Kaushal 1

Yatin Kaushal
Professor Alph Edwards
Writing the Essay (EXPOS-UA1)
6 November 2013
Innovations Misinterpretation
Today images abound everywhere. Never have so much been depicted and watched. We have
glimpses at any moment of what things look like on the other side of the planet, or the other side of the
moon Now appearances are volatile. Technological innovation has made it easy to separate the
apparent from the existent (Berger 106). John Berger, in his essay Steps toward a Small Theory of the
Visible, establishes a disconnection in the current world between the existent and its appearance. He
states that now appearances are volatile since technological innovation has made it easy to separate the
apparent from the existent (106). The appearance is no longer dependent on its physical body, it is
volatile or unpredictable, which undermines the quality of what is being represented. Berger argues that
technology has allowed us to receive images at great speeds thus creating an immunity to the
understanding of whats truly being represented. The system that Berger discusses has used this
volatility to create images independently from the real source, thus the existent, the body, disappears
(106). This innovation has led to misinterpretation of several images since they can be categorized as
empty clothes and unworn masks and has allowed people to misinterpret other things and people due to
the newly developed, fast, and impatient mindset (106). Our rapid mindset can invade other aspects of our
lives. Our impressions of people are built through the use of this rapid mindset. What we understand of
one person may as well just be a misinterpretation or a volatile appearance (106).
David Sedariss essay Cyclops emphasizes on how the false stories his father told him during
his adolescence have permanently altered his lifestyle to one full of paranoia. When he was young my
father shot out his best friends eye with a BB gun. That is what he told us (292). His father had scolded
him and his family every time they did something even remotely dangerous, and in turn they became
extremely self-conscious and paranoid. At the first hint of a storm I ran to the basement, crouching
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beneath a table and covering my head with a blanket (293). Sedaris doesnt talk about his transition
growing up and realizing that his father lied to them. Such false stories have built up the illusion that
Sedariss father was someone he wasnt. For example, he told stories that were made to sound like as if he
had friends that encountered a life-threatening experience with nearly all common tasks. Sedariss father
had a friend who he said was on top of the world until the day he got struck by lightning. It caught him
right between the eyesand cooked his brain like youd roast a chicken (293). Sedariss perception of
his fathers identity was deeply rooted in what his father had told him and his family. When he found out
the truth, Sedaris simply brought up one of the stories with his father. Frank?...I didnt shoot his eye
out; the guy was born that way (295). Therefore, one can assume he must have felt the need to question
the reason behind these stories. However, this moment of change can be interpreted as a moment of
liberation. The shackles of his fathers lies have broken and his identity is now free for him to choose.
This overlying concept of identity and how it stems from illusions and images relate to John Bergers
essay. What was perceived as the truth may have actually been simply an illusion.
This reminds me of one of few unusual and extraordinary days. That day started like any other in
elementary school, with my mom by my side saying, Yatin, its time to wake up. Get up and get ready.
As I got up, I went straight to the bathroom as I noticed my mom continue her early morning normal
routine of praying in a dark room that waited for illumination, similar to her as she stood in front of the
cabinet filled with several pictures of Gods that was made to be our temple. I got out of the bathroom, got
dressed, and sat on the dining table, eating what was most likely cereal as the television was rambling on
about that mornings news, by which time the sun was out and the house brightened up. I then waited for
my devout mom as she came out of the room, making sure not to wake up the sleeping father in the next
room. She then made me my vegetarian lunch on the gas stove in the kitchen as I packed my heavy book
bag in the living room. Were getting late!, my mom said as I zipped up my bag and hugged and kissed
my mom goodbye, feeling happy and comfortable. I rushed out the door as a wave of cold air hit my face,
causing the hairs on my skin to stand and wrap my arm in an attempt to warm up and walked two blocks
to get to my school. This feeling of comfort lingered until lunch time. I eagerly ran up to the lunch line
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waiting for my turn for snacks as the line full of loud opinioned children progressed. I got my cookies and
milk and made my way to the seemingly harmless table where my friends were sitting. Hey Michael!
Hows it going? I said. Good! Here, you want a piece of my chicken? No! Im a vegetarian, sorry.
Michael went on to say, Why are you a vegetarian? I thought about it for a second and said, its
because theyre living things and theyre like us, so we shouldnt eat them! This was my thought process
combined with the ideology that my parents fed me as if it were fact. Michael responded by saying, No,
animals are MADE to be eaten. Thats why they were put on this Earth in the first place My first
reaction was, how could he possibly believe that? That couldnt possibly be true. I left that cafeteria
feeling as if I had done something wrong, wanting to go home and warn my parents.
I experience a critical moment in my life where my confidence in what I believe is questioned. I
find that whatever I thought was true until that moment became the basis for the questions that I asked
myself. I feel that this kind of reaction is the same kind of reaction that David Sedaris had in his essay
when he realized that his father was not the man he implied that he was. A young manis
photographing his girlfriend, and my father races to throw himself into the picture (295). This moment of
realization becomes a question of identity. How could the identity we thought was correct possibly exist
after finding that it was not so? This kind of shock can have several repercussions. For some people, they
may change their lives completely; however, in my case I found that I didnt feel the need to change my
diet, but rather to change my thought process.
Richard Rodriguez, in his essay Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood, does an amazingly
great job explaining the transition from realization to a new identity. The authors primary sense of
identity is established through his family and is separated from any other person or language. He felt that
it is not healthy to distinguish public from private sounds so easily (504). Rodriguez experiences his
moment of crisis after receiving an education in the public school system and its impact within his home.
At first, it seemed like a kind of game. After dinner each night, the family gathered together to practice
our English. It was still then ingles, a foreign language to us, so we felt drawn to it as strangers (505).
His struggle in learning English pays off only to alter his perception of his family. One Saturday
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morning I entered the kitchen where my parents were talking, but I did not realize that they were talking
Spanish until, the moment they saw me, their voices changed and they began speaking English. The
gringo sounds they uttered startled me (505-506. As a result, when he saw how his parents struggled to
speak English in public, this was his reaction: I grew increasingly angry. I was obliged to hear my
mother and father encouraging me: Speak to us en ingles. (506). As a result, the identity he once shared
with his family, has been affected. There was a new silence at home. As we children learned more and
more English, we shared fewer and fewer words with our parents (506).
Rodriguez does a great job explaining the transition from realization to a new identity. It is this
very transition that Sedaris lacks in his essay, which would have given the reader a sense of growth the
author had experienced in response to the moment of crisis. In both of these texts, the primary sense of
identity is established through their families and are shattered through the exposure of their family
members or family as a whole. Rodriguez experiences his moment of crisis after receiving an education in
the public school system. His struggle in learning English pays off only to alter his perception of his
family. The replacement of Spanish speaking in the house with English has completely removed the
barrier that gave Richard comfort and the sense of family or home. Since the two crowds of people
that he associated himself with spoke two different languages, it was easy to distinguish them and feel
more comfortable with one over the other. However, since the language barrier was knocked down, the
sense of identity he shared only with his family was fused with the rest of the world. As a result, the warm
comfortable feeling he would get when with his family at home began to fade away. The sense of identity
he used to know has now been altered forever.
The life that he once knew is now gone. He no longer lives the life he used to. The intimidating
faade of the English language had pushed Rodriguez to easily distinguish the two languages as personal
and public. Images play a huge role in every aspect of our lives. When I say images, I not only mean a
physical man-made image as in a picture, but also an appearance. Deception makes use of such images or
appearances. The English language was deceptively scary to Rodriguez, hence, he felt comfortable with
his home language. Sedariss father had also made use of deception to create a sense of paranoia within
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the entire family. Although the reasons are unclear, both the authors have experienced an
image/appearance that turned out to be false. It is the very reaction to that realization that sets them apart
from each other in that Rodriguez encountered a moment of crisis while Sedaris met a moment of
liberation.
When Berger talks about appearances, he refers to images and how they are perceived incorrectly
due to the advancement of technology. Our attention spans have shortened allowing first impressions to
be established on a basis of a few seconds. Merely by looking at someone we think we understand who
they are. This adopted nature combined with how we were raised forms our understanding and ideology.
Sedaris did not think to question his father when he was being told his stories because he understood his
father to be a paranoid man. This ultimately becomes his truth and his life is forged as such. He lived his
life in a constant fear as an example of his fathers lies. When he found out that his father was simply a
faade, he reached a critical point. Rodriguezs turning point resulted since he only knew his Spanish-
speaking family and no one else. Anyone else outside of his family was a stranger and did not concern
him. That is until he was told to conform to the English-speaking ways of the Americans. When he finally
adopted the American style of speaking, this distinction reversed and his family became foreign to him.
A more and more confident speaker of English, I didnt listen to how strangers sounded when they
talked to me I no longer heard American accents (506).
As both artists reached that unique critical point in their lives, they had an important decision to
make. They could have either changed the way they lived their lives and viewed their family or continue
to live the life they only knew how. Sedaris lacks the transition period from before the critical point to
after. Sedaris met a critical point of potential liberation. He could now live a life to his choosing.
However, Rodriguez observed that once he became comfortable with the American-English language,
there was a new silence at home (506). He changed his thought process and perceived his family in an
entirely new light. Rodriguez was faced with a crisis of identity and was left with one that isolated him
from that feeling of comfort and protection with his family.
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My critical point reflects both authors experiences in the sense that this became a question of
identity and how I had the choice to change my eating habits and in a sense liberate myself from my
parents ideologies or continue living the life I was taught to live. In my case, I decided to only change
my thought process and continue living my vegetarian lifestyle. I used this experience to understand the
diversity in this world. This critical moment was not as radical as a change as Rodriguezs; therefore, my
life did not make a complete U-turn but rather another route. When ones identity is called into question,
their perception is a critical factor in how they choose to react to it, and that reaction can be the difference
of a minor life lesson or a complete turn-around.
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Works Cited
Berger, John. "Steps toward a Small Theory of the Visible." Occasions for Writing: Evidence, Idea,
Essay. By Robert DiYanni and Pat C. Hoy. Boston, MA: Thomson Heinle, 2008. 106-110. Print.
Sedaris, David. "Cyclops." Occasions for Writing: Evidence, Idea, Essay. By Robert DiYanni and Pat C.
Hoy. Boston, MA: Thomson Heinle, 2008. 292-295. Print.
Rodriguez, Richard. "Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood." Occasions for Writing: Evidence, Idea,
Essay. By Robert DiYanni and Pat C. Hoy. Boston, MA: Thomson Heinle, 2008. 501-508. Print.