Remember in Alexander Pope’s “The Rape of the Lock“, when the heroine, Belinda is going mad about the lock of hair that got cut off by the Baron? I believe that most of you, if not all of you, had the same reaction as I did: is it THAT big of a deal? Well, Belinda was about to kill the Baron for this. Was it because appearance was all she cares about? Did she not have more serious businesses to do besides dressing herself up and going to card games? Pope purposely titles it with the word “rape” to emphasize the irony in this story.
Many of you might feel the same way: some people around you just fuss about trivial things in life, you will most likely get annoyed and fight back, but soon afterwards, you will feel that the argue is very pointless and the time could be spent on more meaningful things. Many couples argue over a missed call or message; siblings argue over a broken toy; students argue over a pen mark on the shirt… As a bystander, we can see things clearly; but as a participant in an incident, we often cannot develop a more objective perspective. After reading “The Rape of the Lock”, you can finally laugh at some of your funny actions sometimes. Although everyone has a different bottom line in their standards, but many times things just aren’t that serious! You can really just sit and have a conversation and things will work out. There’s no need to make a big deal.
You have to know, that relationships with people around you are way more important than the little displeasure you’re feeling!
-Kary Huang
