Essay on Community

Today’s society is one that is deprived of social interaction, causing the slow development of one’s character. Stendhal claims that a person in isolation could possess any object and receive any skill with the exception of character. I agree with Stendhal because a large number of the U.S. population engage in their own independent activities, cutting themselves off from their community.

Emotions and personalities emerge through relations with other individuals. Frederick Douglass, a former slave, becomes determined to read and write after he is taught the alphabet by his former mistress. Although he learns to read, he begins to realize the discrimination towards slave and resents his masters for their unethical conduct. After being introduced to the abolitionist movement, Frederick Douglass is motivated to participate and builds a strong-willed character in an effort to abolish slavery. Frederick Douglass would have been unable to stand up against supporters of slavery if not for the relationships that he built with his mistress to initially pursue education. In solitude, one can achieve the ability to read, or any skill for that matter, but without his interaction with other abolitionists he would not have been able to stand up passionately against slavery. Malcom X’s voice in the Civil Rights Movement was due to his meeting with Elijah Muhammad. He begins to learn as a result of Muhammad’s teachings and is also driven by jealousy when he meets Bimbi, a highly knowledgeable man, in prison. His connection with his prison inmate stirred his determination to expand his knowledge. Although he is able to read in isolation, his desire to read sprouted because of his interactions. Through many connections, Malcolm X becomes a voice to be heard in the Civil Rights Movement. Communication between various individuals is key to the creation and expansion of character and emotion.

Although I support Stendhal’s claim, there are others in opposition who believe interaction is not required to develop character. Opponents to Stendhal’s statement say that character is a trait that an individual is naturally born with and therefore will not require social communication to develop. The significance of Frederick Douglass, who is as much of a slave as most