Tuesday, June 1, 2010

What teenagers do to avoid being alienated and lonely

Today, many teenagers feel alienated and lonely. To improve their social life, teenagers, especially girls, change themselves to become more popular. They change their personality and appearance to attract others and make friends. Girls are constantly pressured to wear makeup, become much more skinny, and to become as attractive as possible. To become skinny, they abuse their bodies and become very unhealthy. For boys, they're pressured to stick to the code of "masculinity". They have to follow to the code or else they will be insulted and isolated. This code includes to be violent, to never cry, to be athletic, and to be focused only on women. Teenagers change themselves to avoid being lonely.

http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/men_and_masculinity/images/1523495.jpg

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/9607/16352602xm3.jpg 



Candy's Loneliness

Candy's loneliness is represented by this documentary.

Loneliness Short Film

Scripture Collection - Loneliness

Gorchitza - Kiss me loneliness

Loneliness of celebrities


Who said celebrities can't be lonely too? The rich and the famous are human just like us and can feel lonely and alienated. Celebrities do not lead private lives. They are constantly followed by the paparazzi. Their lives are broadcasted to the world and they have little privacy. They are constantly bombarded with both positive and negative comments which hurts their self-esteem. They may feel like the world is out to get them. They feel they don't have a true friend and because they're celebrities, they're treated differently. The rich can also feel lonely because their friends might not be their true friends. They could be friends only for the benefits. A famous celebrity who suffered from loneliness is the late and the great Michael Jackson. Throughout his life, he was ridiculed and insulted even though he has accomplished much. Unfortunately, he had suffered cardiac arrest and died because of the drugs in his body. He had taken anti-depressants and anti-anxiety pills probably because he was lonely and alienated.

http://www.lahiguera.net/musicalia/artistas/michael_jackson/fotos/663/michael_jackson.jpg 






"It's a complete lie, why do people buy these papers? It's not the truth I'm here to say. You know, don't judge a person, do not pass judgement, unless you have talked to them one on one. I don't care what the story is, do not judge them because it is a lie. " - Michael Jackson

Monday, May 31, 2010

Loneliness and alienation in our society



People are lonely and alienated in our society for a variety of reasons. They could be isolated from the rest of the people because of their differences. Other reasons why people are lonely and alienated is their lack of friends, the death of someone important, or a socially disruptive event such as moving to a different place. They feel left out and unimportant to the world. Feeling lonely and alienated leads to depression and and can even cause suicide. It can also cause self destructive behaviour. People want to escape this feeling may abuse drugs or alcohol to escape reality.
http://www.breakloneliness.com/images/loneliness.jpg

“The person who tries to live alone will not succeed as a human being. His heart withers if it does not answer another heart. His mind shrinks away if he hears only the echoes of his own thoughts and finds no other inspiration.” - Pearl S. Buck

Loneliness and alienation in "Of Mice And Men"


There are many characters in the novel that experience loneliness. Lennie experiences loneliness and alienation because of his disabilities, Candy because of his old age and handicap, Curley's wife because of her status, and Crooks because of his skin colour. These characters reflect loneliness in our world. People treat other people differently because they're different. In our world, people with disabilities, old age, status, and skin colour are also lonely and alienated.

“We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone.” - Orson Welles





 

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Introduction


Alienation and loneliness is poison to our soul. It is a recurring motif in "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck. Many characters in the novel experience alienation and loneliness because of their disabilities, gender, and their skin colour. By experiencing alienation and loneliness, the characters in the novel are emotionally hurt. Their behavior changes and they become different people. Alienation and loneliness changes humans for the worse and destroys us.


“The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved.” - Mother Teresa of Calcutta