Pick up the broken piece and bring them back to life
Once upon a time there was a water-bearer in India who had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master’s house, the cracked pot arrived only half full (Quazi 11). Imperfection is not deterrence from determination and success. It isn’t an inability to accomplish but it is the push factor to try to be perfect. Everyone longs to be perfect that is why we try against all odds to achieve it without considering the harm we cause others and even ourselves. This paper will examine how imperfection helps us to understand why people live in the surreal world using Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber, Where are You Going, Where Have You Been by Joyce Carol Oates and You’re Ugly, Too, by Lorrie Moore.
A lot of people worry about how other people view them; from their physical appearance to their behavioral and social aspects of life. Therefore we would all want to be perfect in the eyes of other people. We do not want to portray our real self because it will earn us criticism which may not be easy to contend with in the long run. What then do we gain? Frustration becomes the regrettable result of pleasing everyone even though all of us are quite aware that imperfection exists in all our inner beings; either imperfection of the mind or of the actions.
Nobody has ever meditated upon this: what if the world and the people were perfect? What would we be striving for? Walter Mitty, the main protagonist in Thurber’s short story; the secret life of Walter Mitty is a true reflection of the struggle with imperfection. He is made to go through several pleasant fantasies which is an indication of living in a surreal world instead of facing reality. Many people have preferred not to know the reality as long as they are enjoying their blissful moments. Mitty goes through five heroic daydream episodes. The first is as a pilot of a U.S. Navy flying boat in a storm, and then he is a magnificent surgeon performing a one-of-a-kind surgery “Coals to Newcastle, bringing Mitford and me up here for a tertiary.” “You are very kind,” he converses with Dr.Remington during the surgery; then as a cool assassin testifying in a courtroom, and then as a Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot volunteering for a daring, secret suicide mission to bomb an ammunition dump. Towards the end of the story, he envisions himself in front of a firing squad, “unfathomable to the last.” Each of the fantasies is inspired by some detail of Mitty’s ordinary scenery ( Thurber 19).
This can explain our aspirations to achieve wonderful things which sometimes seem to be beyond our capability. Imperfection can derive its definition from this. That it is that what we are not able to fathom. Most of us like Mitty would have loved to be a hero especially in the eyes of the society. The question is; is that what makes us happy and fulfilled? In the actual sense, many would view them possessing a lot of wealth, having a wonderful family and job, flying to places whenever they wish to as the perfect world where there are not troubles or challenges. Once these are accomplished, what next? Do we now sit and enjoy our comfort? That individuation and sole searching that is emphasized by Oates in her story; ‘where are you going, and where have you been?’ should help us understand that there is a real world from the factious world. The adolescent girl who cannot resist the satanic power of accepting glamorous things is not able to live in realism. Many struggle to accept the authenticity of life and therefore opt to escape to the other world. Literary speaking, literature plays a very important role in doing this.
The power of the self and struggle for self-sufficiency are the driving force to escape from an imperfect situation in our lives. it is believed that an imperfect person cannot depend or be depended on, but what we must accept is that whoever does not trust the other because of imperfection is a perfect hypocrite. This justifies the statement mentioned earlier that every individual is imperfect and so is the world.
Imperfection is said to be a source of anxiety and reassurance that everything will finally be alright especially after along struggle. This keeps many people going. Mitty has a family and he is described as a vague and mild-mannered man- he is an ordinary family man who still has a lot of things to achieve. In Moore’s ‘You’re ugly too’, we are made to visualize the struggles of a woman with the males. Her lonely life makes her find defense mechanisms to survive. Nobody is ready to accept the frustrations that come with imperfection. This therefore leads most people to either resolve to fantasies, humor, denial, violence or day dreaming as seen in the three short stories. For example; Hendricks who is Moore’s main character becomes humorous in class when she is asked by her students about her perfume. She hilariously answers, ‘it’s that of room freshener’ and Mitty finds himself lost in daydreaming which is full of fantasies he speaks to himself as he says, ‘Puppy biscuit,'” she said to her companion. “That man said ‘Puppy biscuit’ to himself.” (Thurber,11).This is what hallucination can lead one to.
It is apparent that one can never be seen as a perfect person when he/she is struggling with relationship problems, misunderstandings and other life struggles. Hendricks is viewed portrayed as a lonely, mortal and alienated character by Moore (Moore, 12). She represents women who find it difficult to tolerate the presence of the male figure and other people. This is a perfect example of imperfection. So to deal with this phenomenon, they become very unique beings with unique characters. It therefore means that imperfection can bring about a lot of frustration since people are forced to live in the surreal world and not the real world. What is frustrating is that there are a lot of limitations. Hendricks cannot get married not because she has no suitors, but because of her orientation of men. This makes her to be simply tolerated by the men- they have no option but to put up with her.
Frustration can also be as a result of us trying to please people. ‘Nothing is as expensive as trying to please everyone’. In the process of pleasing people, you can either lose a lot of properties or yourself. Mitty’s dreams are heroic which are aimed at pleasing the world surrounding him. He visualizes himself as a surgeon, an air force pilot and a cool assassin trying to confess in court. All these can be interpreted as a longing to let people see and appreciate what he has done or is capable of doing. During Walter Mitty’s daydreams, we are notified through her wife that he was speedily driving which sent Mrs. Mitty into a panic “Not so fast! You’re driving too fast!” said Mrs. Mitty. “What are you driving so fast for?” and truly enough, he could have caused an accident because of his dreams. Hendricks, imperfections was also frustrating but she developed her own defense mechanisms.
While imperfections and flaws can lead to frustration, it can also be create anxiety within us. As we hope for the best in life and optimistically try to work out our flaws, we become very anxious about the outcome. This has the positive and negative role in our lives. Positive in the sense that it gives us the strength and power to undertake our activities with a lot of hope and enthusiasm as we eagerly wait for something specially, something satisfactory and something which will gratify our hearts. Sometimes, most of us are able to work out some of their imperfection but not all can be perfect. There must be a force to contend with. For instance, the adolescent girl in Oates’story believes that there is no point in living a miserable life but instead, she looks forward to receiving life with a lot of enthusiasm, possessing the niceties of life.
However, anxiety can also elicit the negative part of life in that too much of it leads to real frustration especially if the outcome isn’t as was expected. In the same short story by Oates; ‘Where are you going and where have you been?’ the adolescent girl is faced with violence when she is confronted by the other force does not know her real personality. She becomes confused hence identity crisis (Oates 16). There are so many individuals who have faced a lot of frustrating anxiety when they cannot comprehend the outcome of a given situation. For example when an individual does not know his/her real parents and time has come for them to know the truth, a simple DNA test can be a very frustrating anxiety which can even lead to hospitalization.
Imperfection should never be seen as a weakness especially for achievers but should be met with strength and acceptance. Life’s inadequacies such as illnesses, poverty, disabilities and other challenges should not be taken as natural occurrences but some of the flaws that put by the creator to be overcome. We shouldn’t be demoralized that we cannot be at the top instead being enthusiastic in life and ready to overcome challenges. This is because a challenge less life is no sweet life, no meaningful life as many of us would get bored living on the realization that no hurdle to overcome. People will not struggle to outshine one another yet that is the essence of life. Life should not be boring.
In summary therefore, the three authors have effortlessly portrayed their characters to communicate consequences of feeling inadequate and also the possible causes of imperfection. Walter Mitty who is the main character daydreams about what we may say, he is unable to achieve but fantasizes to be a hero in the eyes of others. He dreams of him being a surgeon and performing a crucial surgery on an important person. He also dreams of being a cool assassin as he confesses in a court room. These dreams and others earlier discussed is a real picture of someone wishing and visualizing of being recognized by all- a characteristic of a person who feels inadequate. Also the adolescent girl who cannot resist the glamorous things from Satan is symbolic of somebody who hasn’t found her real self. Besides, Moore’s character-Hendricks’s imperfection leads her to coming up with a defense mechanism to survive her loneliness and feeling of alienation.
Life is about experiencing, learning and experimenting as the characters in the three short stories did experience, experimented and afterwards some learnt their lesson. We should not confine ourselves to perfecting ourselves in order to please others but we should continue questing for perfection so as to enjoy life.
Work cited
Thurber.J. Secrets of Walter Mitty. New York: 1939.
Oates. J. where are you going and where have you been? ; Epoch magazine. New York. 1966.
Moore. L You’re Ugly, Too. New Yorker Jul 3 1989.
