Am I an individual? ... Are you?

12 AP English
Monthly Blog

Am I an individual? ... Are you?

           There are so many people in this world, and it is so difficult to be unique, to have your own ideas, questions, and answers. I believe in what I call the “Individual Issue”, the only way to be completely your own person is to not even think about what others are like and how they act. When you conquer the “Individual Issue”, you aren’t ever comparing yourself, judging yourself to standards set by others, trying to not be, or not be like someone else because that is how you believe you should be. Being an individual is one of the most difficult goals to attain, for many reasons. There is always a constant pressure that people exert on each other, knowingly or not, that influences how they behave, act, dress, even think. In a way even saying you are an individual is showing that you aren’t because you have analyzed others behaviors and seen that you aren’t like them, which influences how you act.

            Over the summer we read the three books The Power Of One, The Fountainhead, and The Invisible Man. Each of these books presents the idea of individualism vs. collectivism in many ways. The Power Of One, my personal favorite, told the story of a boy named Peekay (which is not his real name), who lived his life for himself. He always did what he wanted to do, whether it was box, stay religiously unaffiliated, or pay his own way through school. In The Fountain Head Howard Roark is uncompromising and will not change his ideals or architectural designs for any reason. The Invisible Man decides that he will live alone and without racial discrimination, which really means a lot because everything starts with an individual. Everyone of the characters portrayed in these books are individuals against society, but are they really individuals? Peekay is constantly trying to be his own person, trying to be more than he average person, to not be like some people (his mom) and be like others (Doc), a classic case of the “Individual Issue”. Howard Roark is simply a stubborn fool that will be stubborn even if it means not eating or having enough money for basic commodities. This isn’t being an individual, many people are to stubborn for there own good and believe they are better than everyone else,which shows that they have compared themeslves to others. The Invisible Man is always trying to be a collectivist or a part of a group, he just isn’t good at it. Which shows that he is clearly not an individual.

            To avoid being another member of the group that has the “Individual Issue” I don’t like to say whether I am an individual or whether I’m not. Not only beacause I’m not sure, but also because I never really think about it. I try to always live for myself, not in a selfish, stubborn, or cruel way, but in a way that I always try to be happy and enjoy myself to the fullest with the least amount of damage to others. So I ask again, are you an individual? Do you have your own drive? Do you have your own reasons behind your actions? Are you a conqueror of the “individual issue”? If you can say without a shadow of a doubt that you are all of these things, then congratulations. You are part of a very small and very special group… to rephrase, you are a type of person that is very special, and will have a better life because of it. If you are then I am envious, and I wish I was a part of that group…