English Prac Essay Consumerism

Consumerism

In life we are all searching for something. Something to fill this unknown gap of dissatisfaction, that when we begin to fill the gap with unneeded possessions. Although we are filling this gap we lose what means most to us; happiness and relationships. It a cycle, a process of consumerism, if we learn to develop meaningful relations and recognise the important lessons in life the cycle of consumerism can be broken. The Island and Bruce Dawes poems are excellent examples of consumerism and its effects.
The gap that we believe must fill is evident in The Island, “we have finally found happiness” the tribe say. Under the dialogue is an image of two of the tribe member’s discussing this moment of happiness when they fill the gap within their lives; to capture what means most to them – a monster. In the book the monster is a symbol of happiness therefore they believe once the monster is caught they will be happy. Later the Tribe learn t realise that happiness can’t be a possession otherwise it will not last. “They call for the creature, but it was gone with no reply”. An image is shown of the emotion of one of the tribe members. His expression is miserable as he realises the possession he owned no longer brings him happiness. The gap that was once filled with possession cannot last. Possessions aren’t always the only concept people tend to use to fill the empty gap in life. Many people result in craving for violence; this is shown in Bruce Dawes poem The Not So Good Earth. Uncle Billy is sitting close to the television while watching “all [these] screaming faces and bodies going under horse’s hooves”. “Faces” is a generalisation of the violence as if uncle billy hasn’t realised though were each people. Uncle Billy is also explained “hunched up” at the television. This is explains his feel for need of this terrible violence. The use of imagery helps us image his intense passion for the violence. Although Billy enjoyed the violence being showed it didn’t last, soon the television was smashed to the floor, leaving Billy to think there was nothing more to do. Violence can’t fill the gap that people feel.
The absence of relationship and higher placement on possessions is an obvious factor of consumerism. The tribe are colourless; simply black and white. The monster (the symbol of happiness) is bright and colourful. The colourless people are “hard working...” and don’t notice the world around them. The colours are used to display each characters degree of happiness. The displacement between the tribe leaves them unhappy this is shown through the colour. The boy (the urchin) is shown with a slight amount of colour within his cheek. This shows the boys happiness because of his relationship between himself and the monster, where the tribe have displaced this happiness of relations. Through the use of inclusive language the relationship between the monster and the young boy are shown effective “They play together in the sea... Laughing and splashing...” A happy mood is set between the two characters and not the ownership of the other. Ownership of the monster between the tribe and the monster result in their unhappiness. Bruce Dawes poem Enter without So Much as Knocking displays the lack of relationships resulting in an unhappy almost un-meaningful life. With the displacement of relationships “Pretty soon he was old enough... to be a money hungry back-stabbing miserable so-and-so”. The use of listing describes the way the main character thinks, feels and acts. If the man in the poem built relationships instead of “[kicking] everyone down” he would have been better off, instead the man dies with his “old automatic smile with nothing behind it”. His fake smile is a symbol of the fake happiness he showed when deep down people knew he was unhappy because the way he misplaced his relationships.
Meaning is important and we all have trouble finding it in a world that struggles to have meaning it’s self. Only through accepting the world around us can we break the cycle of consumerism as the young boy in The Island did where the tribe did not. “The boy and the monster drifted away in the sunset leaving the small tribe is its island”. The image shown uses potioning effectively to display the distance between the boy and the tribe, this is used both symbolically and visually. On the last page potioning is used to show the tribe all order and not looking at each or the reader. The potioning of the tribe shows a sense of unhappiness and no relationships between any of the members of the tribe. The tribes meaning is thought to be gone because they wanted to take possession of the monster, while the boy built a relationship and was able to be happy, brake away from the cycle and drift away into the unknown just accepting life. The poem Enter without So Much as Knocking by Bruce Dawe, shows an example of a man that doesn’t find meaning in his life. At a point in the poem he does seem to find happiness “however he enjoyed ... [Going] to the late show at the local drive-in... ” he sat admiring the stars. The use contrast of the happiness he felt at this point showed how little it took for him to go back to his old was of kicking people down. Only when he stopped putting others down was he happy. “Alice, for God’s sake... hey ease up, will you watch it-” the last words that he said mentioned in the poem. The use of this dialogue shows his anger for Alice and how ironic that his last words were putting another down. The man never created relationships therefore was never truly happy; although he shows that if we do build relationships we can be happy.
Everyone is searching for a meaning in life and often it isn’t found. The empty feeling can leave us feeling lost and unhappy, even unsatisfied. If people stop focusing on what they don’t have and what we need, we can break the cycle, only then we can accept life and be happy. We can break the cycle of consumerism.