the speaker’s “I” almost becomes symbolic. The relationship between the speaker and the writer is a specular one where the distanced gaze looks and experiences a version of reality that is personal leading to questions of authenticity.

Myths within Love and Vertigo play a crucial role as it doesn’t just establish a cultural identity but personal identity is highly influenced by myths within various communities. The focus on myth within narration not just elucidates the creation and transformation of a superstition into myth but as myths within the narrative is transferred through generations it leads to a reinstating of systems of gender binaries, rationalizing the autocratic rule of the Patriarch. Any figure moving away from the myth or resisting is punished narratively, which is seen through Lida, Pandora, and even through Mei Ling.

Sonny’s attack on the aquarium and killing of the Cod not just results in his exile from the family but his attack could be considered as metaphorical for a break of cyclic chain of abuse that is perpetuated from myths due to his mother’s suicide not just from abuse used by Jonah but abuse and betrayal from Pastor Rodney too. Sonny’s infuriation with superstitions within this space could be looked at through the perspective of identity where his western skepticism clashes with repressed traditions of Chinese household leading to a need of total separation and severing of ties.

Myths within the story undergo an interesting transformation during the space of post-war when the Japanese troops left Chinese myths were replaced with EnglishGreek mythology system. This shift within the center of culture is not just evinced through an English education and language system imposed but the kids and the family was renamed after mythical characters from Greek mythological systems. To safeguard ones position within society and to create mobility within spaces afflicted by Western systems this physicality of Greek myth not just leads to the first problematisation within the space of identity but there exists a perpetual struggle within the text within the space of language where English can neither be fully absorbed not entirely rejected.

This change in name and identity perpetuated through mythology is cemented by a study of Greek myth within domestic and educational space where almost like oral traditions they are passed amongst each other and later this is advanced through Pandora’s introduction of Grace and Jonah within Christianity. This new culture and tradition moves within the family in form of references, education, heterogeneous interactions where with new identity it recreates systems of myth within domestic space but gender binary remains undeterred.

Trauma within the novel is almost productive as it leads to creation of myth related to spaces. The gendered trauma of motherhood and the political trauma of the riots and ethnic “otherness” leads to creation of myth within the speaker where she represents Malaysia as a space of violence and trauma due to stories passed down to her through Pandora and ambiguous memories of life in Malaysia as a child. Interestingly, Grace’s presence within Malaysia as a kid leads to a strengthening of this association of Malaysia with ideology of violence but her absence from the space of Singapore in the past leads to a creation of idealism due to Pandora’s elucidation of her experiences with Wendy Wu.

Corporeality of trauma within Love and Vertigo is evident throughout the text where there corporeal aspect of trauma is specific to women within the patriarchal regime but ahead within the novel there exists an intersection between political and physical trauma. Trauma within the narrative is an experience which can neither be escaped from nor confronted but transforms itself into repression or distance and isolation. It oscillates constantly between what Caruth calls “crisis of death” and its correlative “crisis of life” where the characters struggle with the presence of unbearable nature of the event and survival of the event.

The jarring and malignant experience of trauma within the narrative of Love and Vertigo is conducted through a wind angle view where each birth is associated with social riot or influx leading to a metaphorical explication of the physical trauma experienced. Motherhood almost transforms into traumatic space where the distancing of a self and the body occurs. This gendered space of trauma is portrayed through Mei Ling’s forced pregnancy, the brutal abuse faced by women within the patriarchal system by the hegemonic masculine authority, and through Pandora’s miscarriage, distancing and isolation during pregnancy and the sexual trauma she undergoes when Jonah rapes her. In fact one of the initial traumas that Pandora experiences could be even her separation from her foster mother where as a kid she had to severe maternal ties with Madam Tan and reestablish her relationship with biological mother, always deprived of love and intimacy.

This gendered space of trauma within the novel is removed from personal interpretation of the speaker and represented as specific and personal to the physique, psychology, and emotion inflicted by the trauma. Hsu-Ming Teo’s this treatment of gendered trauma not just reveals the banal treatment of sexual and gendered trauma within the structures of society throughout cultures but she comments on the form of trauma that perpetuates under the disguise of love and traditions, which struggles to rationalize the violence and trauma generalised within the abusive relationship marking other’s body with reprimand for resistance. This could be theorized as one of the multiple themes behind the title Love and Vertigo. ‘If you love me, you make damn sure my son grows up in a country where he never has to worry about something like this happening. I don’t care where we go- England, America or Australia…If you won’t emigrate you won’t have a family either’ (Hsu- Ming Teo 138-139).

Movement within the text is incited through political trauma where Pandora and Madam Tay both immigrate out of a fear of social and ethnic riot. The political trauma not just etches itself within their memory but it leads to manifestation of anxiety with regards to survival and safety. Political trauma in the beginning of the text presented itself through a shift within mythological identity in narrative during the presence of the Japanese, the ethnic riots provoke a movement for safety but inadvertently the immigration for Pandora is within the space of Australia which recently lifted its “Only White Policy.”

One has to notice that although Pandora’s immigration to Australia was necessitated by political trauma but there existed a complex and almost discomforting relationship between her and Madam Tay who constantly not just manipulated Pandora’s position and life within the domestic space but influenced Jonah’s actions and movements. The overwhelming and authoritarian presence of Madam Tay not just results in constant struggles between Pandora and Jonah’s mother but after her incessant vigilance of Pandora and Jonah causes Pandora to move first to Malaysia later to Australia. This movement is incited through a need to establish a sense of identity and individualism which Pandora struggles with through the text.

The politics of assimilation within Love and Vertigo is marked with the element and act of constant “othering” that occurs within the narrative with regards to Grace and Sonny. Their ethnicity, their dialect, language, and cuisine are not just presented within the dominant white space of Australia that has recently allowed immigration but both Grace and Sonny’s experience of isolation due to it is represented. Grace although taunted for her patois of Chinese-English dialectic, Sonny is physically assaulted for his corporeal and linguist “otherness”. This experience of complexity within identity and race is again portrayed as an individual experience, resulting in varying form of disturbances and issues with relation to Chinese and Australian identity.

Assimilation within the novel is problematized where Pandora tried to create a home within the immigrated space of Australia but she couldn’t establish a level of familiarity with it leading to a going back to Chinese traditions through name and cuisine which is observed within Jonah too, yet the return is never complete. Sonny assimilates within Australian culture and identity by severing ties with his Chinese roots and not identifying himself with traditions and culture perpetuated by the patriarch. Grace on the other hand suffers through a need for assimilation. We grew to hate the sound of our voices, and those of our parents.

Grace experiences a complexity with relation to identity and assimilation where her need for belongingness not just results in her growing familiarity with Australian accent and culture but there results a strong clash between the Australian identity and Chinese Identity. This political space of assimilation, for Grace, leads to a production of myth related to spaces where Malaysia within her mind is associated with memories of violence, separation, and cruelty and Singapore is associated with idealism. This space related myth is perpetuated and influenced by her dependence on Pandora’s memory and her need to be liked and appreciated by her. A further movement away from the Chinese identity occurs within the novel after Grace encounters the abuse and fear utilized by the Patriarch towards Pandora, Sonny, and her to ingrain acquiescent and submissive behavior. This experience of abuse within a diasporic household leads to a distancing from Chinese identity where Jonah reiterates his idealized memory of Malaysia, almost functioning as myth, to not just juxtapose the segregation he experiences at a vocational and cultural level within Australia but to establish a sense of shame within Grace and Sonny for being “ungrateful”, associating the figure of Jonah with frustration and “Martyr complex” and coincidently deflecting the emotion of frustration and distance with Malaysia. This creation of dichotomous view of spaces not only leads to segregation of Grace further but when Grace and Jonah encounter other Chinese families with years, they realize their ambivalent position where they are neither Australian nor Chinese enough.

Shanthini Pillai within her essay “Essentialism And The Diasporic Native Informant: Malaysia In Hsu Ming Teo’s Love And Vertigo” discusses the problematic space of political representation with terms of Diasporic Literature in terms of Hsu-Min Teo. She talks of how within the discourse of the novel Hsu-Ming Teo’s approach of Malaysia is essentialist and laden with connotation of violence and “macabre” leading to creation of an image of Malaysia that is far removed from reality. She points out how within the space of discourse and politics Hsu-Ming Teo’s representation of Malaysia isn’t just mythical and biased but inadvertently causes the question of “gaze” within the novel, questioning who Teo is speaking for and speaking as being placed within the hyphenated space of diasporic identity, “Australian-Malaysian”.

Hsu-Ming Teo through Love and Vertigo engages in a representation of struggles within diasporic space with relation to political, cultural, and social assimilation. She portrays the individualistic and personal experience of trauma and abuse, especially within the diasporic space and the perverse reiteration of a religion distinct and removed away from primary culture. Teo through a system of myth within the narrative not only unfolds a discussion about the interrelationship of myth and identity but she depicts a frustrating need of characters to create a space of familiarity and home within the space of Australia, Malaysia, and Singapore which is distanced and problematized for them further due to association of these spaces with contrasting images of betrayal, love, roots, and abuse.

For as long as the world has existed, individuals have had doubts about what does and what does not exist. Even today, there are individuals who strongly believe that the world is flat, or that the earth is the center of the universe. Even more so, there are groups and communities dedicated to eliminating the belief of modern diseases. On another note, “fibromyalgia is a long-lasting or chronic disorder that causes muscle pain and fatigue (feeling tired). If you have fibromyalgia, you have pain and tenderness throughout your body. Sometimes you may have two or more chronic pain conditions at the same time.” Chronic pain is one symptom that almost nobody can ignore, despite how skeptical their mindset is. For the individuals with fibromyalgia, simply ignoring this situation is not an option. There are many other symptoms aligned with the fibromyalgia condition, yet most symptoms are universal in nature. Furthermore, “because its symptoms are subjective and there isn’t a clear known cause, fibromyalgia is often misdiagnosed as another disease.” This unpredictability creates a huge opening for doubt and disbelief when focusing on the health condition of fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia does in fact hold a place in the medical books, but to many individuals, this disease is simply theoretical. To understand why this condition is so unbelievable, the condition itself must be examined.

The human body is capable of many interesting things, including tricking itself. For example, in extreme cases the body gives of a sensation of hunger when the ultimate issue is thirst. In the case of fibromyalgia, a patient may experience pain without an injury or a pre-existing condition. Furthermore, “fibromyalgia is a long-term or chronic disorder. It’s associated with widespread pain in the muscles and bones, areas of tenderness, and general fatigue.” Fatigue and aches are simply elements of living in the natural world, according to those who do not believe in diseases such as fibromyalgia. Chronic pain is not a concept that every individual will have to grasp in their lifetime. To avoid being invalidated, the individuals with fibromyalgia deserve more consideration for their condition. To explain this condition simply, “fibromyalgia is often associated with areas of tenderness, which are called trigger points or tender points. These are places on your body where even light pressure can cause pain.” Light pressure is not normally considered an issue in humans, due to the durability of the muscular and skeletal structure. This is another reason for skeptics to believe in their not being a disease known as fibromyalgia. For many, it is difficult to believe that pain can exist with any physical damage whatsoever. This fact is also hard to understand for the individuals who actually contain the condition. On another note regarding trigger points, “these points are rarely used to diagnose fibromyalgia. Instead, they may be used as one way for doctors to narrow their list of possible diagnoses.” Trigger points only indicate where the pain in fibromyalgia patients exist. Doctors and researchers are still debating why fibromyalgia effects the trigger points in the way that it does. With fibromyalgia, one question leads to another, and the largest question in the fibromyalgia community would be, “why me.”

Anyone can experience fibromyalgia, and this condition is considered a growing epidemic. For those who do not believe in this condition, the epidemic would be supposedly false information. However, doctors and medical professionals believe that “fibromyalgia often runs in families. If you have a family member with this condition, your risk for developing it is higher. Researchers think certain genetic mutations may play a role in this condition. Those genes haven’t yet been identified.” Genetic or not, anyone is susceptible to contracting fibromyalgia and experiencing the issues that coincided with it. Trigger points are ancient tools in the eyes of the individuals who disagree with the evidence supporting fibromyalgia. For example, “the pain caused by these trigger points can also be described as a consistent dull ache affecting many areas of your body. If you were to experience this pain for at least three months, doctors may consider this a symptom of fibromyalgia.” These tests are helpful in easing the pain of an individual. However, these inconclusive testing methods do not alleviate the pain of a fibromyalgia patient being disregarded. In the early cases of this condition, testing was not advanced enough to specify exactly what was the issue concerning fibromyalgia. For example, “a person used to be diagnosed with fibromyalgia if they had widespread pain and tenderness in at least 11 of the known 18 trigger points. Doctors would check to see how many of these points were painful by pressing firmly on them.” Trigger points are useful in how they allow the physician to focus on the specific area of pain in a fibromyalgia patient. If this disease is genetic, the medical records of one’s relatives may become useful in this aspect. However, testing or the lack there of is one of the strongest arguments for disbelief on the debate over fibromyalgia.

The biggest question surrounding fibromyalgia other than “how it is caused” would be “does it really exist?” The answer according to medical science would be “yes.” The existence of a medical condition is not dependent on the testing methods for the condition itself. This is why “the lack of reproducible, objective tests for this disorder plays a role in some doctors questioning the disorder altogether. Although it’s more widely accepted in medical circles now than previously, some doctors and researchers don’t consider fibromyalgia a real condition.” Each day, doctors and physicians work tirelessly to provide the world with an answer for this fabled condition. There has been much evidence pointing to the existence of fibromyalgia and how it may be caused, so these professionals are not wasting their time. Furthermore, “although the causes are unclear, fibromyalgia flare-ups can be the result of stress, physical trauma, or an unrelated systemic illness like the flu. It’s believed the brain and nervous system may misinterpret or overreact to normal pain signals.” Many legitimate diseases, including fibromyalgia, are influenced by the central nervous system. The central nervous system is perhaps the most complex system in the body, and it is not completely understood. With that being said, it is completely possible for an untestable condition to exist in the central nervous system. Parkinson’s disease would be one clear example for a condition of this nature.

The subjectivity of symptoms and trigger points are simply factors in the equation that creates fibromyalgia. The pain radiating from fibromyalgia is not only physical, but also mental due to the confusion brought on by this condition. Fibromyalgia patients are required to work harder for their health than many other individuals with a chronic pain illness. In reference to treatment, “lifestyle changes and alternative remedies for fibromyalgia may reduce pain while making you feel better overall. Many of these alternative treatments focus on lowering stress and reducing pain.” Stress and pain are directly related when speaking of fibromyalgia. Stress can be generated from almost anywhere, making fibromyalgia even more difficult to manage. For many, disease management can become a struggle if no support is available. For the victims of fibromyalgia, “this can increase your risk of depression, which stems from a struggle in gaining acceptance for painful symptoms.” Not everyone can understand how it feels to be under perpetual pain and distress. The effects of fibromyalgia have more of an impact than nonbelievers realize, making the condition all the more harmful. Overall, there are too many people suffering from this condition for fibromyalgia to not be considered a disease. As far as a diagnosis goes, “there isn’t a lab test that can detect fibromyalgia. Instead, blood testing may be used to help rule out other potential causes of chronic pain.” Fibromyalgia is a difficult condition to understand, but that does not mean that the issue is nonexistent. The most notable symptom of fibromyalgia would be the intense pain felt by its victims on a constant basis.

Every decision, every breath one takes, and every step one ever walks brings one closer to a single goal — to find the meaning of life. The summation of one’s decisions, steps, and movements through life shapes one’s individual existence and leads to proliferation of the damning idea of finding that sense of meaning. For many, this pursuit is never realized, and to others, the entire idea of successfully finding the meaning of the deep, dark mystery of life might be impossible. Despite this skepticism, many search for meaning in daily events, attempting to find the overall meaning of life. In Six Characters in Search of an Author, actors attempt to run through a Pirandello production, but the value comes from the lessons they learn. The actors and characters in Six Characters in Search of an Author display a yearning to find the meaning of life, but descend into a darkened existentialist state when faced with the crushing realization of the world around them, as Pirandello tries to point readers down a different path in life.

Throughout the play, those in it try and find meaning from their daily actions to shed deeper light on the greater meaning of life. If they thought that their daily actions were to be meaningless, they would surely descend into a darkened mental state, so it is crucial for them to attempt to acquire knowledge of life from their mundane and minute actions of the day. Firstly, consider the director. His job is to orchestrate the play, to ensure its success, and that all the actors fulfill their roles adequately. It is in his management of the actors that he gets a sense of meaning, not only in his job, but in life as a whole. In that regard, he enjoys doing his line of work, and relishes the satisfaction he gets from what he does. He continuously meddles in the performance of the actors, because to him, that meddling is what gives him power, and thus, a sense of meaning. The actors, in general, try to make some sense out the play they are putting on, and give themselves some meaning. To accurately portray the characters of the play, it is necessary for the actors to understand these characters themselves. Therefore, they struggle, but persist to try and find their own meaning in the words they speak and the actions they undertake in the play. As the father says on page 12, “You have created living beings — more alive than those who breathe and wear clothes! Less real, but perhaps more true”.

Next, this search to find meaning from daily life can be seen in the actions of the father, step-daughter, mother and son as well. The father is perhaps the best example of this search for knowledge of life having meaning. He is pretty unsure over what to make of life, as seen through when he sent his wife and daughter away (17). Especially after his run-in with his step-daughter at Madame Pace’s shop, his life is continuously tossed around and upside-down. The father offers up deeper, more philosophical takes on what the play itself is about, or what the actions of the actors and the characters mean. His consistent philosophical anecdotes indicate a desire to find deeper knowledge (28). The step-daughter too seeks this knowledge. Exploited but vivacious, the step-daughter is perhaps the character that seems the most confused about where they are in life and where they are going. In the actor troupe, she tends to stir the pot and cause others to question why things happen, in accordance with her own questioning. The mother is constantly in grief, searching for a solution to cure her dismal existence. It is clear that she is not content with life, and goes through the motions day-in and day-out, yearning for the day that she might find true meaning that will free her from her despair and sadness that she carries with her on a daily basis. She seems to be constantly tortured by something as simple as her past and her existence, and her grief can really be pinpointed when the step-daughter and the father share their experience in Madame Pace’s shop (16). Just like the mother, the son is unhappy, specifically with his role in the play. He yearns for more, for a deeper existence, as he tends to have a rather facile role within the play. As he yearns for more, he yearns for a purpose for to his acting, even if he does not actively have it.

Lastly, when the characters inevitably fail to acquire they knowledge they search for, their lives spiral down an existentialist path to a deeper, darker trance, offering a cautionary tale. The director is clearly a part of this descent. As the set turns into chaos, the director’s own sanity seems to descend as well. He continually berates members of the cast for not meeting his expectations, and generally loses control of his own emotions. His own purpose in directing the play, and the authority he has over the actors is put into question. Without this, he freaks out, eventually ending the production in a fit of rage. In general, the actors begin to go wild at the end of play. They run around in a sense of mayhem, challenging nearly everything the director says, with their own performances offering no consolation. The father specifically begins to sink deeper and deeper in an existentialist state, feeling the meaningless nature of life and feeling like a pawn in a chess game. He continues to ponder the philosophical nature of things, questioning the meaning of life. He begins to even take on a rather nihilistic view, openly disparaging aspects of the world around him (62). The step-daughter escalates her theatrics to obscene levels. She hands on the end of every word, threatening to break into tears or create drama at the drop of a feather. The performance overcomes her, and given that she has not found anything of value from the play, she demands attention to keep her relevance (68). The mother, too, creates a scene. After the dramatic events at the end of the play, she continues on her dismal way, crying consistently. She questions the meaning of life, in light of the recent events, and her negative view on life is evident. Lastly, the son freaks out about his lines (or lack thereof) and how he is representing the author’s interests. He cares about this to a considerable degree, almost to the point of violence. His descent into anger from his existentialist sate is fueled by the lack of concrete intention by the author. In assigning his own meaning to the play, he places his own value in it, to become emotionally connected.

Six Characters in Search of an Author displays a cautionary tale. Pirandello demonstrates the search for meaning in life, demonstrated by the characters, especially in the way of the father and the step-daughter. The characters try and find meaning from their performances in the play, but they do not find what they seek. Pirandello offers a cautionary tale, as the characters fall into states of contemplating life with dark, grim views. The play warns readers not to fall into the same traps as the characters, and shows that failing to find the knowledge that is sought after will lead to a dismal, sad existence. Overall, the play shows a descent into a darkened existentialist state.

“The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.”- William Arthur Wart. In my opinion, I feel that there is not a fine line between optimism and reality. The reason being that the feeling of optimism can brighten and influence what you say and your interactions with the people around you. Positive vibes from one individual rubs off onto others when one is in a discussion or short conversation and adds hopefulness, which lifts the weight from your shoulders and lets you think about taking one step at a time. Your perspective on whether today is a lucky day, or the thoughts of a joyful time will push you forward, however, realism needs to play a factor and one should be prepared for what comes next in life. This said, a change in plans can be challenging or perceived grimly when individuals must face the inevitable. He or she chooses whether to think over it and pretend that it won’t happen again, accept it, move on, and learn from the experience, or decide to dwell on it with no sight of ever letting it go.

To start with, reality is defined as the state of things as they actually exist. “Optimism is stated as the hopefulness and confidence about the future or outcome for something” by the Merriam-Webster. When you think realistically, there will always be ups and downs and the only way you get through it is by accepting optimism, and thinking about the best way that something can happen. It’s impossible to predict the future, so most individuals would rather have positive thoughts and reiterate to themselves that everything will be fine, even if the situation doesn’t end the way you wished it to be. In these ways, one is using optimism and in turn being optimistic, sometimes without even realizing it. If you were to ask a pessimist, realist, or optimist about the glass of water experiment, the final conclusions would show that when one is optimistic, he/she tends to predict beneficial and hopeful possibilities from what is presented. When one is realistic, he/she tends to predict the most likely possibilities from what is presented in front of him/her. One thing to note is that what one sees is what the individual wants to see, which means that a person’s perception influences one’s perspective.

One thing to keep in mind, is that most individuals don’t see the fine line because it is not that noticeable. Imagine reality as the big picture, and the small blotches scattered around it represent optimism. Reality, optimism, and pessimism are like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. When the pieces are put together, they form the big picture which is one’s life. The obvious pieces are reality and from there, optimism and pessimism squeeze themselves in parts of the picture. It’s all one big interaction that goes hand in hand. If one’s life could be described as a mountain track, reality would be a path with bumps along the way. As one goes up the usual trail, all around is sunlight, a light breeze, the gentle flow of a river, flowers blooming, and the birds spreading their wings as they start their flight across the sky. The day unexpectedly turns out better than planned and leaves you with an uplifted feeling. With time the day goes from being spectacular to grim in seconds – the rain starts from being as little droplets hitting your face and immediately starts to beat down harder and harder by the minute, thunder takes over the sky, and wild creatures come out. This would be what some feel is the end of the journey and too difficult to make it through. The gorgeous day reminds some of optimistic moments just like these, which can be all the difference that brings one back to reality and face the truth.

To end with, many individuals feel that once they are challenged beyond their comfort zone, they enter a state of panic, and to avoid the issue, they walk away without ever trying to resolve it. This leads to one being set up for failure, because someday one will be face to face with a conflict that he/she can’t try to get away from, and has an excessive amount of “weight” to carry, on top of everything else that one worries about. Gene Roddenberry once stated, “It isn’t all over, everything has not been invented; the human adventure is just beginning.” Like I stated before, when you think realistically, you expect the ups and downs of life and the only way you get through it is by being optimistic, and believing that a wonderful ending will come. You are the ones who choose what to do next and how you will move on from all kinds of experiences that come your way.

The world revolves around me is a fallacy that most people commit just about every day. Although they do not realize they are doing it, it just happens. This fallacy falls under the self-evidence, which is talked about as part of egocentrism, and is not egocentrism itself, but a fallacy that falls in the line of. Egocentrism is the inability to differentiate between self and other. Also, egocentrism is the inability to precisely predict or ponder other ideas rather than their own. “The world revolves around me” is a fallacy, like egocentrism, this fallacy means if one believes something is true, then it is true enough to be true. By taking what one believes in and using it as a form of benchmarking for true and false, then test one’s own belief, is to test it against reality and the world of ideas beyond our own perspective. Although I have already defined what “The world revolves around me” fallacy is; it is time to put this fallacy into more perspective. The world revolves around me is a fallacy because people have their lives, are entitled to their own opinions and I am a person living in a society and must get along with others.

Fromm states that narcissism is the result of a person’s effort, where the work itself keeps the person in contact with reality, so the narcissism is self-limiting. There are two differences between social and individual narcissism. One, social narcissism is when one feels that they do not fit in with people in the group. One reason is because they are not interested in what the group is doing, or they do not think or contribute in the group activity. On the other hand, individual narcissism people may feel that they have low self-esteem, and tend to want to shut themselves out from society. “The world revolves around me” is a fallacy that a lot of people have. These individuals think that their way is the correct way, and that it is the only way it can be done. They think that everyone should bow down to them, as if you are their servant. The above two concepts relate to each other, in the following way. That narcissism and “the world revolves around me”, is that one involves a person with low self-esteem and the other involves someone who thinks he or she is far more superior to the other.

My mother is a really good example of this fallacy. She is very anal about the way she wants and does things. For example, we have two different of dinner forks, one is made from thick metal and the other thin. She finds it necessary to actually separate them by the thickness, ridiculous. Also she has to have the glassware and plates arranged in the dishwasher a certain way, as well. My mother is phenomenal at telling someone else how to do something a certain way, when she doesn’t do it that way herself. For example, we have four dogs that have to go out in the backyard, and she tells me that she sits out there with them until they do their business, and then they come in. Sometimes she doesn’t sit out there with them because she is in the middle of something inside, understandable. However, when I let the dogs outside and do not sit there until they are done, she gets on my case about it, and then we wind up in an argument. One other thing that she does is after cleaning up a dog’s mess and sanitizing the area with some kind of cleaner, she has to make absolutely sure it is dry when it is cold enough that it will dry by itself. I guess this falls under this fallacy, maybe not. Maybe she is right, maybe not, I do not know. However, she is entitled to her opinion.

My friend mike is another good example of this fallacy. He and I visit just about every week and talk about different things. But he has this uncanny way of talking about things. As we are having a conversation about something, he will start a sentence and then hesitate in finishing that sentence. For the simple reason that he really does not know what he is talking about. He will swear up and down that he will never tell you something that is not true. For example, we could be talking about the smart phones and he swears that he knows what it costs to make either a Samsung Galaxy or iPhone, and that all smart phone companies do the same thing. He thinks he knows what he is talking about by saying that all cell phone companies do this. He will tell you that he looked it up online, but he did not. So, I am sitting there and going along with what he is saying, thinking to myself, if you know what you are saying, then prove it by looking it up on your one thousand-dollar iPhone. He shrugs it off by saying “I do not have time for that”, which leads me to believe that he never actually looked it up. One more example is he likes to bring up the past a lot. Like what happened between us and Japan during the time period of when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, which forced The United States to take harsh actions on Japan, which forced Japan to bomb Pearl Harbor. This is what opened up the Pacific War, which was the theater of World War II. To this day he holds a grudge against Japan. So, whenever he sees a Honda, Toyota, Kia etc., he refers to them as Jap pieces of shit.

This fallacy occurs when a person believes strongly about an issue, everyone else must believe it also. What a person believes is not necessarily true. One’s belief or desire for something to be true is not enough to be true. Reality does not have to conform to one’s beliefs. Ones beliefs have to conform to reality. Everybody else does not have to share another’s beliefs. For instance, if I believe that abortion is morally wrong, but I cannot require that others feel the same way. They are entitled to their own opinion and have free will to believe what they desire. Believing that the world revolves around themselves intolerant because we live in a free society and must conform to rules and regulations of successful communication with others and respect the rights of others. They also have a right to their opinions. Good relationships with others are needed to live in peace and harmony in our society.

The world revolves around me is a ridiculous concept. I may be important but so is everybody else. I should consider issues from another’s point of view and realize there is more than one answer to the world’s problems. I am an amazing creature whom God created to be happy, to love, and be loved. Let me accept how God created me and be the best that I can be. I am very important, but so is everybody else. There exists a world of ideas beyond my own perspective that must be considered and respected.

‘The Truman Show’ offers viewers a great insight into the concept of discovery by presenting themes of Descartes’ perception and reality and the power of media are prevalent in the process of discovery promoting a sense of reality and awareness of one’s place in life. In this film directed by Peter Weir, the viewers are confronted with the eponymous character’s quest for reality as he experiences countless setbacks in his search for definitive answers to questions of reality. By portraying discovery as a series of tensions between Truman and fiction, the viewers are asked upon their own experiences of the discovery of reality.

‘The Truman Show’ presents an idea of discovering perception and reality where Truman’s determination to discover the reality is paralleled to René Descartes throughout the film. In ‘Meditations’, Descartes makes it so he does not know what reality is by abandoning his past knowledge to discover what is really true. Descartes firstly discards his posteriori knowledge as that type of knowledge is subject to bias and falsehood. Like Descartes, Truman’s skepticism of his a posteriori knowledge drives his discoveries catalyzed by someone who he believes to be his dead father and thus becomes uncertain about his life and those in it. Truman’s testing of the citizens drove him to see “loose threads, false steps and notices many ‘slips of the tongue’”. He even holds skepticism of his own wife and uses a knife to give himself a sense of safety and reassurance. He begins to victimized as though there is a plot and “everyone seems to be in on it”. Truman still holds the reassurance of physical reality of objects, but he believes his intellectual reality has been compromised. Truman doubts and the abandonment of his posterior knowledge is largely similar to the Descartes method of doubt in uncovering the reality. Descartes book ‘Meditations’ explains an evil genius/malevolent demon’s existence to deceive humans, in this case, Christof, thus providing a reason why Truman was forced into this false reality. Note, Christof is a play on the term ‘of Christ’ which means fake Christ. This ‘evil genius’ chooses the characters, the weather, and the circumstances of Truman’s life. Thus, keeping Truman from discovering reality until Truman’s doubts grow too strong and become too ‘big’ to control as represented in the scene where Christof strokes a large screen with Trumans face on it. Despite the prominence of falsity in Seahaven, Truman holds onto the truth that he is the ‘true man’. While the world around him can be manipulated by Christof, his mind will always remain as his sole property. He is, therefore, able to doubt, question and reason his reality. Descartes quote “I think, therefore I am” becomes the Archimedean point. For, no matter how uncertain Truman was about those around him, he never doubts the realness of himself.

Although the reality is a difficult concept to understand, both Descartes and Truman do so by doubting, asking questions, rejecting past knowledge, and remembering their own existence.

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one in which we are stuck and forced to live with. We have an innate belief, or faith in our world, and our reality. This is evident in ‘The Truman Show’, directed by Peter Weir, where Truman Burbank, the protagonist, is born and raised in a mock reality. He grows up having faith that his world is reality, and never questions it. He grows up in a world where his destiny is controlled, but not fake. Truman faces numerous hardships that lead him to question the existence of his world and the truth of the people that surround him. The director of the film oversees the false existence of the world through the utopian Seahaven, which is a man-made island where a man named Truman Burbank has been televised without his knowledge since birth. However, reality is influenced by human perception in many ways such as our human nature, our controlling societies, and the influence of mass media. These all alter the way we accept our reality.

Whether we live to the reality of the world with which we are placed is debatable. It is human’s blood to question; we have a curiosity about nearly everything and everyone. It is why people gossip, why teenagers push boundaries to form opinions and to test, why toddlers taste all the wrong things. However, this is why we accept the reality of the world with which we are presented at first. Examples of this is when Truman accepted Sylvia’s disappearance without any question, and in the ‘real world’ why everyone was scared about swine flu when it is only mild. This trust changes as we grow older, we become more aware of people trying to influence us to what they think is right. Until eventually, we struggle to become less dependent on others, attempt to make our own decisions. To follow your own path, and be willing to question things that appear to be wrong are some lessons we can take from Truman’s human nature. Truman, once discovering that there was something wrong in his world, took the time to investigate it and met a challenge. That challenge was getting to the truth. The people behind the scene closed themselves off from him by sending different people in his path. These carefully orchestrated people were there to keep him on the same path he was already on. During the slow period there was a calmness everywhere except in Truman’s mind. The questions, doubts, and yearning for freedom was still there. He faced betrayal and when it got extremely tough along the way, he faced death. After awakening from the shipwreck, Truman was able to finally become free to live the way he wanted. He kept searching for the right thing and didn’t stop. This teaches us to examine our lives and make discoveries about ourselves and be true to ourselves. Lose the fake whether its friends, family or bad choices, live what is real not reality as our society will always try to govern the way we live life.

Our society plays a huge role in the aspect of how the world should be and how one individual should act and behave. This society has us locked in an imaginary bubble that will always exist, no matter how hard we try to escape it, it will still haunt us. Society loves to have a say in everything we do, it loves to judge us and think that it is their life and their choice to decide what we do and how we should act. This is the problem with society, this is what makes everyone loathe society and the role it plays. In ‘The Truman Show’ we are able to get a glimmer of Truman’s society and the way in which they uphold themselves. Christof is a very powerful man and is portrayed as a god-like figure. This is shown through the image of individual versus society – as Truman the individual is constantly trying to break free from the control and strong hold of Christof who represents the society. The viewers, the ‘normal, everyday people’, in the film are seemingly oblivious to the moral questions involved not only in using another human being as nothing more than a controlled commodity, but also in deliberately doing so without his consent. They don’t understand that Truman, in a very real sense, is walking through life completely alone. His mother, his best friend, and even his wife are nothing more than actors playing their respective roles. While society is able to influence the choices Truman makes, they have little clout when dealing with matters of the heart. Although the producers can only control outside variables, it is impossible for them to control Truman himself. As its creator, Christof, says: “While the world he inhabits is in some respects counterfeit, there’s nothing fake about Truman himself. No scripts, no cue cards…It isn’t always Shakespeare but it’s genuine. It’s a life”. This is the poor reality Truman had to live up to for 29 prolonged years, he continued to play this role of ‘televised Truman’, while everyone accepted the reality with which they were presented. Mass media does this to people, it allows them to be oblivious in their decision making.