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How Much Do Our Surroundings Alter Our Motives?

Jimmy Lad

Mr. Kemp

ENG3UI

July 9, 2010
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Eric Darby, in ³Scratch and Dent Dreams´, shows us that the atmosphere and the people

around shape our opinions in a way that negatively impacts our hopes and dreams. Whether it is

someone making fun of you, your marks in school dropping, or you winning the lottery

everything that goes on around you influences your motives. The following are examples from

the text, ³Scratch and Dent Dreams´ that reflect the fact that the atmosphere around us alters our

opinions and shapes our future. First, the opinions of others can dramatically alter our motivation

towards our hopes and dreams. Second, the environment shapes our view on what success is.

And third, the immense pressure of society shapes the path of our future. This could be direct or

indirect.

The opinions of others can dramatically alter our motivation towards our hopes and

dreams. In other words, the things that people say; like our peers and family, will affect us in a

way in which our motives will be altered. This will eventually lead to our future being altered. A

significant quote from "Scratch and Dent Dreams" that reflects this statement is, ³Two kids are

packing up/ their peanut butter enterprise/ µcause somebody told them they¶d fail (Darby line 64-

66).´ This is said to a group of children who open up an ice cream stall in hope of selling ice

cream and being successful. The kids get told that they would not be successful and as a result

they close up their stall. They would not have failed, but since they were told this, their goal of

success was demolished. This reflects the quote. The children were affected by the opinions of

others when they could've been successful and therefore, their future was potentially changed.

The environment shapes peoples view on what success is. In other words; the media and

the people around will change ones opinion on what ³success´ actually means. Since all people

in the world are unique and possess different abilities the term ³success´ does not have a
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definitive meaning. A quote from ³Scratch and Dent Dreams´ that emphasizes this fact is,

³Everyday people/ screaming through these doors convinced/ they¶re gonna hock even their

littlest hopes and dreams to fund their 401K¶s (line 73-75).´ This means people are giving up

possessions which make them happy and are a big aspect of their lives, just to have money.

Virtually, everybody is only chasing material wealth. This is a very powerful line in the poem

because the author is basically saying that people are giving up happiness for money. This sums

up the whole theme of the poem. This is very true in our society today. This also leads to another

point; the definition of ³wealth´ is also very controversial. For some people wealth is simply

being healthy, happy, and having good friends and family. For others wealth is having a lot of

money, a nice car and a good job. Most people might think this because the media has forged a

twisted image of ³wealth´ into our minds. It is evident that the author is tired of witnessing

people giving up their hopes and dream for material wealth due to greed.

This leads to the final argument. The pressure of society shapes how our lives are

directed. People are always influenced by others. This is simply human nature. The important

thing is in what way we are influenced. This can be either positively or negatively; in most cases

this has a negative impact. As well as society, the media also has a big impact since the media

impacts society. The media gives us an image of wealth as being rich and owning a lot of

expensive things. People go after this and lose sight of what the ³real´ dream is. A quote from

³Scratch and dent Dreams´ that emphasizes this fact is, ³You won¶t have any directions or

factory number tabs but don¶t panic (line 43).´ Society shapes our future and this line expresses

that well. Darby is saying that there are many ways to be successful; it all depends on your

personal definition of the word. This line is significant because Darby is telling the reader that

success is very probable and anyone can be successful

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It is evident that our atmosphere, peers, and society all impact our future goals because

humans are easily influenced by the things around us. One point that reflects this is the opinions

of others can dramatically alter our motivation towards our hopes and dreams. Another thing that

reflects this is the fact that the environment shapes our view on what success really is. One final

thing that reflects this is that the pressure of society shapes how our lives are directed. To sum

up; everything we do, everyone we interact with and all the social aspects of our entire lives

defines our ultimate path.


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