Anne Quindlen Analysis
Anna Quindlen’s commencement speech argues to stop assuming other identities to match societies’ expectations. This fantasy sounds perfect at first but reflects a misconception in conformity and in happiness.
Anne Quindlen’s simplistic view to” give up the nonsensical and punishing quest for perfection” will only work in a perfect society, but society is not perfect. While some conform to the standards of perfection to make others proud, most conform out of necessity. “The joker” does not want to be the worker. “The goofball” does not want to be “the thinker”. They conform because in order to get stable job, in order to support their family society demands them to become someone they aren’t. The thousands of prospect actors and actresses swamping Hollywood with hope in their eyes only to get turn down or put into thirty second commercials is proof that you cannot always live the life you want and make a living out of it. It’s easy for a wealthy middle aged woman to tell others to “give up” and live life. She doesn’t go to bed hungry, she doesn’t go to bed worrying how she’ll pay her bills, she doesn’t go to bed worrying how she’ll feed her children, but for millions of Americans that isn’t reality. For millions of Americans they have no opportunity to leave their “backpack full of bricks far behind” and become a stay at home parent. Some may argue that Quindlen isn’t directing her speech to these Americans; her audience is the wealthy and/or educated graduates of a private college in New England. But the wealthy and educated are exactly the people who need to be pushed, who need to strive to become perfect to better society. The rich and educated have the largest impact on society. If they were encouraged to give up and deny societies’ expectations of them, who else will pull society to the great heights it can achieve? Who else will make break through scientific discoveries? Who else will come up with brilliant business ideas and put them to action? Our
Anne Quindlen’s simplistic view to” give up the nonsensical and punishing quest for perfection” will only work in a perfect society, but society is not perfect. While some conform to the standards of perfection to make others proud, most conform out of necessity. “The joker” does not want to be the worker. “The goofball” does not want to be “the thinker”. They conform because in order to get stable job, in order to support their family society demands them to become someone they aren’t. The thousands of prospect actors and actresses swamping Hollywood with hope in their eyes only to get turn down or put into thirty second commercials is proof that you cannot always live the life you want and make a living out of it. It’s easy for a wealthy middle aged woman to tell others to “give up” and live life. She doesn’t go to bed hungry, she doesn’t go to bed worrying how she’ll pay her bills, she doesn’t go to bed worrying how she’ll feed her children, but for millions of Americans that isn’t reality. For millions of Americans they have no opportunity to leave their “backpack full of bricks far behind” and become a stay at home parent. Some may argue that Quindlen isn’t directing her speech to these Americans; her audience is the wealthy and/or educated graduates of a private college in New England. But the wealthy and educated are exactly the people who need to be pushed, who need to strive to become perfect to better society. The rich and educated have the largest impact on society. If they were encouraged to give up and deny societies’ expectations of them, who else will pull society to the great heights it can achieve? Who else will make break through scientific discoveries? Who else will come up with brilliant business ideas and put them to action? Our