Choice
Everyday of our lives we all make choices. Whether it's to wake up in the morning or even walk out of the door. Regardless of what choice
we happen to make in the moment we all generally want to make good choices in our lives, even if they may collide with our personal interests,
or are hard decisions to make.The poem"The road not taken" by Robert Frost
creates a very subtle yet unique tone of voice through out the poem especially when it comes to the idea of making a "choice". The author is
presented with two choices in a yellow wood. A classic fork in the road. Although both the paths were regarded as equal
"And both that morning equally lay"(stanza 11). Frost's decision was finally made, A path was chosen "because it was grassy and wanted wear"(stanza 8)
A path that was more suited to him as a traveler. A path that makes "all the difference". Even though he may have wanted to have taken both,
A choice had to be made and that was final. In Rudolfo Anaya's "Dead End",
another example of choice is found. "Dead end", the story of a young teenager in high school,
named Maria is in the middle of a dilemma. Although she may be young, due to the death of her mother, she is now playing the role of not only "dad"
but "mom" as well. Her father "returned only late at night. On weekends he was always gone". Someone needed to take charge who else but Maria? "There was only
bitterness in her father's face, a sense of loss". What could she do? With her biological father being as miserable
as he could be, she is left with a huge load on her shoulders, accompanied by amazing gifts
academically. However she is also a girl. She has needs herself, to live, to meet friends, to relax. However due to her heritage, gang affiliation
is almost impossible to stay clear of. One wrong friend and everything she has worked for could easily be lost. With that said, what seems to be
the "baddest" of the gang members seems to be really interested in her, only adding more to her problems. The life she always wanted, to be one of
"those" girls. The kind who put on make up and hang out with the tough guys could easily be realized. Yet the only thing keeping her from becoming
a good for nothing gang member is the promise her mother made her make, to be someone, to use that gift she has and do something with her life. A decision,
a choice that absolutely needs to be made is finally made, to go on with her life even if it means toughing it out in school rather then taking the easy
way out. Incredibly hard choices that seem impossible in the moment and yet, just taking the time to think them through can make all the difference between
becoming a success or just being another being on this earth with no means of moving past the "dead end". The difference between living life responsibly
and carelessly. The true means of understanding what needs to be done no matter what I or maria may feel through out our lives. The necessity to reach out
and make the responsible choice for not only ourselves but for those we care about. Its safe to say that at times, the power to decide isn't even in our
hands. Sure many may be ignorant about it and say there is always another choice, but those are the ones who never make it anywhere. The people in our
lives that tell us that we can just kick back and relax, wait it out, and have some fun while we're at it. Those who instill the fantasy of life being just
a walk in the park are just in denial themselves.
On a deeper note, Barry Schwartz's essay on"The tyranny of choice" dives deeper
into what it means to make a choice. Immediately Barry defines the two different kinds of people when it comes to choices. Either a maximizer or a satisficer.
Maximizers being those who always wants to make the "best" choice, while Satisficers are those who attempt to reach the "good enough" choice. Though what
really draws the line between the two are their levels of "happiness". Although in theory going for the best possible choice seems like a great idea it's
never that cut and dry. Imagine going to the bookstore, here I am going to the bookstore to find myself the BEST science fiction novel. I ask the clerk
where they are and he leads me to an enormous isle of books. What do I do now? Do I attempt to pick out the best? Can I even attempt to read all the titles?
Impossible. The idea of picking out the "best" choice is ridiculously flawed and will only lead to regret. Not because the choice I made was particularly
bad, but because the amount of possible comparisons to consider are mind boggling. On the other hand, a satisficer could most likely walk up to the science
fiction isle and pick out a book that sounds relatively catchy and buy it with ease. The "good enough" factor makes it so that a person does not have to worry
about what hes missing or not, he's just happy with what hes able to get an enjoys it. Much more then I can say about a maximizer who feels regret about not
getting the best deal out of his purchase when something else comes along, fully destroying the experience he could have had. However, it's not as if
having the ability to choose between products is bad either. By nature we all want different kinds of things, the problem starts when an abundance of
choices are added in. With so many choices, there is no balance. We can't even walk to a store clerk and ask for deodorant without having to sift through
many different choices. The market we live in today just seems to promote maximizing.
There are so many choices for so many products nowadays that we would be better off choosing with a blindfold.
In summary, whether we like it or not choices play a strong role in our lives. However, that isn't to say that the magnitude of the said choice varies.
It may be something small like picking out what kind of book to buy or maybe even what to do on that particular day. On the other hand, a choice can
easily spiral into becoming life changing. For example, picking which path you should take in the woods or even, if you should hang out with certain
people. Regardless of what the choice may be I strongly believe that there is always a choice that stands out in the midst of all the other choices.
Whether I or anyone else wants to take it is a completely different topic.
iati385@gmail.com
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