Cultural Impact of Fear Based on Change
Recent studies suggest that humans have only four basic emotions: happiness, sadness, fear, and anger (Time). Specifically, fear is defined as “a strong emotion caused by great worry about something dangerous, painful, or unknown that is happening or might happen”(Cambridge). When someone doesn’t know what to do, or is afraid of what might happen, their anxiety can lead them to make pretty rash decisions, leading to poor choices that can be harmful to society. Fear of change or of lost control specifically has historically harmed free thought and cultural progression. For example, many government institutions have implemented policies of censorship, in fear of losing control of the population, mainly because the thought of revolution being instilled in the minds of citizens might be enough to create something dangerously large. In the 1850s, Charles Darwin’s work on evolution was widely banned in many countries where Catholicism was prevalent because the church had ideas that differed, and did not want people to think that they were incorrect (FreedomToRead). It wasn’t until the 1950s when Pope Pius XII confirmed that there were disputes with evolution, but it was still noted that according to the Catholic religion, mankind was still created by God(SmithsonianMag). Even then, there are still countries that ban evolution, and also creationism from being taught in classrooms.
In present news, Islamic extremist terrorist group Boko Haram has unleashed several attacks in the Nigerian region of Africa. Boko Haram is a group that is fighting to censor Western thought, as they believe that western education is a plot against the Islamic religion. Boko Haram has committed many massacres at schools, killing students for simply wanting to further their education. One of the attacks was reported as “a school dormitory [that] was doused in petrol and set alight […]. Those trying to flee the flames were shot. The attack left 46 dead, mostly students. More than 300 classrooms [were] torched”(TheGuardian). The motive behind these attacks is clear: Boko Haram is afraid of western education, and the only option they have to save their religion is to put an end to the “dangerousness” of progressive thinking that is being taught in their schools. Similarly, in fear of losing control of their ideologies, the Nazi party in Germany was known to perform a “cleansing” purge which consisted of burning books that were written by Jewish, Communist, or any other authors that they thought were not fit for the people of Germany to read (USHMM). This is a major loss to cultural heritage. Books can have religious, cultural, or political references and ideas, and when burned, it is literally and symbolically a defamation to those specific ideas.
In the book Don Quixote, protagonist Don Quixote is believed by his niece and housekeeper to have gone crazy. He lived a boring life, and used books of knights and chivalry to entertain himself, until one day, he got up and decided that he would leave home and journey as a knight. After his first adventure, he returned home beaten up, and was taken care of by his niece, housekeeper, the town barber, and priest. His niece is quoted, explaining how “it often happened that my dear uncle would read these cruel books of adventures for two days and nights without stopping, and when he was finished he would toss away the book and pick up his sword and slash at the walls, and when he was very tired he would say that he had killed four giants as big as four towers, and the sweat dripping from him because of his exhaustion he would say was blood from the wounds he received in battle, and then he would drink a whole pitcher of cold water and become cured and calm again..”(Cervantes, 46). Here, Quixote’s niece vividly portrays the fantasy that he believes himself to be living. She fears that he has gone overboard, and offers resolution when talking to the barber, saying, “I am to blame for everything because I didn’t let your graces know about the foolishness of my dear uncle so that you could help him before it went this far, and burn all these wicked books, and he has many that deserve to be burned, just as if they belonged to heretics” (Cervantes, 47). Although the resolution is not as extreme as the one in Nazi Germany (cultural purging), the concept of burning books is still prevalent, as it is a way to rid the dangerous ideas that have been at fault for instilling such a mindset that has greatly affected Don Quixote. The niece thinks that if she can lose the books, she can help her uncle lose the fantasy of being a knight. However, fire in Don Quixote is fueled as he learns about his books, and he believes that it is his enemy that destroyed his beloved library. It is too late for Don Quixote; he has already committed to his new lifestyle and will pursue it, as it makes him content to help and live adventurously.
Works Cited
- “New study says we have four emotions..” time.com. Alexandra Sifferlin. 2/5/2014.
- Definition: fear. Cambridge dictionary.
- “Bannings and book burnings in history” freedomtoread.com. 2013.
- “Pope would like you to accept evolution” smithsonianmag.com. Colin Shultz. 10/28/2014.
- “Boko Haram leader calls for more school attacks after dorm killings” thegaurdian.com. Monica Mark. 7/14/2013.
- “Book Burning” USHMM.com. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 8/18/2015.
- Don Quixote. Miguel de Cervantes. Translated by Edith Grossman. HarperCollins. 2003.