So I'm walking down the hallway last week and I stumble upon two pockets of crying whispering girls. After a teeny amount of investigation I discovered that somebody said something to someone who didn't like having people say things about her. I did some quick calculating and realized that somebody was jealous of somebody else.
In teenager land, jealousy often leads to mean acts and hurt feelings. In adult land, jealousy is a powerful motivator that leads those afflicted to commit acts that damage more than just the intended target. Great authors remind us of this human shortcoming in some of our greatest novels and dramas. Gene Forester jounced Finny from the tree and ruined his Olympic dreams; Jack Meridew took his hunters away from the tribe and turned into a ruthless tyrant; Abigail Williams set into motion a chain of events that sent the man she loved to the gallows.
If literature teaches us one thing it's that jealousy fuels the weak and the insecure. It also shows us that those who strike out because of jealousy don't possess the self awareness that causes a normal person to take responsibility for his or her own actions. Instead, these sad souls simmer in their self righteous stew and plug on not realizing that the good guy, in reality or in spirit, always wins.
Holden was right; the world is full of phonies.
In teenager land, jealousy often leads to mean acts and hurt feelings. In adult land, jealousy is a powerful motivator that leads those afflicted to commit acts that damage more than just the intended target. Great authors remind us of this human shortcoming in some of our greatest novels and dramas. Gene Forester jounced Finny from the tree and ruined his Olympic dreams; Jack Meridew took his hunters away from the tribe and turned into a ruthless tyrant; Abigail Williams set into motion a chain of events that sent the man she loved to the gallows.
If literature teaches us one thing it's that jealousy fuels the weak and the insecure. It also shows us that those who strike out because of jealousy don't possess the self awareness that causes a normal person to take responsibility for his or her own actions. Instead, these sad souls simmer in their self righteous stew and plug on not realizing that the good guy, in reality or in spirit, always wins.
Holden was right; the world is full of phonies.
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