Misunderstanding of Experience

 

It is not uncommon to feel uncomfortable in a new environment. It is natural instinct to be pressured by something unknown. However, people are starting to misunderstand this fact. They are forced to think that they are different from others and their emotions holding them back. Shortcuts to learn and feel comfortable about oneself arise from these situations and encourage others to follow suit. But shortcuts can’t teach what time can tell.

Inexperience is emphasized not by how much people know but by how much they think they know(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FGnb2lgPBA). It originates from the misinterpretation that people don’t learn everything through time and patience. It becomes attractive to feel experienced in a field within 2 weeks rather than spending a year working and researching the field. While the 2 weeks seem efficient, the package that comes with it is too great for that span of time. The need to feel as though one is all knowing and intelligent makes one blind to see what they are missing. And this ultimately brings them down to where they first began thinking this way. 

The real life experience, funny enough, starts not when you first reach the outside world, but before you even step out of your own home. In the Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, we see from the beginning that Desiree is a very adventurous and unique person. Her independence and strong willed personality made her the dominant of the two sisters. But it also made her the inexperienced one. Desiree mentioned that she “always fantasized about life outside of this little farm town”(Bennett 8). It showed her independence but also a hint of misunderstanding. The narrator followed this line by saying that “the twins saw Roman Holiday at the Nickel theater in Opelousas,”(Bennett 8), and went on to talk about what Desiree dreamed about. What Desiree doesn’t realize is the world she is imagining all originated from a projection in a screen. Because of the portrayal of the world, she is only picturing what is being given to her, not what is really out there. Aside from “gliding above the clouds to some far-off place like Paris or Rome”, most of the world is ordinary. The misunderstanding she has about adventure shows her lack of knowledge and this leads her astray, making her leave the town with Stella. Eventually, however, Desiree comes back to Mallard after spending some years outside her little village. It becomes somewhat obvious to her mother when she comes back and brings a baby with her, why she came back. The years of experience of a mother are taken very lightly by a lot of people much less their children. When Desiree said there was no trouble, Adele said “I ain’t stupid. You think I don’t know you runnin from that man of yours?”(Bennett 27). The way Adele questions Desiree, it’s clear that Desiree has not come to terms with what she is going through. There is conflict. Conflict between staying in Mallard and trying to start anew with Sam. And since this was so new to her, she had no understanding of the situation and only had the option to stay and make a life in Mallard. This clearly emphasizes her confusion because similar to before she left Mallard, she felt trapped in the village. As she was very independent and set on being free, she didn’t like the idea of following ideals and being ordinary. So she ran away, just like she ran away from her problem with her husband. Not facing problems and going through troubles is one of the signs of inexperience. It shows the small little girl that hides behind the adult being portrayed. In the end, she stays in Mallard and finds a job at a local diner to make money for her daughter.

While, Desiree learns to work for family and gain knowledge about life, she would have been able to deal with the outside world in a more mature manner if she had taken the time to understand what she was lacking. The experience and maturity needed to live in different environments doesn’t come from just wanting to be independent. It comes from the realization that there is more to life than what one knows. Desiree is a good example of thinking that she knows more than she really does. And because of that she was not able to last very long without shelter. Experience makes even the non rational people seem intelligent. And people that don’t believe that will only learn the hard way.

Just an interesting video I found about what it means to be old fashioned - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5zrBpatXj4