Best of the Week: History Is a Symphony

           "It is, indeed, highly unfortunate, and much to be regretted that at this stage of Orlando's career, when he played a most important in the public life of his country, we have least information to go upon.  We know that he discharged his duties to admiration     witness his Bath and his Dukedom.  We know that he had a finger in some of the most delicate negotiations between King Charles and the Turks     to that, treaties in the vault of the Record Office bear testimony.  But the revolution which broke out during his period of office, and the fire which followed, have so damaged or destroyed all those papers from which any trustworthy record could be drawn, that what we can give is lamentably incomplete.  Often the paper was scorched a deep brown in the middle of the most important sentence.  Just when we thought to elucidate a secret that has puzzled  historians for a hundred years, there was a hole in the manuscript big enough to put your finger through.  We have done our best to piece out a meager summary from the charred fragments that remain; but often it has been necessary to speculate, to surmise, and even to make use of the imagination." - Page 87 of Virginia Woolf's "Biography", Orlando.

           The best observations, and intriguing beliefs, in my opinion, were all revived from this passage of the book our class is reading, Orlando.  Mr. Allen, our teacher, stated probably the most true comment that I have ever heard in my life.  "History is like a symphony," but he was cut off by the bell and the idea just hung in the air with everyone trying to grasp the idea of it.  After going through the usual buzz of school, sports, friends, etc. I finally had a free moment to think about the significance of these words.  History is indeed very much like a symphony.  To help you fully grasp this concept I will explain the whirlwind of thoughts that ensued in my mind.  History in itself is a memory of the past.  A memory, as explained in Memoria ex Machina by Jon Fisher, is simply a recollection of thought seen in the way we want to see it, and thoroughly changed by our environment.  For example: you are trying to remember how your best friend looked in third grade, but you can only picture her as she is now (environment) and she looks extremely pretty and nice in the mental image you've formed (to see what you want to see).  Memory is a bunch of information coming together to create an image or scene in your head, and so is history. 

           "But what does history have to do with a symphony?" You may ask.  Think about it, when all that information comes together to create history, usually the prodigious and extraordinary events that occurred in the past are emphasized and most often remembered.  The loud bursts of sound and big, unforgettable booms are remembered; these are the equivalent of the great, remembered events that occurred in the past.  What about the long, flowing, and mellifluous pieces of music between these bursts?  Referring to the first paragraph in which Virginia Woolf states, "We have done our best to piece out a meager summary from the charred fragments that remain; but often it has been necessary to speculate, to surmise, and even to make use of the imagination."  These stanzas of music are strings of inferences, speculation, and imaginations, that cross and hold together the story of history.  They create something close to the events that happened, just as this music keeps the song together, events and inference are linked hand in hand to tell the story of life.

           An symphony orchestra is made up of hundreds of musicians, each playing a different instrument and harmony.  Yet the harmonies they play enhance a certain melody that the conductor is trying to convey to the audience.  In history, the teller of the story has some bias towards what they are saying and try to make the events, and parts of history  they convey  to lean more towards the persons beliefs, and the author composes it by linking together strings of connections and imaginations to create a masterpiece.  And each author has different sources they use to create their version of history (like the variety of instruments in an orchestra).  Yet all historians tell the same story, yet have different biases, just as the orchestra has different instruments and harmonies, yet all create the same melody.  And they all have something different the audience can take away from it.

           A learner of history (which we all CONSTANTLY are) will look at the events lets say that occurred during the American Revolution, and think one thing about it, while another person can look at the same events and think another.  This is because everyone has a different background and different experiences that connect them to history.  Lets go back to the American Revolution scenario.  Reader one thinks, "Man the yankees were great! I wouldn't have changed a thing that they did during the revolution!" This person was probably an American, and brought up in an American family that has a certain sense of Nationalism, as most people do for their country.  But if person two had a different upkeep, in a different country (i.e. United Kingdom) then their opinions and views on the events that occurred would be very different (I don't really know this, it is just an example.  Sorry if I offended anyone).  The same with a symphony.  It could be the exact same thing that the audience hears, but what they take away from it is completely different.

           In the future I will probably be using these words: "History Is a Symphony" whenever I analyze any situation, whether in a conflict I had with a friend last week, or when I am reading my history textbook for school.  I must carefully look at the situations that occurred and the ideas presented to me, and think about the different viewpoints on the same events, and to uncover the events under the suffusion of biases.  I hope this allows everyone to do so as well to.  You must first understand something before you can attain a true passion for it, to love a symphony you must first understand all points about it (the conductor, the musicians, the meaning behind the piece, etc.)  To understand history you must do the same, and by creating a love for history maybe someday we can finally prevent mistakes that have occurred in our history and prevent these issues from repeating themselves.  Hopefully this has also taught everyone the significance of knowing that the most renowned events of history are usually strung together by inferences based on documents and the author/speaker/creator's creativity, and to think twice before you wholeheartedly trust what your teacher, news articles, and history books have to say. Thank you Mr. Allen for showing me a whole new perspective that I have never been exposed to before.   

           

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Captured Thought: Pyramids

           How would our nation survive without the work of thousands of manual laborers and immigrants who laid the foundation for everything to come.  Similarly, what would society be like today without the workers inside a fast food restaurant like McDonald's, the average garbage man, or truck drivers? 

          Speaking of McDonald's, how many times have you heard ridicule of the people working there? Whether they are in the form of jokes, or even if your parents are trying to make a point (My friend's mom used to threaten her son with the phrase: "Do you want to end up as a worker at McDonald's? Is that the type of mediocre life that you want to live? Has all our hard work gone down the drain?" Whenever he complained about school.)  It all hit me about how cruel and obscene these everyday comments are when I, a typical teenager, went to McDonald's to get a cup of coffee last weekend. 

           It was there that I realized that every single person in the world grows up with a dream of becoming someone, an actor, a doctor, a model, an engineer, a singer, and the list could go on forever.  Yet not everyone reaches their aspirations. As I was waiting for my coffee I thought, "What about the people who do reach their goals, what makes them more worthy than others to receive what they want?".  I quickly came to the conclusion that there really was no way to decide.  In America, there are about 312 million people, and of that maybe a minuscule amount of people become who they really want to be.  When my coffee arrived I began fantasizing a world in which everyone became who they wanted to be (because any human being probably would not want to be surrounded by the miasma of decay as a garbageman or garbage-woman does).  Yet every scenario led to chaos.

           Think about it for a minute; if every man and women achieved their desires, who would do the small, menial, and undesired jobs that are necessary for society to function properly? For instance, if there were no truck drivers, packages, shipments, and goods would never get to the places they needed to be at.  Without any garbage men and women, there would be no one to get rid of a cloud of stink that would haunt our lives, and the streets would be spewed with trash.  If there were not any workers in McDonald's there would be no such thing as fast food or even (this is a bit of a slippery slope) any restaurants.  And without factory workers, we would be lacking everyday products that we take for granted (e.g. toothbrushes, cars, laptops, sinks, food etc.).  Without any of these unwanted jobs, life as we know it would be altered quite differently.  Even America itself was, as mentioned before, built upon the labor of immigrants, and laborers doing manual jobs.   As mentioned above I was imagining every possible scenario, and in one, I imagined that without these jobs that we consider undesirable now, none of the occupations that anyone would want would even be possible because there was no food (starvation), no everyday products that we need, disease would be rapidly spreading (grave diggers, though it may pay good, it is not something somebody really WANTS to be), and there would be no communication between the peoples of the world.

           After looking back to this moment, I have decided to name it "The Pyramid Effect".  This is due to the fact that no matter what job you have, or even if you don't have one, you are a contributing member of society.  Each of the 8 billion people in the world is a block in this pyramid.  Those who are at the top (those who have reached their aspirations) are only there because of the strong foundation held by the bottom, the several people who work just as hard as the people yet are not recognized rather, they are ridiculed by those at the top of the pyramid, by those who would become unstable after one block fell, and those who would completely fall after a few did the same.  The pyramid organizes society with the people with unappealing jobs, those in unemployment, as well as stay-at-home parents at the bottom, office workers (average office cube dwellers), in the middle, as well as those not doing as well as they wanted with the job they have, and with those who have reached their occupational dreams on top.  In cheer-leading we have often seen that it is a mutual effect.  If those on the bottom are sturdy and doing good, only then can the people at the top do as good as they would like (ex: without laptops produced in the commodities they are, or cars, or people who take care of cars, and if fast food wasn't available on the go, where would we be?).  If the bottom is not doing good, then neither can do good, the flyer (a type of cheer leader) at the top if the pyramid becomes vulnerable and can fall.  Without the base society would crumble, and nothing would get done.

           This was my spontaneous eureka moment in the midst of buying a coffee from McDonald's, an average everyday activity for several American citizens.  This whirlwind of thoughts occurred within my mind within a span of five minutes.  A light bulb influenced by years of hearing horrendous remarks about low class jobs sparked and created "The Pyramid Effect".  And that day that thought was captured in my mind, like a photograph, always allowing me to look back, and remember how important every single person in this world is.  Next time I see someone ridiculed about their job because it is disliked in society I will conjure that picture and state, "Your job, or even your childhood wouldn't be here if it were not for this man or woman working at that job.  Society itself would be sabotaged without people like him or her." And hopefully that message will be spread and the thought of society being a pyramid will capture the minds of others as it had done to mine.