blog/enigma

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

5:03 AM

Literature Assignment-Stand Alone

In the stories My cousin Tim, Drive and Her Dreams, Simon Tay uses the element of everyday issues to portray uniquely Singaporeans issues: In My cousin Tim, two boys' intertwined lives through change, maturity and the pursuing of dreams; Drive, an ambitious man's feud with a stranger on a social level, powered not by physical events, but by prejudices and the greater force of the differentiating social classes; and Her Dreams, a woman's internal struggles for her dreams and her unconscious submission to her husband's manipulation.

One of the major traits that is evident in the stories is the conflict between the psyche and the materialistic world. Singapore, a meritocratic nation, has bred itself a notable materialistic culture in which its citizens lounges themselves into. In My cousin Tim, the narrator Eddie is brought up in a typical family with high parental expectations to follow a dictated life of which decisions are made by his parents. His education and subsequently are affected by his parents' bidding and in the traditional, Asian and conservative environment, his life revolved around gaining respectable status and wealth. He is groomed to be at least competent in life. His cousin, Tim is brought up the same way - they share a childhood like brothers. However, there is an critical and significant difference between them which separates them into opposing sides of the coin. Eddie, with his NS obligations, stayed back while Tim flew into the distant lands of overseas education. Eddie continued with his submissive lifestyle, of listening to his parents and conforming to their expectations. Tim, however, had a fresh freedom granted to him. There were no constraints nor curfews to halt his explorations of the world. Tim began to embrace the changes of life and gained the courage to have dreams of his own and to pursue them. While Eddie went on to build a structured and stable life, Tim found himself going with the flow of unpredictability. When Tim learned of Eddie's material success in life, he reflected and did not feel it necessary to feel jealous. He felt that he did not need to feel controlled by his father and do his father's wishes, or not doing what his father objected to. By breaking away from this sort of anarchy, Tim has truly transcended from conformism. Tim and Eddie serve as a juxtaposition of characters: Eddie is the epitome of a typical 'good' person; a fillial son; a dutiful husband and father. Tim, on the other hand, is the unconstrained individualist who lives for himself and seeks the intangible things in life. In other words, with Paved with Good Intentions the article's definition, Eddie is the Planner and Tim is the Dreamer.

Another example that can be found would be Jackie and Sam in Her Dreams. Jackie had been an air-stewardess, whose lifestyle involves flying around the world in exciting trips. However, she was unhappy in her life, perhaps reflected in her dreams. Jackie felt isolated from her crewmates and cried when she was confronted with her old, true self. As a stereotyped career, air-stewardesses are associated with a shallow appearance and superficial characters. When Sam interpreted Jackie's first dream, he suggested that Jackie was spiritually detached from her job and she did not enjoy her current situation. This led to the couple's relationship and eventually marriage. Everything was set - a marriage, financial stability and a good life. However, it did not seemed as if Jackie was happy, as again shown through her second dream. She spoke of insecurity in a secure life. It turned out that when Jackie broke away from her job, she still did not find what she pursued truly, and was simply collapsing into a comfortable lifestyle which was no closer to her interests and orientations in life. Though Jackie did not know it outright, the truth was speaking to her in her unconsciousness, which Sam understood. However, Sam did not tell Jackie his interpretation, because he knew that he was the reason for Jackie's unhappiness. Jackie was not depressed, per se, but she wasn't completely happy. She did not know the exact reason of her unhappiness, but Sam was certain one day she would. Thus he coaxed her into a reasonable scenario which he hoped she could identify with and agree to. This shows a strong repression of dreams and desires, by an external factor (Sam, in this case) which moderates and censors undesirables. Sam controls the interpretive knowledge to manipulate Jackie's decisions and directions in life and uses it to his advantage. He moulds Jackie's life because he feels that was what should matter in life. He wanted Jackie to conform to the life he had built for them, and thus forming a painful irony of control because he himself mentioned of an unspeakable agony of being a follower of his parents' instructions. In this case, the materialistic world has taken over the psyche, the part of Singaporeans which yearn for the chase of dreams, shaping it independently and perhaps even eliminating it.

The next trait would be competitiveness. This is one characteristic that is definitive of Singaporeans, especially evident among the 'elite' circles. In Drive, the unnamed main character is a white-collar worker, at the prime of his career with promises of promotions. He is career-driven, works long hours and is probably high-salaried. He has the qualifications - being a university graduate - and fits into the image of the so-called elite in whichever field he is in. Early in the story, the protagonist's friend relates about a staring incident in which a man was killed over fish-head curry. Such an absurdity perhaps illuminates about Singapore's fast-paced society with its impulsive denizens. The frenetic and rash streak in Singaporeans has spilled over to the other aspects of life other than work, and that caused pettiness and a dangerous over-competitiveness. This characteristic ties with the innate strive of Singaporeans to do well materially and has links with the Singapore Plan. Also in the story, the protagonist broods over his encounter with the RX-7 driver. He is nearly obsessed with getting even and races with the RX-7 on the second time to prove his worth. This further shows competitiveness and also highlights the next point of social stratification.

Singapore has a noteworthy class system despite equality claims by the people and government. In a country where careers are knowledge-based, the differing intelligence and capability of the people comes into consideration. In the story Drive, a strong co-relation of social status and cars has been established. The main character drives a BMW, which indicates a person of high social status, without the burden of familial constraints. The antagonist drives an RX-7, a sports car. Another sub-character has a Toyota, which suggests a lower social status. When the protagonist got his car scratched, he immediately suspects the RX-7 driver based on presumptions of social class. The protagonist is naive and simplistic in his assumptions as he is prejudiced. He is superficial to think that social class is an accurate gauge on a person's character and actions. The same applies for the Toyota driver who was assumed to be innocent because a Toyota suggests a mild-mannered person without malicious motives. This is a fundamental attribution error and such a style of thought is therefore fallacious. When Lizzie remarks that "They're from a different world", it also shows the isolationist outlook elites like herself have. Lizzie understand and shows that there is a difference between the social classes and their conflicts between different classes. She separates her class from other classes to show the divergent nature of classes. This is a striking example of social stratification because speaking as one of the elites, Lizzie feels that they have "different values". This might also show some form of elitism because Lizzie feels herself to be socially more appropriate than say, those who kill over a staring incident. In the article Elite Without Elitism, the writer discusses the need for elites without having elitism stray them. As with Drive, there has already been hints of elitism - the protagonist's outrage at having his car scratched; Lizzie's relevations.

The three stories have shed light on various features that are unique to Singapore not because they tell the stories of Singaporeans, but because they place Singaporeans in situations that would allow their Singaporean traits to reveal themselves through the opaque bodies of Singaporeans. It is important to note that while the stories often carry characters to the extreme, they are definitely evident in reality and offers opportunities for self-reflection.

signed, jiasheng