Monday, March 17, 2014

Is what I see really real?

Upon reading, “Satire as Rhetorical Play”, by Harriet Deer and Irving Deer I was most struck by discussion of fact and fiction. As Deer writes, “The postmodern believes that there is no essential difference between the structures we call “historical fact” and the structures we call “fantasy”” (717). This relates directly to Slaughterhouse-Five with Billy Pilgrim and Tralfamadorians. It is a struggle to determine whether Bill’s interactions with the Tralfamadorians are reality or fantasy and it shows the blurring of fact with reality. To go along with this is the concept is how real is our reality?
                How we see the world is biased through the lenses we look through. Our view of the world is greatly skewed and not seen in an objective sense, thus the world we see is not exactly reality but more a blurring of reality and fantasy. An example pointed out in the Deer piece is the British soldiers, “The British have a fantasy of what the Americans will be like and they insist on sticking to it” (717). The British have a preconceived notion of what Americans soldiers should be like and when they meet the Americans they are disappointed. The fantasy of the American soldier does not live up to the reality and so the British, even after seeing the Americans, want to stick to their fantasies because that is what they believe is true.

                The idea of social lenses is very important for service. Going into service is important to note that the way people see the world can vastly differ. For example when serving at Tunbridge I sometimes question how the after-school program is run. A big reason for this is because the after school programs I have been to have been very different. Therefore, my lens is skewed to what I know and what I have experienced. My life experiences have altered the way I see reality. I do not see reality for what it is but what I see is more of a fantasy seen through my own personal lenses. Everything I see is seen through a biased view and is a mix of fantasy and reality.

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