# 426: BOOK OF THE WEEK — “The Bellwether Revivals”
Story behind the Passage
It feels weird to be teaching British literature these days. The last time I really dived into it was while studying in the U.S. I should not openly reveal this, I guess, because it probably discredits me in the eyes of my students. But it is the truth. Why not reveal it? Am I not also teaching them to become honest and authentic human beings? Above all, since so little in academia changes over time, it does not really matter if my last love affair with British literature was more than ten years ago. And literature as such does not really change either. Of course, the times change, supposedly, and authors find different topics and changed settings to write about. Yet, at the heart, the depth of literary themes is not that unchangeable. Just like humanity does not really change.
I had a conversation this past week in which someone who is really wise and works a lot with people wondered about the question whether one can say that human beings are either good or evil. She has a colleague who claims that humans are inherently good and they just need to be “healed” if they display bad behavior. She could not really buy into this. And that is remarkable because she knows a lot about basically everything that touches human beings between heaven and earth. Still, she did not approach the subject from a deeply theological perspective which she is knowledgeable about. She chose to think about it in the most fundamental and personal terms.
Maybe it is not too far-fetched to talk about good and evil in relation with this novel. I have to say, this book got me into fiction again. Now that I am writing this, I remember I wrote this sentence before, maybe about a year ago or so. Obviously, life then made me move away from fiction again. Well, at least fiction still does not play much of a role in my reading habits and my blog. But it does not really matter to write about things that are not taking place. What matters is the here and now. And in this moment, I can say that I really enjoyed reading this book.
I am already curious what my students will say.
Will they “like” the characters?
Will they see the connection to our class topic?
Above all, will they feel as if it was worth reading the book?
It was not a difficult decision to make them read entire novels. That is how I learned to read quickly and deeply and in huge quantities. Obviously, in the end, teachers always pass on whatever their teachers taught them in one way or the other. But there are also many things they “invent” themselves to emancipate them from the burden of their legacy and develop their own footprint. Still, at the core, there are values and skills which might look differently when compared to one’s own teachers but that is only on the outside. Teachers who love what they talk about also care about what they pass on. And in my case, I do want people to “move ahead” in some way which is why I also try to push them. It took many loops to discover this. And I am not saying I am forcing students who do not want to. Rather, I just cannot live with the thought that I failed to discover, develop, and acknowledge potential.
That is already taking place every day in university.
I am sick of it.
But I do not talk about it any longer.
- Academic self-shaming
For some people talking in an intellectual circle is something they do not even realize anymore. They are used to smart people visiting their homes and having long intellectual discussions with their parents. People like Oscar do not count among those. Oscar is not an academic. But Oscar is smart. In social spheres as Oscar’s and many other people’s, every sentence that reveals your thinking can potentially be your self-burial when it comes to belonging to the “elite.” That is not how it really is. This is how Oscar perceives of it. And I know what he means. Still, he is brave enough to go on and share his thinking. And even though this happens in the opening part of the book, the reader expects nothing different from Oscar. At least, I did not.
Oscar is a fascinating character. You are just forced to like him. Or maybe that is just a stereotype by people who are “like” Oscar. There are just so many Oscars on this planet who never make it to Cambridge, Oxford, or Harvard. The planet would work differently if they did. But maybe they are just too smart for this. Maybe Oscars discover much earlier than other people what truly matters in life. They learn this in the military, on construction sites, or in nursing homes. That is where life reveals its true nature before academics can turn this wisdom into really abstract thought that takes other people a lot of effort to decipher. And all this deciphering makes them feel as if they were very smart.
Oscar does not need this.
2. Security in academia?
Talking about security and academia is an irony which only ignorant or rich people can accidentally come up with. If you look at job prospects, academia is the most insecure place on earth. But maybe that is less true for the self-declared intellectual elite. Or maybe it is true but they do not see it this way. In any case, what is true is that the definition of “talent” varies a lot from different perspectives — just like everything in the world looks different from different angles.
What I think, however, is that academia and its supposed prospects gives people like the Bellwethers a lot of security because it gives them status. They think they are smart and they think their kids are talented. They do think this before entering these schools but since this is just part of their regular course of life, not going there and not being part of this academic circle would ruin their self-worth, their self-image. And that is why people like Oscar feel excluded from this from the start. “Smart enough” is something that is open-ended. And people like Oscar therefore never think they are smart “enough” no matter how much more talented and intelligent they really are.
That is a pain some people never overcome.
Maybe I will.
Maybe some of my students will as well.
3. Standing up
Of course, this is a more or less stereotypical romance. The rich and smart girl falls in love with the poor and smart guy. Still, this passage touched me. Oscar did stand up. He had the guts. And she uses the word “proud.” “I feel proud of you” is a sentence which Germans maybe use less frequently than English speakers, especially Americans. German pride is a historical grave. But maybe that is just my interpretation. In any case, it does take courage to speak up and take position in a circle such as the Bellwether family. And I think, finding someone who honestly feels pride when this happens, someone who truly loves you because of this but not only in spite of it, is a gift.
This gift cannot be earned.
It cannot be fought for.
It can just happen.
If you let it.
If you trust.
You cannot earn love.
You can just lose faith in it.
Reflection Questions
1) Do you sometimes feel ashamed of expressing your thoughts because you think you are not smart enough and raising your voice would reveal this?
2) Do you think that the things people learn in really prestigious schools/universities are different from the ones taught in “regular” education institutions? If not, what else do you get there that makes people pay so much for tuition?
3) Did anyone ever say he/she is proud of you? If yes, how did it feel?