Dana Schaufert
Dr. Adam Johns
ENGCMP 0200- Seminar in Composition
16 October 2008

Meaningless

Although in my last essay I proposed a positive analysis of Wendell Berry’s essay collection title What are People For?, people are not perfect. However, the problem is not the fact that human beings are not perfect; the issue is that they want to be perfect. Of course, it is only humane for one to make mistakes, or lack skills here and there. But apparently for some, this concept is unacceptable. What people are failing to realize is the effect that this hunger for perfection is causing. Through competition for perfection and the use of manipulation, collective meaning in our culture is lost.

Ever since we came into this world, competition has been a part of life. When we were little, it was a battle between who had the best Barbies or the most Pokemon cards. Now, (hopefully we have all retired our Pokemon cards) the competition is based around grades, sports, and job opportunities, among many other things. Life could be so much easier if you were just, well, perfect. No more worries then, right? It would seem that way, but this thrive for perfection does in fact have a cost. Some people are so caught up in competition to care about the meaningful aspects in their lives. Family, friends, and other loved ones give us meaning to our existence and this collective meaning is slowly being destroyed. Of course, I cannot point the finger at everyone else because I am guilty of the crime myself. I will admit to missing a cousin’s birthday party to study for that calculus exam just to fulfill my selfish hunger for perfection. Looking at this loss of meaning through McKibben’s eyes, genetically engineering yourself towards perfection would lead to an even greater loss. Not only would there be less time and care amongst loved ones, work and the challenge to better yourself would be eliminated.

In McKibben’s novel Enough, he bluntly states his view on the loss of meaning. “From a certain vantage point, meaning has been in decline for a very long time, almost since the start of civilization” (McKibben 44). Our culture is so completive that it is leading to a loss of meaning. If parents want to genetically engineer their children to gear them toward perfection, they are depriving their kids of meaning in their lives. “Work is one of the things that orders our lives. If it is sheer drudgery, it may dull and shorten our lives; if there is too much of it, we may feel as if there are other experiences we’re missing. But for the most part, the chance to develop skills and to apply them, to see our sweat manifested not only in paycheck but in a harvest, a house, a book, a classroom full of growing children- that is among the strongest day-in, day-out meanings of our lives” (McKibben 93-94). Work gives us meaning to life. Genetic engineering geared toward perfection eliminates this aspect of meaning by taking away the challenge. In concurrence, the idea of perfection would disagree with psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of “flow.” “A person in a state of flow has neither more nor less challenge than she can handle” (McKibben 51). This concept of “flow” is exactly what Jimmy Corrigan is missing in Ware’s Jimmy Corrigan The Smartest Kid On Earth.

In Ware’s work, Jimmy Corrigan has more challenges than he can handle, thus he does not have “flow” in his life. Jimmy was brought up in absence of a stable father figure. Instead, he looked up to a Superman character that later threw himself off a building and died (McKibben 17-19). Because Jimmy looked to Superman as a father figure, the loss of Superman created an even greater loss of meaning in Jimmy’s life. However, Jimmy did finally get to meet with his actual father. Unsurprisingly, his father greeted him with an insult about how he is using his crutch wrong, pointing out an imperfection of Jimmy’s (Ware 36). On the subject of Jimmy’s crutch, Jimmy’s mother was the provider of this “gift” (Ware 23). The crutch symbolizes Jimmy’s internal pain and demonstrates his connection of this pain with his mother. The “gift” also illustrates Jimmy’s Mother’s lack of faith in her son. She tries to shape and manipulate Jimmy throughout Ware’s work by frequent phone calls and gifts. This scenario can be related to genetic engineering. It is based on the same concept as Bill McKibben focused on. The strive for perfection in Jimmy demonstrated by both Jimmy’s mother and father leave Jimmy feeling meaningless. Jimmy is treated more like an object than a loved and cared about child. This may be the future for children if genetic engineering goes as planned.

In conclusion, competition for perfection and manipulation is slowly deteriorating collective meaning in our culture. Meaning, focusing mainly on loved ones, work and challenge, and “flow” in life, is clearly diminishing for Jimmy in Ware’s Jimmy Corrigan The Smartest Kid On Earth. Jimmy is unable to fulfill this role of a perfect child and is left feeling meaningless. And, according to McKibben, meaning has been dwindling from our culture ever since society began. Obviously, being perfect is not so perfect after all; it simply leads to a loss of meaning.