Assignment No.1 - Elise Tam

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." What does he mean? Do you agree with him? Explain why or why not, using examples from this first section of the novel (pp. 1-120) and your own life experiences.

Albert Knox states that "It seems as if in the process of growing up we lose the ability to wonder about the world." To him, this means that adults have become accustomed to the world that we no longer question about the world. The world has "become a habit" in which everything is no longer new and interesting. When I first read this, I thought that what he said was very accurate as it is true that I have not wondered about my daily life anymore. I agree with Knox that because the world has "become a habit" we no longer question about it anymore.

Thinking back to when I was younger, I do not think I wondered why everything is stationed on the floor. Now I think that was because everything was on the floor and it is so familiar that there was not a need to question it. It has become so common that I no longer noticed it until it was brought up again during school where I learned that it was gravity that is pulling everything towards the ground. This is why I think the world has “become a habit”.

However, I disagree that this is the only reason to our curiosity about the world being diminished. There could be more factors to why it seems that we lose the ability to wonder.

Going back to the example in the book about Little Thomas seeing his father flying during breakfast one day, Thomas is not shocked at this but is amazed at what his father can do. His mother has a different reaction, she is shocked and frighten at what she is seeing. Knox asks "why do you think Thomas and his mother react so differently?" He answers that because the mother has learned that humans cannot fly and that Thomas is still not certain at what is possible to do in the world yet. As I read this the thought that came to me is that it is not the world has become a habit, it is that we have been educated to know that how these things work and what is and what isn't possible. Education is a factor to the reason we no longer wonder. We have the knowledge to understand why and how certain things work which is why we no longer wonder. We have the answers to these questions that we could wonder about. We know there is a logical answer behind it such as “why are some flowers coloured and others are not?” Education has taught us this and it stops us wondering about what is around us.

Perhaps it can also be argued that education doesn’t stop our wonderment. It only lessens our wonderment. We know about the world around us so we no longer wonder about the obvious things such as a dog barking. We could, however; wonder “why does a dog bark and why cannot they talk like humans?” Education however could also prompt new questions to why and how certain things are. For example “why do humans breathe air?” that question prompts me to think “why do humans need to breathe air, why can’t muscles function without air?”
We may not wonder because we have not had the opportunity to wonder. As we grow older we have more responsibility which means we have more to do and we may be left with little time to wonder about the world around us. In our everyday life, we have to go to places, work and basically trying to keep alive. Very little time is left for us to sit and think as everything in our life seems to be taken up by something or someone which leaves us preoccupied. During our busy lives, the only time when we think about life after death or God is during those rare prompts we are given such has a tragic event. On regular days, we may wonder why certain things happened and as I think about it now it seems to occur to me that whenever we wonder why thing happened it is a negative event. I think this is because when it is an unhappy situation, we wonder about it because we wish it went in a better direction. We do not wonder about happy events because we are satisfied with it so therefore we just want to let it be and not ruin it by thinking too much about it. Adults may wonder significantly less compared to children that it may seem as if adult do not wonder at all.

As children we seem to wonder about the most obvious things and as adults we know these things so maybe we wonder about more difficult things.

Many people may wonder about the big questions such as religious people but to me, I believe there is not need to wonder about these questions such as “who made the universe?” Although, I think it is interesting to wonder these questions for class, I believe that wondering this unanswerable question is useless. We are living now and this is the only time we will live and I think we should just accept that and do what we can in this life. It does not matter to me what happens after death because no one can know the truth unless you have died and those people can no longer tell us. I believe when it happens, I will just have to deal with the situation then.

In conclusion, Knox’s idea that we have become adapted to our surroundings that we do not wonder about it anymore is correct, however; there could be more reasons into why we no longer wonder. It can be argued that we still do wonder but on a different scale. I think wonderment can not me measured, it is a natural thing that just occurs.