Abstract
In the novel ‘Black Hole,’ teenagers who engage in sexual behavior contract a decision that leads to genetic mutations which are hard to conceal. The disease is a replica of the Aids Pandemic and the struggles which teenagers have to endure during their adolescent years. The importance of the study is to identify how teenagers in the book the black Hole relate to the youth in the current society. Teenagers experience hormonal imbalances which cause them to lose control and are mostly controlled by their sex drives. Sexual attractions are common during this developmental stage of life, and most adolescents succumb to these desires. Teenagers are unable to grasp what is happening to them and tend to get frustrated and seek comfort in drugs and alcohol. The comfort offered by these substances is short-lived, and most of these adolescents succumb to their sexual desires. The society is oblivious to the difficult situation facing the teens who have to go through the stage in loneliness. Forming relationships is a major challenge for most teenagers and most tend to alienate themselves from other members of the society. The society has strict boundaries between right and wrong as most individuals tend to search for the perfect path. The author of the book “Black Hole” paints a vivid picture of the dilemma faced by teenagers and how their actions have consequences. Teenagers in the book who engage in risky sexual behavior end up with the bug which is an equivalent of Aids in the current society.
Introduction
Being a teenager is difficult and most people cannot imagine living through teenage twice (Gravett). The adolescent years are very challenging for most teenagers as they transit from childhood into adulthood. Teenage classes across the world are faced with similar problems from generation to generation. The character of most teenagers is a major concern for most parents, teenagers and the wider society. Teenagers are more likely to participate in risky sexual behavior. Sexually transmitted diseases among adolescents is common, with most of these young adults risking getting diseases. Teenagers are isolated and alienated from other members in the society as they tend to keep to themselves. Another major concern is that teenagers are able to conceal their behavior from the adults in the society. These young adults will engage in risky behavior without being caught. They eventually end up suffering the consequences of their actions with sexually transmitted diseases. As a result, they become even more alienated from the society and end up in more trouble on their own. The society disapproves of such behavior and these teenagers become segregated from the society. The book “Black Hole” describes the difficulties which face teens during their adolescent years and how their sexual drives and the lack of self-control which are caused by hormones can result in incurable illnesses such as Aids, among other consequences such as alienation from the society.
Literature review
Stigmatization and alienation is closely linked to sexually transmitted diseases. Teenagers in the society run the highest risk of contracting STDs. Adolescent years are associated with rebellion in which teenagers behave how they see fit. Aids is transmitted through sexual contact just like the bug in the book “Black Hole” which targets sexually active teenagers. Temptation and desire form the basis of the actions by teenagers. Drug abuse and alcohol are constantly used as an escape by most of these children . Young adults are also facing a communication gap between themselves and others in the society including their peers.
In the book “Black Hole” the suburban city of Seattle has been attacked by a strange disease which is transmitted through sexual contact. The disease reveals itself through mutations of the human body some of which are hard to conceal while others go unnoticed. The most appalling characteristics of the disease is that it has no cure. The society is faced with the heavy burden to avoid and treat the disease which is eating away their young generation. The plague is then followed by the murders which target those who are affected by the disease . Most communities are faced with the task of dealing with socially deviant behavior among teenagers in the society today. Most teenagers ruin their life during adolescent and they are unable to undo the consequences of the choices made during their adolescent years.
The novel black hole is an oversight over the years and challenges faced by adolescents during the author's teenage years. Losing control is one of the biggest challenges faced by teenagers. Teenagers are driven by hormones in their system which cause them to act in a certain manner. The victims suffer from a sexually transmitted disease among the teenagers which is referred to the bug. The bug reveals itself through mutation such as growing a tail and facial hair which resembles that of a lion. Teenagers fail to cope with these changes in their bodies, and they feel as if something is wrong with them. Adolescence is associated with changes in identities and interactions with those around them (Zeigler). Peers pressure is one of the problems which affect teenagers, as well as sex drives which are heightened as a result of hormones. These hormones are heightened as a result of their transition from childhood into adulthood.
Most teenagers are trapped in their hormones and sex drives and seek for an escape from their miserable lives, by turning to drugs which does not work very well for them . A teenager's greatest wish is to get away from their routine which mostly involves school. Another major concern for teenagers is the inability to connect emotionally with friends. The author of the novel leaves out the horrific details of the time and leaves much to the imagination of the reader. The first encounter with the disease is when Rob infects his girlfriend Chris with the harmful virus. Rob’s mutation reveals itself in the form of a mouth which grows on his chest. When he infects Chris with the disease, the two are thrown out of the society and segregated. The two stick together even when the society throws them out of their community.
They are forced to join others like themselves who are hiding themselves in the forest. In their loneliness, they run to the coast and engage in risky sexual behavior, while they should be in school. Sex is defined with all its pleasures and all the pain that sex can cause. Chris’s mutation causes her to shed which is very painful for her. Even when the teenagers are well aware of the dangers which are associated with engaging in sexual behavior, the teenagers are unable to resist their sexual urges. A couple, Keith and Eliza succumb to their desires (Burns). Memory and fantasy are used as a mirror into the lives of the victim during and after they have engaged in risky behavior, and are suffering from the consequences of their behavior. The book is told in almost nonhuman characteristics. Teenagers who are rejected by the society feel sad and a great yearning for acceptance.
The book is a critique of the increased cases of new infections with Aids among students who are in high school and gun shooting which target high schools. Heterosexuality which is dominant among the middle class is associated with cruelty. The bug inspires teenagers who are clean to continue protecting their good appearances. Visual warning is more effective as compared to other forms of warning to the teenagers . Those who were infected with the bug had a difficult task concealing it since the disease was visible in the physical characteristics of the victim. Relationships between children living in the woods and those who are clean is almost impossible and those who are able to maintain such relationships do so secretly or by lying about their status. Teenagers who have acted in a deviant manner are likely to be neglected by others in the society. Parents to other children are likely to restrain them from hanging around such children.
Teenagers who are found infected are defined through their infected status and their personality and identity becomes lost to them, as the society fails to recognize them otherwise. The infected and the uninfected individuals fail to connect, and there is a gap between the two groups of people. The disease is associated with a certain evil, and whoever who is infected is perceived in a particular manner . The bug is a sign of immorality, and those who are infected are a threat to others in the society. Meaning made from visual perceptions are hard to replace and get rid of.
In the book the black hole, the reader is forced to perceive their world as their own. The story focusses on the main characters of the book who are mostly teenagers apart from very few adults. The teachers are oblivious of the change affecting their children including the change in their physical characteristics. The problem continues to affect the teenagers despite the fact that the teenagers have options to prevent themselves from catching the bug. Teenagers can keep away from trouble by using protection during sex, and yet they fail to do so . The disease in the book purposefully alienates and attacks the teenagers. Notion concerning teenagers are disapproving, and most adults associate teenagers with trouble. The infected children are alienated from the rest in the society and are forced to go without basic provisions such as food, shelter and hygiene. The infected few are easily forgotten by the rest in the society and individuals tend to forget totally about these individuals. The infected seem to cease to exist.
The infection in the book is an obvious replica of the Aids pandemic which is facing the youth today . The youth are driven by hormones which tend to misrepresent the real feelings leading them to participate in risky sexual behavior. These teenagers are unable to control themselves and they resolve to drugs and alcohol, but their misery never goes away. As if to add insult to injury, the teenagers are further labeled as deviants and the society and their fellow teenagers tend to stay away from them.
The characters in the book ‘The unbearable lightness’ by Milan Kundera is a story about the life of a man who was an addicted womanizer as he tries to struggle between his desires and remaining faithful to his faithful lover while the mistress tempts him. Thomas lives a mysterious and reckless life in which the origin of the babies is hard to decipher. By lightness of being is a state in which the character exists without any show of remorse or feelings of freedom. Thomas describes how Sabina spends all her time between lovers and betrayal even of her family members. Eventually, Sabina let’s go and stops caring for those virtues which the society considers important in the society and which are associated with morality (Banville). The character is so engulfed in her desires that she gets lost to the real earth. Thomas’s wife is connected to the real earth and is so in love with her husband that she ends up spoiling him. Social perfection is a concept by most human beings and most spend their lifetime in the search of these perfections. Perfection brings forth the idea of ills of the society which describes all that which mankind does not consider to be perfect.
Emotions are a key pointer to what is good and that which is considered evil according to the society. Our emotions play a major role in how we perceive various acts in the society. For instance, the senator in the novel associates children with happiness even though there is no logical sense which can be used to explain this observation (Kundera and Heim). The heart is used as the judge during such situations. The heart becomes the dictator of various decisions and perceptions possessed by mankind. Thomas is an unbecoming character whose addiction to women leads him to start cheating on his wife. With the lightness described in the book the characters are left with no feelings of guilt and are free to acts as they see fit. The goodness of mankind is tested when people are left to make a judgment for those who have no power and are helpless; for example animals.
I went about the research by finding out materials which are relevant to the book black hole and what picture it paints for adolescent years. I selected a couple articles which compare the happenings of the book and how they affect characters in the book. The book which is a reflection of the life of a teenager is used in various ways to understand the plight of teenagers. My focus was on the teenagers, both those who were infected and those who were uninfected. I found these articles online with the use of the search engine, “How the youth in the novel Black Hole relate to the youth in the current society. I used the articles to analyze the predicament that faces teenagers during their teenage years. How the teenagers are alienated from the society both those who are problematic and those who have managed to stay in check of their hormones was also addressed. Parents and other adults in the society are seen to play a certain role in the outcome of teenagers during their teenage years and this was also identified in the study.
I analyzed the results from the literature review by making comparisons from the articles I had utilized for the study. Through comparison, various similarities and patterns were identified about adolescents. The age is a duration of transformation between adult years and childhood, and the child is experiencing a lot of hormonal imbalance which is responsible for uncontrollable sex drives. Parents and other elder members are oblivious to the difficulties which face these teenagers. Later when the teenagers have succumbed to their hormones they are alienated from the rest of the community both by the adults and their fellow teenagers. Most teenagers are unable to form meaningful relationships in the society, and they are in a desperate search for these relationships.
Discussion
The book black hole is the representation of a teenager’s life and how they are faced with various obstacles during their transition into young adults. Teenagers and the society at large are both lost as they try to find themselves. Teenage years have a permanent effect on the life of the individual a point the author clearly points out by claiming those who are affected by the bug with certain physical characteristics . The children who are affected alienate themselves further and tend to spend more time together. Children in the novel end up in the woods and become completely lost to the society.
Children start engaging in activities such as smoking, drinking and drug abuse. Keith in the black hole resorts to smoking while Chris runs off with Rob to the coast to find pleasure in each other. They segregate themselves from the rest and are forced to live miserable lives off the streets. They end becoming school dropouts. Hormones affect most of these teenagers who are unable to control their desires of their bodies . Even after the children are aware of the consequences, Keith and Eliza still engage in sexual intercourse. Love is considered a common goal by most teenagers who fail to resist their feelings of attractions towards each other. The infected teens are followed by misfortunes such as physical disfigurations, death and others like Keith are falsely accused of murder. Sex is considered a crime for which the guilty receive unending suffering which manifests itself in terms of diseases such as Aids.
Human beings are born with two forces which influence their behavior depending on the force which comes out on top. Goodness varies from one individual to another, and this goodness can be best determined when the individuals are not coerced to act in a particular manner, and yet the individual chooses to be merciful . For instance, some children in the book, Chris, Rob, Keith and Eliza participate in risky sexual behavior, while other kids in the book decide to remain responsible for their actions as stay out of trouble. The heart acts as a judge over right over wrong depending on the kind of emotions which are awakened during various encounters. In some instances, individuals are incapable of choosing good over evil. Keith and Eliza are unable to refrain themselves from engaging in sexual acts and eventually end up with the strange disease. These children do not care for the consequences of their actions and they end up with a strange disease and a life in the woods. The character Sabina in the book by Kundera loses herself in her search for happiness and her morals become completely degraded . These individuals eventually ignore the moral values in the society and tend to behave contrary to the expectations of the society. These individuals act as they wish even though the community will not agree with most of their actions.
This research can be improved with the use of other books which describe the problems which affect teenagers in the society. Problems encountered in the research include the time frame difference between the present times and the context in which the novel was written. The book was written in the 1970’s which causes a wide gap between traditions and the consequences of risky behavior among adolescents. An insight from other authors which can be made by comparing the book “Black Hole,” with other books which touch on the plight of teenagers will be helpful in future research.
Conclusion
In conclusion, teenage behavior is influenced by hormones in the human body which is developing. Sexual desires felt by teens are controlled by hormones which cause them to feel like they have no self-control. The lack of control is likely to cause the individual to act in a manner that is questionable to the society. Teenage years are very important during the development of a child. This is a very difficult duration for the teenager who is mostly overwhelmed by feelings of lack of self-control. Teenagers are unable to manage the hormonal imbalance which is associated with sex drives. Teenagers are overwhelmed with feelings of hopelessness and take to alcohol and drug abuse, but these only give them a temporary escape. Feelings of attractions are common among teenagers during their adolescent years, and most of these young adults become overwhelmed with these feelings. Most teenagers are likely to act upon these feeling of attraction and hence risky sexual behavior is prevalent among the young adults. These decisions come with certain consequences which leave a permanent mark on the life of the teenager. Relationships between teenagers and other mates and the society as a whole are strenuous, causing most teenagers to feel alienated from other members of the society.
Works Cited
Banville, John. "Light but sound." The guardian 1 May 2004. Web. <https://www.theguardian.com/books/2004/may/01/fiction.johnbanville>.
Burns, Charles. Black hole. New York : Pantheon Books, 2005. print.
Gravett, Paul. "A World more black than white." The Telegraph 21 October 2005. Web. <https://www.theguardian.com/books/2004/may/01/fiction.johnbanville>.
Kundera, Milan and Michael Henry Heim. The unbearable lightness of being. New York : Harper Perennial, 2008. Print.
Zeigler, James. "Too cruel: The Deceased Teens and Mean Bodies of Charles Burns's black Hole." Journal of media arts culture (2005). Web. <http://scan.net.au/scan/journal/display.php?journal_id=120>.
