Tuesday, July 31, 2012
You Can
I am a firm believer that if you work hard enough, you can live anywhere in the world. Anywhere your heart desires. Save your money, look for jobs, and make things work. It is your life and you have full control of what you do with it. Yes, I understand that people are poor and get stuck in ruts, feeling so overwhelmed that they can't seem to get out of the downward spiral of poverty. Yes, I might be a little biased since I have never faced any adversity in my life, living in the wealthy bubble of Chagrin Falls. But why would anyone choose to live in a place like San Lorenzo? Described in Kurt Vonnegut's novel, Cat's Cradle, San Lorenzo was founded by Johnson and McCabe, two hopeful men looking to build a prosperous nation. They found the nation in a miserable state. San Lorzenzo was built of "twigs, tin, crates, and mud" and was a "sour mash of slop" (133). Looking to turn the island in the other direction, Johnson and McCabe failed horrendously. And so did the new leader, "Papa" Monzano. Therefore, "everybody was bound to fail" in the helpless country (133). With the depressed diciton of "helpless," Vonnegut creates a dispairing tone, indirectly characterizing the citizens of San Lorzenzo as hopeless, inflicting pathos on them. And to my surprise and dismay, I learned that there lived four hundred and fifty inhabitants for every square mile. With such a depressed and forlorn economy, I couldn't help but question myself why so many individuals took to living there? The only wealthy people of San Lorzenzo were the people in charge of the government, letting their citizens struggle. I just wanted them all to leave. Find a better place, before it is too late.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Although I wished that we lived in a world where everyone had the power to change their circumstances, I do not think we do. No matter how hard people work, in some nations Like San Lorenzo, advancement remains impossible. Many people have no access to education, limited entrepreneurial abilities and by extension no means to advance themselves through work. When coupled with barriers to enter a country of the sort that exist in the U.S. or barriers to exit of the sort that exist in North Korea, these factors prevent immigration from poor to prosperous nations.
ReplyDelete