Meant to be.

Coming away from this book, I realize I didn’t initially appreciate Austen’s writing style and the brilliance in the way she puts life to each and every one of the characters. I definitely enjoyed the book much more in the end than I had anticipated I would halfway into it. This classic love story gives us the emotionally satisfying ending that all of us desire. It powerfully addresses marriage, true love, and happiness and explores the idea of all these emotions coming together and overcoming the prejudices of class. This conveys that social structure is insignificant to love, but what I found very interesting is that although Austen dismisses prejudices among social ranking, it seems as if she accepts them and also believes they are inevitable. Austen also proves that one is only capable of loving when they have found a balance in pride. She also suggests that true love cannot be stopped if it is meant to be. No one and no societal pressure is capable of ruining Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth’s relationship. It withstands the worst of the worst; Mrs. Catherine’s sabotage attempt, Mrs. Bingley’s self-indulgence, Mrs. Bennet’s irrationality, and Wickham’s deceitfulness.

The Golden Mean Never Fails

At this point, I am about half way through the book and it still feels as if nothing is really happening. Yes, the characters are beautifully developed and the story is retold with exceptional imagery and detail, but nothing much has happened in the storyline. However, what I have been enjoying is the fact that the story seems to be continually developing thematically. Deception/misunderstanding has more recently become an evident theme with Darcy’s proposal to Elizabeth and the lies that she believes to be true about him. She has clearly been blinded by her ignorance in believing Wickham and the inflated pride she has in herself. Another interesting aspect has been the contrast and fine line that Austen draws between having pride and being arrogant. The word “civility” comes up very frequently which has made me think of its connection to The Odyssey and how it may relate to pride. Being civil means being proud to a healthy extent and being able to find the golden mean between self-hate and hubris. Finding this balance is key to achieving both happiness and love, things every girl, but especially Elizabeth, desires.

Pride and Prejudice

My initial impression of Pride and Prejudice is not quite as great as I had hoped. Although nothing substantial and page turning has happened so far, key themes, motives, and characters have been clearly established and distinguished. The setting and time period itself has been talked about repeatedly along with the idea/importance of marriage, but more specifically marrying into wealth. These first few chapters have specifically foreshadowed the battle between the Bennet sisters’ minds and hearts that are bound to unfold. I've also picked up on both the words "pride" and "prejudice" which are continually brought up over and over (which is no surprise). Our first impression of Mr. Darcy is nothing but sheer arrogance and interestingly enough, Elizabeth also appears to be a very strong-willed, head-strong, proud woman. The prejudice of social class is also extremely obvious because of the premium that is put on marrying the wealthy. I predict that in the end each sister will face a decision where they must choose between happiness and true love vs. an empty marriage and wealth. It will just be interesting to see which sisters have hearts deeper than their pockets.

You may say I'm a dreamer...

“It’s and ancient truth that those who risk the least usually live the least.” Ironically... “in many aspects of life the biggest risk is not to risk at all.” The power of taking risks and dreaming big is often beyond what can logically be explained. Cooper alludes to the fact that the problem with goal setting, is that too many of us neglect to set goals that are high enough. Consequently, we must set goals we never thought we could accomplish in order to achieve things that we never dreamt we could achieve.

Unfortunately, a large percentage of the population believes that it is always better to set low expectations and be more likely to achieve them, rather than setting high ones and running the risk of disappointed and failure. But what is “failure”? If you fail to achieve an extremely high goal aren't you still much further ahead than if you had reached a low one, or better yet, set none at all?

I think the correct answer is yes, and I've learned that even thought the thought may be daunting, it is important to dream big and hope irrationally. “We must not be afraid of dreaming the seemingly impossible if we want the seemingly impossible to become a reality.” – Vaclav Havel

The Other 90% - Robert K. Cooper

Be not afraid of failure: some are born courageous, some achieve great success, and some have great opportunities thrust upon them.

“From our stumbles and mistakes come unexpected lessons”….in fact, invaluable lessons that promote self growth. It’s each set back and failure that we endure that shapes our character and builds on our ingenuity and wisdom. Our society has grown to fear the idea failure instead of embracing challenges. The word “challenges” itself springs and instinctive desire to shy away from an opportunity. Why do we think like this? We have grown up in a society that treasures and celebrates leisure and rejects anything involving hard work. We’d much rather seek the easy way out or find a shortcut into doing things instead of facing something head on. Taking risks takes courage and what we don’t realize is that at these defining moments are opportunities to seek a glimpse of the great person we may one day become. But if we constantly shy away from these golden opportunities to grow and shine, how can we expect to succeed?

If anything, this chapter has taught me one major theme: No one plans for failure, but you should never shy away from a great opportunity because you are scared to let someone down. Backing away from a challenge does little but simply rob you of learning, growing, and discovering ways to make a difference, no matter how big or small.

The Other 90% - Robert K. Cooper

"Better safe then sorry"

Is it really better to be safe then sorry?...or is being safe simply a waste of opportunity? Naturally and scientifically, all humans have a tendency to assume the worst. A nervous system called the RAS (reticular activating system) is responsible for magnifying the negativity in the millions of messages it sends to the brain. As a result, whenever we, as humans, are unsure of ourselves, of other people, or even a rumour, we instinctively fall into the negative way of thinking. This natural tendency is the one to blame for the apprehension and second guessing that often occurs within our minds. In fact, it’s what makes trusting and believing in people or concepts so difficult. It’s the reason why we teenagers cannot resist the idea of hearing the new juiciest rumour. And it is also the reason why we may never try something because we don’t believe we are capable. Learning to see the positive in any situation does not come naturally, but it is something that we can and should train our brains to do.

POP QUIZ

What is the first thing you think of when you hear ambulance sirens? a) Someone has been in a horrible accident and is being rushed to the hospital b) A woman just went into labour and her husband is not at home to drive her

The Other 90% - Robert K. Cooper

Are we all imitators?

“A writer’s desire to write can only have come from previous experience of literature, and he’ll start by imitating whatever he’s read, which usually means what the people around him are writing.”

I found this quote to be extremely profound in the respect of applying this same concept to life in general. If a writer’s desire to write strictly comes from reading previous works of literature, does that mean that all of our desires in life are developed from our past experiences? And if a writer writes similarly to whatever he’s read, does that mean that we act similarly to the people we spend our time with? I found the parallel between what influences both literature and our everyday lives to be extremely interesting. This quote really gets at the fact that everything we read, do, see, and hear affects us whether we notice it or not. I believe that a writer’s style is affected by every piece of literature they read much like the way peoples’ characters are affected by every single person they meet.

Subjective Reality

“We tend to think of the sciences as intellectual and the arts as emotional: one starts with the world as it is, the other with the world we want to have.” (p.9)

Frye uses this quote to briefly summarize how he believes peoples’ brains operate in different areas of study. I agree with him in saying that the sciences require us to use our intellect and entirely rely on information and facts. There is a distinct difference between the sciences and arts, and like McCullough said, "Information isn't poety. Or art." and "Facts rarely if ever have any soul." Instead, the sciences force us to think rationally, logically, and quantitatively. When Fryer states that, “one starts with the world as it is” I believe he is referring to the world of sciences. This is because all theories and principles begin with an observation of physical reality. And these principles are not true just because we “want” them to be true, these principles are true because they have consistently been proven to be correct. The sciences take the world as it is and helps to explain why things are the way they are. He also mentions that the arts are emotional. In my opinion, they are very much based and influenced by how we feel, who we are as a person, and our imaginations and beliefs. Whether we are aware of it or not, I also believe the arts are very closely related to what goes on in our subconscious. That’s why they begin with “the world we want to have”. The arts are simply a place that indirectly reflects our greatest desires, hopes, and dreams. And after all, anything man creates must begin with a thought.