Abstract
The aim of the present paper is to analyze the non-fiction short story "The Price of a Dream" by Andrew Lukonis. The analysis is conducted on the basis of correspondence of the short story to the contemporary reality and accuracy of the described issues. Attention is also paid to political, psychological, sociological and personal matters of the topic. Place of entrepreneur's action in the story is analyzed from the point of its correspondence to cultural traditions of his society.
Compassion - Hope of Humanity
With the development of human civilization, each society liked to consider that its rules and customs were more advanced and civilized than those of the previous one or the opponent neighbor. Millennia passed, but contemporary society has the same mode of behavior as its predecessors. We want to think that our laws and social structure are more advanced and more protective over the most vulnerable ones. That is why social security and child care were invented and provided by the government. On the other hand in the world ruled by market economy, an individual might not have a chance for a better life mainly due to the environment of birth and life. The aim of this essay is to analyze until which extent reality was coherently described in the nonfiction short-story "The Price of a Dream" by Andrew Lukonis. In this context, the events and statements presented in the story will be compared to the analytical materials on the subsequent topic. The change of entrepreneur's behavior will be analyzed in the framework of cultural specifics of our society. The central thesis of this essay is that no matter how idealized democratic society might be, it cannot provide equal opportunities for all.
Lukonis shows the world the way it is from his perspective and from the point of many ordinary people- it is the world without hope, because society and government are not the once to provide that hope (Behrouzi 91). In this context, the problems with social services and inability of police or social workers to interfere into various family abuses or inability of a child to pursue her dream are due to human ignorance and reluctance to get involved (Humphrey 76). Although Lukonis shows poor situation of the girl and her aunt and lack future opportunities for her due to her position in society, he rather emphasizes that it is due to each person's ignorance and mistrust than a particular governmental failure. In one of the investigations of murder cases, the witness justified his inactivity by arguing that it simply was not his business, and all what he could do is to call 911, and the constant family scandals over the previous few months were again none of his concern (Humphrey 52). From the socio-psychological perspective, both cases of violinist and murder case were conditioned by one reason - ignorance and individualist tendencies in contemporary society (Perry 68).
In his blog, Lukonis argues that contemporary society and he, as an example of that society, "I have seen the corruption of major establishments at the highest level. And I have felt that much of the kindness I have previously Given has been shunned and brushed aside " (Lukonis b5.) While Lukonis speaks of violation of his kindness, political analytics argue about the lack of trust of people to contemporary political and economic activities on the large scale. In this context, they argue that the recent low level of public involvement in political activity is conditioned by the general economic stagnation and lack of trust in government and the possibility of improvement (Perry 68). The analysis of this issue was conducted between different social groups and the main findings showed that irrespective of the social status people's trust has deteriorated over the last two decades (Behrouzi 53). In this case, the problem is in inconsistency between a policy which aims at common targets and individual needs, which can be satisfied by other individuals and quite seldom by the government itself. The only thing that the government can do to satisfy these needs is to provide people with stability, which could lead to trust and subsequent desire to help those in need. Thus, Lukonis' story was quite critical and realistic.
The best illustration of everything mentioned above is actual change of entrepreneur's behavior. Initially, irrespective of the being violinist and having a passion for his violins, he still was driven rather by profit than personal altruism. His position entirely corresponds to the contemporary realty and Western society driven by profits and the law of supply and demand. On the other hand, his decision to give the violin to the girl without gaining any immediate profit and refusing from a triple profit contradicts economic culture of the Western society (Perry 36). On the other hand, his action corresponds to general human compassion and understanding of an individual in need, which is universal for all cultures and ethnicities (Behrouzi 26). In this context, entrepreneur's change of behavior was not just positive from the point of girl's future, but also from the point of society. In this context, his good deed and a subsequent spreading of this story triggered a chain reaction affecting anyone involved or who have heart the story. Thus, by a single act of compassion and understanding of one's misfortune, he managed to make other people act in the same way - looking for hope and goodness in them.
On one hand, it can be also argued that entrepreneur did not act entirely outside of market economy culture of the American Dream. If he were acting entirely outside this culture, he would go for charity and simple gifting of the violin. On the other hand, he went further. In order to help Savannah, he gave her means fir achieving a specific goal, and he also gave her that goal. In the market economy and in contemporary society, nothing is for free, even gifts should be returned. The author shows that irrespective of how important the gift was for the girl, it was still crucial to make her evaluate it in terms f the real world and realize the material aspect of its existence. From the psychological perspective, entrepreneur did not only give hope to the girl, but also materialized her in this world (Perry 31). Through estimation of violin's price, Savannah realized what money meant and also understood how many efforts she would have to use in order to succeed in life. On the other hand, it can be argued that Lukonis promoted the idea of people helping each other; and this idea emphasized that an individual in need might expect someone else to help him or her. The reliance on other people goes against the statement of self-reliance and counting on one's own strengths (Perry 87). This means that contemporary ideal of self-sufficient and independent achiever of one's goal is a bit shaken by Lukonis story. On the other hand, his story is realistic, while modeling and idealization of human behavior.
Overall, from all mentioned above, it can be concluded that Lukonis' short story is quite realistic and its shows various aspects of contemporary reality. The most important aspect shown is that irrespective f common societal and political attempts, sometimes an individual can be helped only by another individual. That happens only under conditions of mutual respect and understanding. In those cases, hope is essential. Although hope is not something society or government can provide for their members, they both can create a favorable environment for people to be humans and creation of that environment requires attention to individual needs of us all.
Works Cited
Behrouzi Majid. Democracy As the political Empowerment of the People: The Betrayal of an
Ideal. Plymouth, PL: Lexington Books. 2006. Print.
Humphrey, James H. Childhood Stress in Contemporary Society. New York, NY: The
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Lukonis, Andrew (a). The Price of a Dream. 2012. Ebook.
Lukonis, Andrew (b). "The symphony of life" Violinist. Violinist 13 Sept. 2012. Web. 21 Oct.
2012.
Perry, John Ambrose and Perry Erna. Contemporary Society: An Introduction to Social
Science. New York, NY: Allyn and Bacon. 1999. Print.
