In chapter 2, Albert Knox, states that “It seems as if in the process of growing up we lose the ability to wonder about the world.” but what does Albert Knox really mean? What does it mean to wonder? Is it simply the ability to think? Or is it the need to question the world? I think that when he say wonder he means the desire and need to question ourselves and the world. To step out of society’s frame and to see it from different points even if it may seem unacceptable to society.
Personally, I agree with Albert Knox but I also believe that there are exceptions and those exceptions are people who leave behind the strongest imprint of their generation and who affects the thinking of future generations. People Martin Luther King are what I think exceptions to this harsh reality. He had a dream but what is more important, he had the courage to dream. He kept intact the ability to wonder about the world and in his case to wonder the world where equality thrives. Unfortunately, the lives of these phenomenal figures had not been easy. This is because other grown ups, other pompous, self-centered and ignorant grown ups refuse to think out of the conventional box. Sadly speaking, such grown ups I have met several times and probably will continue encountering. Some of these adults are highly educated people but they are so bounded down by society that they no longer wonder. They take a lot of things for granted and when their juniors ask them questions, they are unable to provide an answer! They even try to impose such thinking on to their children!
A lot of children including myself use to ask a lot of questions such as why cant we fly (exactly like what chapter 2 said)? Or are clouds marshmallows? Such questions may seem silly or even obvious but to children they are some of the most important things. All children are inquisitive and adventurous in nature but all these traits get ‘stamp’ out of their system by adults. Just like Sophie’s mother, the daily lives of a lot of adults and even adolescence are quite predictable. They get up in the morning, go to school or work, come back, watch the TV or play computer games and then go to bed. They repeat this set of action 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 12 months a year and before they know it, their body functions are starting to fail them and then they start to wonder again. They wonder how life could have been. They wonder about all the missed opportunities. They wonder about life and about what will happen to them after they die. They wonder if people will still remember them. They’ll wonder if they’ve actually lived in this world after all evidence of it disappeared. Memories, photographs, children, friends. It is at times like these when people gain their ability to once again wonder about this world.
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3 comments:
"Personally, i agree with Albert Knox"
"They wonder about all the missed opportunities. They wonder about life and about what will happen to them after they die. They wonder if people will still remember them."
So does everyone who grows up in a rountinelike life that then ends in a old worn out body wonder about all those things you listed? If they are, then wouldnt everyone be exceptions as you said yourself that you agree to the quote since everyone (who then grew up) begin to wonder again?
I agree that people end up conforming to society. However, there are exceptions, such as philosophers who question life. But I think that these 'normal' people who don't obviously question life aren't necessarily pompous and self-centered but scared what others think of them, or even intimidated by the answers. Children, however, have no educational frame to start with so have no structure to base their questions on. They can ask obvious questions and be amazed at the world as it is all new to them. However, adults have already been drilled with specific knowledge and have learnt to conform in their thinking. So I believe that just because adults seem to have lost their sense of wonder, doesn't mean they have, it may still be embedded inside of them.
I agree with carys on how just because people don't think outside of the conventional box doesn't necessarily mean they are pompous and self centered. There are people who don't question about the world either because there isn't a need to since there isn't an answer to it or mainly (to most people) it's because of the heavy pressure of work or school that they don't have the time to just sit and wonder about the world.
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