Isaiah Berlin's Search For Status?

Berlin describes the search for status as “being recognized as belonging to a particular group or class by other persons in my society,” (9) which will also come with some conditions. Isaiah Berlin too states that our “material life [is what] depends upon interaction with other[s],” (9) not our emotional or mental lives. Status deals with the emotional state of a person. When thinking of status, one often assumes that a person would want to be recognized as an individual, but according to Berlin, it is the opposite. He says that what is wanted from searching for status is “avoid[ing] being ignored, or patronized, or despised, or being taken too much for granted” (9). In the text, searching for status as one who does not want to stand out based on uniqueness but to be linked with a specific group so that one’s individuality is not “insufficiently recognized” (9). Furthermore, Berlin states that even
He is a well-known and wealthy smuggler for those who long to escape hardship in Tangier. He is introduced when Azel stumbles into a bar and sees at the counter. Azel is already upset about a cousin’s death and credits Al Afía for that death. The locals labeled Al Afía as “the local leader, fearsome, powerful, [and] a man of few words and no heart” (p.8). He is identified by the career choices he make, even from a young age. Since he was a child, “he’d accompanied his uncle on nights when boats arrived…to pick up merchandise” (p.8-9). Since his involvement in smuggling started from a young age, Al Afía also identified himself with this crowd. Although Al Afía had varying “business interests”, he was not only recognized by society as that feared smuggler, but also “a man so loved—or rather, protected—by those who lived off his generosity” (p.13). He had the status and power to be able to buy protection and pay people off. All of what Al Afía has in his life currently is due to the status his