Pitstopping next on our literary sojourn, on the concept of 'Self', let’s turn our attention to an interesting 'self-made' character, named Jay!
Jay Gatsby @ The Great Gatsby dot com!
Jay is depicted as a self-made man, but with a
difference!
Jay believes that his self-worth and
happiness are very much connected with the pursuit of money and possessions! Therefore,
being part of a social group, to Jay, is to have a unique and exalted social
standing of well repute! His views on the ‘Self’ therefore tend to sync with
the concept of being a part of a social group! In other words, he’s far removed
or alienated from his sense of ‘Self’ as his ideas of the ‘Self’ get their
significance only in relation to a particular social group, and to no other!
This pursuit of finding happiness by
being a part of a social group (no pun intended! I swear), becomes an obsession
to Jay, resulting in a kinda OCD! A compulsive disorder of sorts! He feels that
his self worth would - swainggg - go
for a toss, if he doesn’t belong to this particular social group!
The mighty philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau’s
thoughts find such ample relevance here! To JJR, it’s much-o-much important to cautiously
guard, and diligently preserve one’s own freedom of the ‘Self’ in a sickening,
social world where humans have become more and more dependent on one another
that, they very strongly feel, connects much-o-much with their concept of self-worth! In short, this 'need' for a social connect, ain’t any longer a mere ‘want’ or a ‘desire,’ but a dire ‘need’ and a ‘necessity’
for them!
In his Social Contract, he (JJR) advocates the view that, real freedom for
a human being is when ‘each citizen would obey only himself’! This is because, when
a citizen hands over one’s right of ruling oneself to the hands of another
person or corporation, it clearly constitutes a form of slavery in itself! So
much to his exalted notions on power of the ‘Self’!
Well, it’s so interesting to note that
Hegel and subsequently Marx himself, took a few leaves out of JJR’s books to
work on this concept of alienation of the ‘Self’ in such impactful ways!
James Joyce in his Portrait, gives his readers a delightful glimpse into this concept
of the ‘Self’ through his protagonist Stephen Dedalus, to whom ‘Self’ is always
seen as being interconnected in a vast network of interrelated anomalies!
The young Stephen Dedalus is depicted as
writing down his name in his geography book in an unending series of addresses
that seem to identify him and thereby seeks to fix his identity based on a
number of qualifiers!
Stephen Dedalus, Class of Elements, Clongowes
College, Sallins, County Kildare, Ireland, Europe, the World, the Universe!
Tracing his identity from off his present
class in which he is currently enrolled, to his college, to his county, to his
country, to his continent, and to the universe, clearly outlines how Stephen’s
perspectives on his ‘Self’ are enmeshed in a maze of qualifiers that constrain
and constrict his identity and his views on his ‘Self’!
To Emile Durkheim, that famed French sociologist
who has oft been discussed on our pages, a man is defined, constructed and
constrained by his society and his social relations! The moment he starts
playing his ‘social role’, he grows into a person,
from being an individual!
A very pertinent case in point for our next connected take on the series…! J
Image: Amazondotcom
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