“I was determined not to say a word, and when my wife urged
me to go over and help him I shook my head. I told her that until he had a real
need he was just going to resent help.”
Boy, is he right and I feel like
that knowledge can only be learned from working in a position where you deal
with people. It is human nature to
reject help, to want to be able to do it for yourself. And yes, I have resented
the help I have gotten because I need to
struggle. As humans I believe we need to work at something, fail and readjust,
and possibly fail again. But until we fail a few times and we are at our last
wits end we don’t want help. On the flip side I can see Pirsig’s wife’s desire
to help, you see a friend in need and the natural reaction is to want to help. However
you can’t, it interrupts the individuals learning cycle. On a side note if you
are always being helped you wont be able to develop the confidence that is
needed to function in society; you will always be looking for someone to do it
for you.
Something that I noticed, but did
not bother me, was the abrupt or dismissive attitude toward Pirsig’s son.
Pirsig seems to expect a lot from Chris, however Chris seems to still be a
child. I feel like Pirsig’s parenting skills are very typical of the time. Zen was published in 1974, and seems to
have taken place in the early 60s; back when men were believed to not cry or
show emotion. And Pirsig feels that his son should not cry, but the large issue
may involve Pirsig not knowing how to deal with his son’s emotions. Pirsig most
likely did not have a father who accepted crying and now he will not accept it
from Chris. I was not bothered by Pirsig’s harshness because I was raised with
traditional parents. I was told to grow up fast, or more had to because I was
placed in situations where youth and juvenile behavior was not acceptable. Yes,
some people would say my parents were mean, however I believe it prepared me
for adulthood.
Pirsig emphasizes a male development, almost a coming of
age story. Yes, it was written in the early 70s, however I feel like women are
not treated equally or given equal importance in the story. At no point did
anyone ask Sylvia if she knew how to fix the bike. And Sylvia can do more than
cook and ride on the back of a bike, but she is never given a real voice. Which
is odd because Pirsig seems to have really wanted Sylvia to come and that she
sees the same things as he does.
As I read further I am interested to see if Sylvia’s role changes
or if she is ever given a real voice.
Women may have gotten the right to vote and become respected members of
the community, however it does not mean the population will actually follow
these ideas.
I think I remain one of the few women in this class who does not feel annoyed by Sylvia's lack of respect in this novel. When I am reading this novel, I do not focus on the societal expectations of the time, but rather how I can interpret the focus of this novel in a timeless fashion. Yes, she gets a shitty end of the deal, but in the grand scheme of things, I could honestly care less because I personally don't concern myself with a woman's ability to fix a motorcycle. That is obviously a skill that yes, men prefer, but one that woman are equally able to accomplish. What I personally enjoy about this book revolves around the notion of the ride, and where we are all going in life. No matter your gender, I think that remains the best take away from this novel.
ReplyDeleteI have this vague memory of a documentary or news story (or something on a television) explaining the psychology behind people who enjoy X-treme sports (a.k.a. thrill seekers). The [show] had the perspective that attached to our primal brain is this fight or flight mechanism that is there because when we were roaming plains and living in caves and eating our food when it was still breathing, we needed this automated response when facing danger. Now, we don't face danger of being eaten by monsters every day, so this fight or flight response doesn't get the "action" it needs. In some of us, that part of our brain is just a little more developed than in others, so "thrill-seekers" are simply reacting not to the experience of danger, but to the physiological need for danger.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the need to learn, to know and to understand can be traced back in a similar way. We (humans, that is) seem to have this inherent need to interpret experience. What Persig talked about what Hume talked about. I wonder, if that need is hard wired in our brain much like the X-tremists? Maybe we have as a part of our Limbic System a classic and a romantic information parsing engine.