Against Alienation
Against Alienation
Alienation is a being isolated and discriminated by the majority. Society alienates people who seem to be different in a way or another. Alienation also means the separation a person feels from things that naturally belong together. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, “Why the M Word Matters to Me” by Andrew Sullivan, and “How It Feels to be Colored Me” by Zora Neale Hurston, the authors illustrate the alienation they have experienced at some point of their lives or the alienation a group of people have experienced. Martin Luther King writes about the alienation and discrimination that black people experienced just because of their skin color. Andrew Sullivan expresses how he felt alienated by his own family for being homosexual. Zora Neale Hurston demonstrates the alienation she had felt because of her race. These authors fought that alienation by taking a stand against the widespread beliefs, demanding their basic rights, and questioning people’s morality.
In their essays Sullivan and Hurston argue against alienation and against what the majority believes in. Sullivan writes about how he first felt alienated by the closest people to him because of his sexuality. He states: “my parents and friends never asked the question they would have asked automatically if I were straight: So, when are you going to get married? […] In fact, no one – no one – has yet asked me that question.” (Sullivan, page 2) Sullivan writes about how he felt alienated when his family and friends didn’t care to ask him about the day he decides to get married only because he was gay. He expresses his disappointment with them especially that he knows how marriage is important to them. Sullivan didn’t change himself in order to satisfy the people around him. He believed that being different than his family and friends doesn’t make him wrong. On the other hand Hurston writes about the day she felt discriminated because of her skin
Alienation is a being isolated and discriminated by the majority. Society alienates people who seem to be different in a way or another. Alienation also means the separation a person feels from things that naturally belong together. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, “Why the M Word Matters to Me” by Andrew Sullivan, and “How It Feels to be Colored Me” by Zora Neale Hurston, the authors illustrate the alienation they have experienced at some point of their lives or the alienation a group of people have experienced. Martin Luther King writes about the alienation and discrimination that black people experienced just because of their skin color. Andrew Sullivan expresses how he felt alienated by his own family for being homosexual. Zora Neale Hurston demonstrates the alienation she had felt because of her race. These authors fought that alienation by taking a stand against the widespread beliefs, demanding their basic rights, and questioning people’s morality.
In their essays Sullivan and Hurston argue against alienation and against what the majority believes in. Sullivan writes about how he first felt alienated by the closest people to him because of his sexuality. He states: “my parents and friends never asked the question they would have asked automatically if I were straight: So, when are you going to get married? […] In fact, no one – no one – has yet asked me that question.” (Sullivan, page 2) Sullivan writes about how he felt alienated when his family and friends didn’t care to ask him about the day he decides to get married only because he was gay. He expresses his disappointment with them especially that he knows how marriage is important to them. Sullivan didn’t change himself in order to satisfy the people around him. He believed that being different than his family and friends doesn’t make him wrong. On the other hand Hurston writes about the day she felt discriminated because of her skin