Much Madness Is Divinest Sense Analysis

The two reading that inspire me the most is “Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes and “Much Madness is Divinest Sense” by Emily Dickinson. However, each author has different point of view. I think Hughes’ work is a great piece; the author emphasizes his view by saying that one can’t just sit and wait for nature to take its course. Similarly, I think the author’s view can relate to a current social topic: bullying in high school and through social media. In this day and age, bullying has become the norm in our culture. Since education starts at home, I believe that parents have the responsibility to educate their children about the impact of bullying others. Of course, this issue won’t change itself unless everyone becomes involved and take the necessary steps to address it.

What is bullying? “Bullying is when an individual use superior strength or influence to intimidate (someone), typically to force him or her to do what one wants.” Or an “unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance.”1 For example, it was reported last year that a young teenager died in Lakeland, Florida due to being bullied by her peers. Though, parents have the obligation to stress the importance that bullying is not an acceptable behavior. It is equally important that our community gets
involved with reducing the cycle of bullying we have seen in past decades. In addition, this is an issue that targets a variety of individuals from elementary students, college student, and athletes. In order to reduce bullying, we must be willing to change the culture first to effectively lessen this issue at large.

On the internet, for example, there are plenty of hate messages, specifically through social media. Within the political arena of our culture the politician that belittles and talks poorly about his or her opponents usually are the one who wins. For example, in politic we have seen a culture where politicians are gaining ground on the poll by hound their opponents. This type of culture is not setting decent precedents for the next generations to come. This is particularly true with respect to bullying. “In professional sports, teams are dominated by one or two power players. In the corporate world, people throw their fellow employees under the bus to get a promotion, and at our school kids harass each other for being different.”2

As Hughes’ mentioned in “Theme for English B,” he emphasizes his view by saying that one can’t just sit and wait for nature to take its course.
Similarly, I believe the obligation to change the narrative in order to bring awareness to these issues and for everyone to do more is entirely up to this generation. What can be done to reduce bullying in our culture? A start would be to treat each other with love and caring for one another. More importantly, cultural changes start at home, we have to lead by example and others will follow suit. Furthermore, “Just as the culture of bullying has spread, and so can the culture of love and
acceptance.”2

Nick Dubin’s book highlights that bullying is a major problem for people with Asperger Syndrome (AS) particularly at school, and in the work place. Lack of understanding of displaying social behavior could worsen the risk of being a victim. The writer pointed out the reason individuals are being bullied and the endangerment if these repeated behaviors stayed unimpeded. He stresses the importance of having bystanders involve and the public is a very important step to combat this issue. The writer highlights many platforms that can effectively address bullying, particularly in helping parents, schools, professionals and individuals being bullied. Moreover, the imperative of peer intervention, emphatic teachers, specifically verbal self-defense, and he stated that blaming the victim more likely to reinforce bullying.3

In conclusion, bullying is a major issue in our culture, and the responsibility to step up when bully occur is every one of us responsibility to stand for what is right. Not only that we have an obligation to stand up and speak up when someone is being bullied; however, is it equally significant to show compassion and understanding as opposed to pass judgment. As a community, we can no longer be part of society that promoter injustice. We ought to do more and stand against bullying similar to Dickson’s decision to stand for what she believes in and not conform to fit others views of social norms.