During your childhood, one follows their family's values. As you get older, you meet friends with different ideas. As you become independent, you miss out on both. If your parents were conservative and pushy, should you be the same? If your friends believe in liberal ideas, should you ignore them? Being independent means to make your own choices but a good upbringing is needed to build yourself. Responsibility, integrity, respect, sincerity, and trust are values we learn with people, regardless of their relationship with us. As I read Frankenstein, Edgar blamed himself for creating a monster. The creature had good intentions and was nowhere like his creator. What could the creature learn from a "father" figure like Edgar? True, the creature does not have to be like Edgar at all. Think though: do you expect newly born people to think for themselves? Even if they are intelligent, support is needed (whether it is physical or emotional).
Once we understand how the world works, we choose our independence. It is not because we hate our peers, it is for self-development. We cannot be with our family forever (sad as it sounds). The creature can decide to live for himself and learn the struggles of life. He was independent from the start but he never had support. Funny, we only gain independence after being dependent.
Personal values are within us. We understand their meaning, but we feel them until the time comes. I can tell you what respect is, but you only know the depth of its meaning when you finally have respect for someone. If we were raised without values, I think we all have a chance. Sure, we will trip and fall. But we have a mind and two hands ready to take beatings everyday. We all have the value of independence and we put it to use once our peers leave us. Ironically, dependence is not a value. Remember, dependence is when you rely on others, it has nothing to do with you. The creature gain little values with dependence but as he became independent he thought for himself.
If we ever are born without support of any kind, I think independence can help us build what we do not have.
I think that early in your life your values come from what the people around you teach you,whether it is your family or friends. As you get older they change like you said you depend less on them, and become independent and within that journey of becoming independent you figure out your values for yourself whether they stay the same or they change from what you were taught as a child.
ReplyDeleteYou pretty much said it in a nutshell. Good input.
ReplyDeleteI have often questioned this. My parents have taught me morals, but they never really took me to church. They wanted me to find my own way. So if religious teachings do not guide our lives, what does? I guess it is a combination. Our parents and other adults teach us right from wrong when we are young, but eventually we have to decide on our own the difference between right and wrong. I think these boundaries exist in everyone's heart, and it just depends on if we listen to our heart to define the boundaries and use that to base our decisions on.
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