Without Connection to Others There Is No Me
Prompt: Without connection to others there is no me.
In a society which inherently seeks to categorise individuals, it is paramount that each person finds their genuine place in the world. The most powerful influences that impact on an individual’s sense of belonging include identity and heritage. It is a part of humanity which makes us desire to want to belong to a social, religious or even racial group which ultimately forms the person we become. Renowned author Carlson McCullers reflects these ideas. “I think the idea of wanting to belong haunts every child. And not only children. I think it is the primary question. 'Who am I? What am I? And where do I belong?”It is of grave importance that we understand we are simply mere shadows of everybody who is around us. Furthermore our development as an individual is strongly influenced by both nurture and nature. As Indian leader and renowned philosopher, Mahatma Gandhi, once claimed that “the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” Ultimately we need others to help us to explore the limits and potential of what it is to be human.
It is generally accepted that our true identity is best discovered through the connections that we make with others and without them it is hard to establish a sense of belonging. From Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, it outlines the importance for an individual to belong. What was listed as the third most important need was to be connected, love and accepted by others. He has too stated that this, ‘need (to belong) is especially strong in children and can over-ride the need for safety’. In the novel, ‘The Member of the Wedding’, McCullers explores this idea as she displays through the protagonist Frankie Adams the implications of not being loved or not belonging. As a result, Frankie is haunted from being “a member of nothing in the world”. As she is on the brink on the adolescence, she experiences much confusion which results in the endangerment of her
In a society which inherently seeks to categorise individuals, it is paramount that each person finds their genuine place in the world. The most powerful influences that impact on an individual’s sense of belonging include identity and heritage. It is a part of humanity which makes us desire to want to belong to a social, religious or even racial group which ultimately forms the person we become. Renowned author Carlson McCullers reflects these ideas. “I think the idea of wanting to belong haunts every child. And not only children. I think it is the primary question. 'Who am I? What am I? And where do I belong?”It is of grave importance that we understand we are simply mere shadows of everybody who is around us. Furthermore our development as an individual is strongly influenced by both nurture and nature. As Indian leader and renowned philosopher, Mahatma Gandhi, once claimed that “the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” Ultimately we need others to help us to explore the limits and potential of what it is to be human.
It is generally accepted that our true identity is best discovered through the connections that we make with others and without them it is hard to establish a sense of belonging. From Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, it outlines the importance for an individual to belong. What was listed as the third most important need was to be connected, love and accepted by others. He has too stated that this, ‘need (to belong) is especially strong in children and can over-ride the need for safety’. In the novel, ‘The Member of the Wedding’, McCullers explores this idea as she displays through the protagonist Frankie Adams the implications of not being loved or not belonging. As a result, Frankie is haunted from being “a member of nothing in the world”. As she is on the brink on the adolescence, she experiences much confusion which results in the endangerment of her