Unanswerable Questions

English 10 Honors
6 May 2013
An Inspirational Answer to an Unanswerable Question It is a well-known fact that the universe is constantly changing. Throughout history, empires have risen and fallen with peoples created and destroyed. We 've seen the best of times and the worst of times, yet the concept of society has remained much the same. But what happens when that social hierarchy is due for a change? Many weeks of research has led to the conclusion that anyone can change society if they stand together and stand strong. At least once in a child’s life they are told that they can do anything they set their mind too, and, according to my research, this may not be far off the mark. When looking at societal changes, I found that generally
the ones who made the most impact were what we’d call the “underdog.” My first artifact, a list compiled of the top six influential inventions made by teenagers, taught me that change can easily break through any barriers, such as age.
For example, the comic that would eventually become known as Superman, an icon for justice, was drawn by two teens in the back of a high school math class. Not only have comic book enthusiasts felt the impact of teenagers, but an entire nation as well, such as in the case of Robert Heft. Heft, who was barely seventeen when he entered his design for the American flag into a contest, went on to beat out over 1,500 candidates. His achievement is now flown all over the country. Sam Colt came in as number four on this list for creating the very first revolver. His story stood out the most because, unlike the others, he persevered through many failures and ultimately ended up creating something that would have a negative impact on society. Like all of these teenagers at the time, Colt had no idea the outcome of his invention would be so great or last so long. They didn’t understand the importance of what they were making, or how many people they would affect. These six young inventors simply did, and I believe that is who will change society. The people who take chances and are passionate about what they do and say. An unspoken word is a missed opportunity, which explains
why teenagers end up being the ones who make the greatest impact, because they speak their minds freely. Yet it is not only the young people who surprised me by their willingness to dive into the rigorous process of overthrowing society. The novel 1984 by George Orwell features 39-year-old Winston Smith, who is anything but in his golden years. He is described as old, frail, and rather sickly, yet when the opportunity to join an underground revolt against the dystopian government arises, he doesn’t waste anytime jumping on board. Winston not only showed me that you don’t have to be a young, healthy person to join something bigger than yourself; he also got me thinking that you don’t have to be alone either. This string of thought led to my final conclusion on the “how” component of the question “how can we change society?” Henry Ford once said “Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, and working together is success,” which inspired my conclusion that, only by working together, can people achieve greatness.
When researching my second artifact, a picture of Occupy Wall Street protestors, it became clear that the key was in the participants. Violent or non-violent, successful or unsuccessful, a protest isn’t a protest without the people involved. In the case of Occupy Wall Street, the demonstration wasn’t as big of a breakthrough as was hoped, yet still successful in my book due to the attention it brought to its cause. Occupy Wall Street caught my eye because of the sheer amount of people who showed up to camp out. They recognized a common goal and stuck together, which is why many people are still talking about this protest. Even though this particular event didn’t change the course of history, many others of its kind did. The March on Washington, attended by Martin Luther King Jr. himself, was a protest for civil rights and a huge step forward in the fight for equality. It was one of the biggest protests of its time, including over 250,000 participants, and was the first organized protest to be covered on a national scale. Like Occupy Wall Street, March on Washington gained this attention from the staggering number of people standing together. All walks of life joined forces to participate in these events, and have been doing so for centuries. All around the world
societies are changed when people band together. Logically, as much as unity can move a society forward, a lack of it can keep one stuck in place as well. This point is made clear in the novel 1984, where a corrupt dictatorship rules. “They only needed to rise up and shake themselves like a horse shaking off flies. If they chose, they could blow the Party to pieces tomorrow morning” (Wells 77). This quote is main character Winston Smith speaking of his frustration in the fact that the government still controls people who could easily rise against them if they only realized their power. Analyzing this dystopian society and reading about the controlling government gave me insight to my counterargument and led me to my third, and final, artifact.
Supposedly, our government was made by the people, for the people, yet some of my research has pointed to the conclusion that the powerful people in our nation are the only ones who can change society, whether society wants the change or not. Things such as wars and international conflicts have been forced upon citizens of all nations by the select few that sit at the head of power. Bob Dylan, a famous protestor/song writer and author of my artifact “Masters of War,” expresses his hatred for the government as the United States heads into the Cold War. He describes government officials as weak, cowards who “fasten all the triggers, for others to fire,” (Dylan). Yet even an activist like Dylan knows that all the songs in the world couldn’t change the fact that, in the end, we answer to the government. In times of war, our hatred is shifted towards a common enemy and we seem to forget who got us into the mess in the first place. Meanwhile, the government can run the show however they want. Even Bob Dylan, who claims that the people can rise up at any time, gives the government immense power in his songs as he says, “You play with my world, like it 's your little toy” (Dylan). As much as I disagree with this view, this theme has shown up in history many times. People such as Hitler and the Nazis and President Johnson and the Vietnam War display some of the best examples of a singular person in charge who led entire nations into conflicts they didn’t understand or agree with. This kind of power yielded by one person can prove detrimental, yet it happens time and time again. Fortunately, my research has also shown that recently more people are standing together against corrupt governments, thus proving this counterargument outdated and just plain wrong. Every person starts out their life believing they will be the one to make a difference, yet it is this thought that will keep them from achieving that very goal. It has become clear that when searching for the “who” in “who can change society,” we aren’t looking for a powerful person, just someone who has the heart to keep pressing forward. And when searching for the “how” in “how can we change society,” it is not an event that changes the course of history, but that one common goal that unites a group of people. Not only has my research given me an answer to what was once thought of as an unanswerable question, it has also given me hope for the future and a renewed belief in my generation’s power. The only question left to answer is who will take a stand next, and what will we do with the power that follows.

Works Cited