Marriage in the Public Sphere

Kate Middleton and Prince William’s recent nuptials got me thinking about the interconnectedness of marriage and the public sphere.  Shows like, “Say Yes to the Dress”, “Amazing Wedding Cakes”, and “Bridezillas” (to name a few) on TLC, which expose the behind-the-scenes preparations that go into conducting a “successful wedding”.  The New York Times’ “Weddings and Celebrations” section is a weekly article in which announcements of marriages are published.  Tabloids and Fashion magazines alike (People and Vogue, for example) follow celebrity couples, hyping up their romantic lives so greatly that when they inevitably falter, the public reaction is more melodramatic than necessary.  Even movies and television shows of every genre highlight marriages (Charlotte from Sex and the City glorifies marriage to an extreme).  I appreciate that marriages have always been glorified throughout history, but I would like to research how the technological advancements that have occurred over the past 30 years have changed the public’s perception of marriage.  How did marriage become such a franchise in recent years?  When did people start buying paraphernalia with celebrity couples’ faces printed on them?  The influx of new ways to share information through the media and through other forms of modern technology has instigated a new era of blurring the lines between the private and public spheres.  I will be researching the different ways in which the media has become involved in the public sphere – specifically regarding marriage.

Not worth it.

I was recently browsing some of my favorite stores’ websites, and came across a few pieces of jewelry I really liked.  Initially, while I was doing this, I intended to write about new trends in jewelry – the “in” colors, etc.  But what I realized as I perused Anthropologie’s necklace section is that “play” jewelry has become seriously overpriced.  I appreciate that some semi-precious stones are harder to come by than others. I understand that the jewelry being sold at Anthropologie is hand-crafted with care.  I understand that gold is expensive.  But, naturally, I find it appalling that necklaces like those which I have provided links to cost close to what a refrigerator or some other large, electronic household appliance might cost.  I’m pretty sure some of these necklaces cost more than my television.  Who actually buys this stuff? Some of this stuff looks like the kind of jewelry I used to make in pre-school. Out of beans and dried pasta. Give me a break.

1)  http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=23850910&catId=JEWELRY-NECKLACES&pushId=JEWELRY-NECKLACES&popId=JEWELRYACCESSORIES&navCount=96&color=000&isProduct=true&fromCategoryPage=true&isSubcategory=true&subCategoryId=JEWELRY-NECKLACES

2) http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=23850928&catId=JEWELRY-NECKLACES&pushId=JEWELRY-NECKLACES&popId=JEWELRYACCESSORIES&navCount=96&color=000&isProduct=true&fromCategoryPage=true&isSubcategory=true&subCategoryId=JEWELRY-NECKLACES

Fur in Fashion

I don’t want to get into a debate about the morality of killing, skinning, and wearing an animal's fur as fashion, but I thought I’d write a little bit about how ridiculous (and almost hilarious) the concept of “fashionable fur” really is. I’ll admit that I do own “Ugg” boots.  I do own objects made from leather.  My mother has a coat in her closet made from animal fur.  That being said, though I don’t think about this concept often, it really is bizarre that humans wear the hides of other animals as fashion.  Seems like a primal concept, right? Why do people pay thousands of dollars to wear the skin and fur of dead animals? I find the concept of fur more disgusting than the concept of leather.  At least leather doesn’t still look like the animal it came from. 

I found a few links to ridiculously priced fur items.  Enjoy.

Raccoon, anyone?

http://www.barneys.com/Fur-Collar-Moto-Jacket/501248683,default,pd.html?q=fur


Fur baseball cap:

http://www.barneys.com/Felted-Fur-Dogear-Hat/00505013978785,default,pd.html?q=fur

Wear a fox around your neck:

http://www.barneys.com/Fox-Fur-Eternity-Scarf/00505014041556,default,pd.html?q=fur

Page 72 - Bullying in The Handmaid's Tale

Bullying is a despicable concept.  The idea that someone should find him or herself to be more significant than another person, and manifest this sentiment through the torment of this “lesser” person, is absolutely immoral.  In Margaret Atwood’s, The Handmaid’s Tale, societal guidelines are dictated by a gender-based social code (established by men) that inhibits bullying in the forms of sexism between men and women and classism between women and other women.  Atwood’s interpretation of the threats of the increasing sexism and classism that exist in our modern world is an exaggeration of what might actually come to fruition in the future.  However, this text is a good example of the negative threats that gender-based bullying poses on our society.  Atwood approached a modern concept by giving it a futuristic twist, a tactic we saw George Orwell employ in his novel, 1984.  What I appreciated about Atwood’s interpretation of the concept of gender-based bullying was her use of first-person narrative to engage the reader in the story through the protagonist’s thought process.  In this way, readers are privy to witnessing the backwards nature of the world Atwood created through the mind of a character that is sympathetic of others, thus providing the theory that human compassion has the potential to stay intact, even when society cultivates negativity based on gender differences.

In one particular scene, found on pages 71 and 72, Atwood presented a situation in which the protagonist was forced to belittle another woman, yet she felt guilty for doing so. The scene, though brief, is of a handmaid (Janine) who had been raped as a youth.  After repeating her experience at “Testifying,” a gathering at which the handmaids shared personal stories, though the truthfulness of these stories was never certain because “it was safer to make things up than to say you had nothing to reveal” (71), she was tormented by the rest of the women, who chanted “crybaby” at her, and told her that the rape was her own fault.  This aggressive bullying caused Janine to break down emotionally and eventually believe that the fact that she had been raped had actually been her own fault – that her promiscuity was the instigator.  Though, “for a moment, even though [the handmaids] knew what was being done to [Janine], [they] despised her” (72).  The moment that Offred, the protagonist, lapses out of her brainwashed mentality is when she admits, “I used to think well of myself. I didn’t then” (72).   Atwood uses Offred’s self-reflection to show that Offred is still emotionally removed from the “system,” though she is physically a part of it.

Atwood’s presentation of the concept of bullying and its intricacies between genders and within separate genders provides readers with the opportunity to see societal circumstances that should not be allowed to come into existence in our modern world.  I appreciate that Atwood was able to convey the protagonist’s guilty conscience by establishing a first-person narrative from Offred’s perspective.  This provided readers with a reminder that, even when society cultivates negativity based on gender differences, human compassion has the potential to persevere.

Social Changes

After reading what Ed had to say about the issue of whether or not to close the fraternities, I thought I'd share my thoughts on the matter.  I agree completely with Ed's views on this issue. While I think that there are some imperfections in the social "system" here at Trinity, I don't think that the fraternities should be shut down in order to alleviate them.  I appreciate the school's interest in pooling more funding from general alumni over simply receiving money from brothers, however I think that eliminating the fraternities entirely will deplete the school's appeal in applicants' eyes.  Trinity might be respected as an academic institution, but students will probably be less apt to apply here if the social scene is altered that dramatically.  I, for one, really enjoy the fact that we have the fraternities as an option on weekend nights. I am not overlooking the negative incidents that have been occurring more recently in the fraternities/involving the fraternities, but I do think that the fraternities are important to the social scene at this school. Without them, I think that students might turn to forming "underground fraternities".  Should those come to existence on this campus, the purpose of having shut down the fraternities will have been for naught.  These "underground" fraternities might cause bigger problems for the school, as well, because they will be even less regulated than the current, "official" institutions on our campus.  Whether or not the school actually shuts down the fraternities, I think that, yes, something does need to change.  But instead of demolishing a significant portion of the current social scene, why don't we add to other aspects of the nightlife on this campus?

True Enough.

Farhad Manjoo’s book, True Enough, raises many thought-provoking issues pertaining to the media coverage, logistics, and varying interpretations of the attacks that occurred on 9/11.  Manjoo uses 9/11 as an example of a situation where personal perspectives collided with the media’s perspective, as a confusion of individual thought and general media propaganda occurred in the aftermath of the attacks on that day.  Using topic as the basis for his novel, Manjoo examines the differences between forming personal opinions based on individual experience and interpreting a situation based on how the media portrays the incident and conveys the news to the public.

One of the concepts that I found more interesting than others was the concept of “flashbulb memories” (found on page 65).  The idea behind these memories is that they are formed at moments when your mind is so shocked by a specific surprise that it remembers every aspect of your surroundings at those moments when you were surprised.  This was interesting to me because I can clearly remember where I was and what I was doing when I was told about the attacks on September 11^th, 2001.  This concept relates to Manjoo’s overall analysis of interpretations – while I did not witness the attacks firsthand, I was able to watch footage of the attacks on the news later that day.  I have a vivid memory, however, of how my day transpired on September 11^th.  The concepts are somewhat disconnected, but they are similar in the sense that, specifically on 9/11, as Manjoo pointed out in this section of the reading, “if you were alive on 9/11, what you remember is what happened at the scene. You saw it unfold. Your flashbulb memory is of the thing itself” (65). So, while I was not at the immediate scene of the attacks, I viewed them on television – a live filming of the attacks.  I did not analyze the attacks. I did not spend time studying them.  I just watched them unfold.  I witnessed history firsthand, as opposed to reading about it in a newspaper at a later time. 

Another aspect of this book that I found very interesting was Manjoo’s argument that the inclusion of a greater amount of media coverage of a situation can lead to greater uncertainty and confusion regarding the interpretation of that situation.  He makes a valid point.  A particular multimedia clip has the potential to be interpreted in so many different ways that, though the clip might have recorded an incident, the details of that incident might be blurred if the incident is over-analyzed. Over-analyzing situations can lead to false conclusions.  As Manjoo noted, “42 percent of Americans believe that ‘the U.S. government and its 9/11 Commission concealed or refused to investigate critical evidence that contradicts their official explanation of the September 11^th attacks” (65).  This outcry was based on the viewing and over-analyzing of “thousands of photographs and sounds recorded that day” (65). 

While there were other aspects of Manjoo’s examination of the media in this book that I found interesting, these were some of the concepts that have stuck with me.  I know that I will always remember every detail of my day on 9/11.  And the next time I watch the news, I will be sure to consider the angle from which the news is being covered.  I will consider the news station’s credibility before fully believing every aspect of the story.   More so than I did before reading this book, I can now better appreciate the media’s great influence on our lives.  And reflecting on what happened on 9/11 has made me think about the media has portrayed the events over the past decade.  There are always multiple interpretations of every story.  This book has made me think about the extent to which the media influences the opinions I shape.

The "Dr. Fox" Effect

The “Dr. Fox” Effect (beginning on page 113) is an interesting concept.  It is true that, if persuaded effectively, people will begin to believe in something that does not actually exist or is not true.  This experiment immediately made me think of how little children are so quick to believe concepts they know nothing about.  Could adults – well-educated, probably very successful doctors – really fall under the spell of brainwashing so quickly without questioning the validity of the information they are being told? Very interesting. Very disturbing. We need to be more active when it comes to learning new things – we need to question things, and extract answers.  This experiment is a good example of how society digests false information it is fed.

TE: Pages 85-94

I found the information on pages 85-94 to be simultaneously very disturbing and interesting.  The fact that Dylan Avery fabricated information and used information that was possibly incorrect from websites that were probably not secure makes me consider the way news and rumors about significant events is spread to the public.  What is true and what is fabricated? Who are we supposed to believe if the media is a conspiracy? I do rely on my local news and national newspapers for secure information, but I will admit that I often fall victim to the fabricated information I learn from magazines and tabloids.  The fact that Avery was able to create scenes that made viewers wonder why the government hadn't done certain things/why the general public was not privy to certain information surrounding the issue (i.e. "Why don't we see any aircraft debris at the Pentagon scene?") makes me think of how tabloids, however silly they may seem to us, do actually make us see the celebrities they are portraying in the way that they are portraying them from then on.  Once an opinion about someone else is established, we tend to create concrete judgments about others without realizing that, whether or not we change our superficial opinions about others, we will always harbor those initial judgments about them. I see a relation between the two concepts - the brainwashing techniques used by celebrity tabloids and the brainwashing that exists in the media.

I know that I am not the only American citizen who believes things like what Avery was promoting in his film.  I did not see his film, nor had I heard of it when it was created, but reading about it now, I can imagine that, were I to have heard of it, I probably would have been intrigued enough to have watched it.  I am naïve enough to probably have believed the information I would have learned from watching it.  I can’t imagine how viewers were influenced by the messages in this film.

Thoughts About Section 1 of "True Enough"

“True Enough” is a very interesting book.  I don’t usually favor non-fictional literature over fiction, but this book reminds me of a good newspaper article.  It makes me think of the presidential election and what it means to be a good person vs. what it means to be a good politician.  Do the two correspond? Can they ever? (Referring to page 10 of this book)

Fashion Photojournalism at its Finest.

Fashion is a powerful art form.  It has the ability to change our attitudes, our moods, and our interests.  It connects cultures, languages, and perspectives.  We are all unique, and should all have the freedom to express ourselves through what we wear or how we wear it.  What I also like about fashion is that designers incorporate other aspects of pop culture and history into their creations.  They have such influence over the general public, yet they draw influence from the general public. It’s a cycle.

One of my favorite websites is called “The Sartorialist”.  Run by Scott Schuman, the Sartorialist was created to establish a “two-way dialogue about the world of fashion and its relationship to daily life” (quote taken from the biography page on the Sartorialist website).  Essentially, photographers travel the globe in search of innovative, trendy, avant-garde, and eye-catching fashion found on the street.  An individual photograph is posted each day, each depicting a different kind of outfit, each taken in a different location. The saying, “a picture’s worth a thousand words,” comes to mind when I think of the Sartorialist.  It’s photojournalism for the soul.  Every picture evokes a different emotion, a different reaction.  I feel like I am traveling to a different part of the world through each respective picture. 

The Sartorialist is truly an inspiring concept. And an awesome blog to peruse.

http://www.thesartorialist.com/

My personal favorites today (though I do enjoy so many of the outfits posted in recent months):

1. This pairing is so chic and sophisticated, yet fun (the incorporation of tan and nude makes simultaneously youthful/inviting and mature). http://www.thesartorialist.com/photos/on-the-street-via-manzoni-milan-5/

2. So Summer-y and sweet: Happiness in a photograph. http://images.thesartorialist.com/thumbnails/2011/09/091111grapedress7050web.jpg

3. This picture’s just hilarious. http://images.thesartorialist.com/thumbnails/2011/09/091111warisahluwalia7372web.jpg

4. Eye-catching. Cool pairing, I like the color/pattern coordination. Very different, though not necessarily the most amazing outfit. Just different in a good way! http://images.thesartorialist.com/thumbnails/2011/09/091411blueshoes8622web1.jpg

And another shot of the outfit: http://images.thesartorialist.com/thumbnails/2011/09/091411blueshoes8614web.jpg

5. Awesome color/pattern pairing. A-plus. http://images.thesartorialist.com/thumbnails/2011/09/90811PatternMix_5670Web4.jpg

More on the status of the Euro

I’ve been following the rise and fall of the Euro.  Though I haven’t particularly been researching and comparing it with the USD, I just read an article about the Euro’s decline in relation to the Yen.  This concept is interesting to me.  China is becoming increasingly more powerful, especially in the financial world.  While I’m not sure whether or not to be afraid of this fact (I don’t necessarily think that China will “take over the world”, but it is sort of unsettling to be reminded that the U.S. is no longer the leading financial force.), it does make me consider just how far the USD has fallen.  I have been thinking of the Euro as such a powerful currency (because of the strength it’s had over the USD for the past half decade or so), but if the Euro is faltering, that’s not a good sign.  What does this mean for the fate of the USD?

I read this in the article: “Europe is heading towards a recession,” said Robert Rennie, chief currency strategist in Sydney at Westpac Banking Corp., Australia’s second-largest lender. “You continue to use opportunities to sell the euro into strength because it’s a hope-based rally. Once that hope starts to evaporate, the euro will start to fall again.”  Should we be afraid that China is “taking over”?

Article I read:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-28/euro-retreats-against-yen-dollar-amid-concern-at-europe-economic-slowdown.html

Article info:

Euro Drops Against Yen Amid Slowdown Concern

By Masaki Kondo and Monami Yui

Reflection on George Orwell's, 1984

There are many reasons why I enjoyed reading Orwell’s, 1984.  Firstly, it reminded me of a good book I read last summer.  The book was called, “The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,” written by Junot Diaz.  While 1984 and Oscar Wao are very different, they are also very similar in that they were both written to seem non-fictional, but both books include fantastical references and fictional concepts.  Take, for example, Orwell’s description of a London that he predicted would come to existence in the year 1984.  Not only did he describe a plausible, very dreary city, but he also predicted a society in which communism and totalitarianism ruled over all.  The “Party” he described as the form of government that existed in this “society” fit the description of later political parties in Europe.  His descriptions of children dressing in “blue shorts, gray shirts, and red neckerchiefs which were the uniform of the Spies” reminded me so much of the brainwashing and psychological manipulation that took place in Europe during times of political turmoil and transition (23).  I often thought of Hitler and his reign while reading about how the society described in 1984 was controlled by a totalitarian government.

1984 also reminded me very much of Orwell’s other well-known novel, Animal Farm.  While he could not have known precisely how historical events would play out in actuality, Orwell’s predictions of Communism in Russia were incredibly accurate.  I found that his take on the world that would exist in 1984 was also extremely close to being true to the society that would really come into existence.  During the cold war, Europe did, in fact, greatly resemble the society Orwell illustrated.  While many fantastical aspects of the society Orwell predicted were too far-fetched to actually come to fruition (the “though police” did not actually come into existence, though the concept of spying on others in the hopes of catching them disobeying the rules of the government became an actual occurrence), much of what he wrote about in 1984 did exist later in history.  His prediction of a totalitarian, omnipotent force in Europe was accurate. 

Though I’m not a big fan of fiction, I did enjoy the fact that Orwell created a world in which many actual historical events later mirrored by his predictions.  I wonder how he could have guessed how communism and totalitarianism were going to affect the societies they governed.  Orwell’s conclusions about the future nature of European society were amazingly precise.  For me, this factor made 1984 more enjoyable.  The combination of Orwell’s ability to write well and the subject matter he focused on made this novel quite an interesting read.

Response to Preliminary Research on the Financial Circumstances in the EU

Finances and the Economy: My Focus on the Rise and Fall of the Euro

For a few consecutive summers during high school, I was fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to travel abroad to Europe.  During the year leading up to each trip, I babysat and took up odd-end jobs to save up some “spending money.”  By the end of every school year, I would feel so proud of myself for having saved such a substantial amount of money.  But what I would always forget about the USD was its meager might in comparison to the strength of the Euro.  While in Europe, I’d buy fancy clothes and many meals with my hard-earned cash, and realize later that I’d been spending almost twice as much in USD than I would be spending in Euros.  The exchange rate was a killer.

            After years of going through this process, the Euro has finally fallen.  But, of course, I no longer spend my summers in Barcelona - just my luck that the Euro has weakened during a time when I can no longer benefit from it.  I have, however, gained a breadth of knowledge on the logistics of the European economy, as well as the interconnectedness of the U.S.’s economy with Europe’s.  One of my favorite characteristics of the economy as a concept is its ability to unite the world.  The fact that one country’s respective economy can completely alter that of another’s is just fascinating.

            What I’ve been focusing on for my research, if I hadn’t articulated myself well enough thus far, is the rise and fall of the Euro.  I’ve been reading about instances that have been affecting it (both positively and negatively), and how it stands against the economies of other countries around the world.  One recent article I’ve read about the matter, written by Peter Granham, is titled; “Euro Suffers After French Banks’ Downgrades.”  In it, Granham wrote; “The euro bounced back from a seven-month low against the dollar on Wednesday after announcements of fresh plans by eurozone to hold the single currency together.  However, concerns over eurozone banks deepened and data raised worries over the region’s economy.”  This report informed me of both an aspect of the circumstances of the European economy that proved to be positive for the Euro, and also suggested that the Euro might again weaken shortly.  The article, which I read in the Financial Times, is an example of the kinds of articles that will assist me with my research on the rise and fall of the Euro.

 

My take on Section 1 of 1984

George Orwell's, 1984, is a fantastic novel.  What I liked about 1984 was its correlation to actual historical events.  I think it's simultaneously very funny and amazing that Orwell predicted so many aspects of a society that actually came into existence.  Though I've read this book before, I picked up on many minor details I could never have been aware of before taking an AP European History class and an AP English class this past year.  I picked up on so many of Orwell's references that I might not have noticed when I read it years ago.  Thus, it was a more enjoyable read.

Finance/Economics Ambassador

As one of the “ambassadors” of the topic of finances/economy, I will mostly be focusing on global economics.  What I like about international economic affairs is the ability of a concept (in this case, finances) to connect the differing cultures and countries of the world.  It’s amazing how an event that affects one country’s economy has the potential to greatly affect many other countries.  Countries rely on one another to maintain their respective economic circumstances.  Our world is so intricately connected in this way. 

In order to research this topic, I will utilize both the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times.  I will also be following some blogs on similar topics, and will hopefully discover new resources as I conduct my research.  

Response to Article, "After Class, Skimpy Equality," by Lisa Belkin

Last year, I took a class called “Leadership in a Diverse Society.”  In that class, we discussed many social divides, including those that exist between men and women.  I am not naïve about that topic.  I feel very strongly about female empowerment, especially because I want to be taken seriously both in an academic environment and in social settings.   This article was both appalling and fascinating to me.  I find it interesting that women have progressed so greatly in the past twenty years, in terms of overcoming obstacles in the academic realm, yet so many aspects have remained consistent in the dynamics of male-female relationships. 

            This article made me reflect on my own experiences with the concept of receiving respect in the academic realm.  I was in an advanced placement European history class last year, in which I was one of three girls in a class of thirty students.  The boys constantly challenged my contributions to class discussions, and I came to the conclusion that, for the most part, the boys in my class did this only to make themselves feel like they could match me (or beat me) intellectually.  So I started to wonder – why are boys so intimidated by intelligent women?  Is it because intelligent women make boys feel lesser?  Boys are generally physically stronger than women, so do boys assume that this physical quality automatically entitles them to the right to be “stronger” in an intellectual sense?

As this article also examined, women do tend to tear each other down just as much as they belittle themselves.  The subject is complicated – while I agree with the statement that women use their sexuality to their advantage, as Jared Griffin commented in his interview for this article, I also think that men present women with unfair social expectations.  These are standards that cause women to target other women with snide remarks and behind-the-back, hurtful comments.  From my perspective, many of these comments are fueled by jealousy.  Women tend to want to out-do other women so that they can be seen as more desirable to men, but in doing so, many women degrade themselves in the eyes of men.  So, evidently, a horrible cycle is exists in our society.  I hope, though I don’t know when this might come to fruition, that this cycle might someday be broken.

Response to Question 3 - "Mountains Beyond Mountains"

Many aspects of Paul Farmer’s childhood shaped him into the compassionate, hard-working person that he is today.  Above all things, the fact that he was raised in poverty helped Farmer appreciate the value of hard work and moral integrity over physical possessions and excessive wealth.  His family encouraged him to do well, and expected him to accomplish only the best.  They provided him with a sense of community that he otherwise lacked in his life, as his family was not stationary in one location for much time, and Farmer was often too precocious to relate to his contemporaries.  “Farmer’s childhood was good preparation for a traveling life,” as he was able to find comfort in virtually any living situation as a result of his ever-changing surroundings (“he could sleep in a dentist’s chair, as he did at night for most of one summer in a clinic in Haiti, and consider it an improvement over other places he had slept”) (P.54).  “He allowed that growing up as he did … probably relieved him of a homing instinct” (P. 54).  In its stead, Farmer was able to establish connections with the places where he did the most work.  When he came upon Cange, Haiti, Farmer concluded that he had found his hometown.

             Farmer’s impoverished childhood led him to be able to focus in hectic environments.  As a result of being raised in cramped quarters, Farmer formed the ability to work in the midst of havoc early on.  This, in turn, is most likely provided him with the ability to perform well in the ER, and the ability to treat patients in Haiti under noisy and crowded circumstances.  

            Growing up, Farmer was always assigned many chores.  This instilled in him the need to constantly be accomplishing something. Even when he went through a temporary, transitional character phase in college (his attitude changed when he was surrounded by such immense wealth at Duke), he returned home on school vacations to chores and responsibilities.  When he referred to himself as someone who could not wear clothes other than “preppy clothes,” his father’s response to his son’s behavior was that “[Paul] the preppy [could] still clean the bilge” (55).  His family kept him grounded.

            As a result of his humble upbringings, Farmer possessed more moral integrity and appreciation for the value of hard work than he would have had if he had been raised in a wealthier environment.  He was not coddled or spoiled with possessions as a child.  Instead, he was constantly encouraged to pursue his academic interests, to work hard, and to appreciate the good things in his life.  He was only able to adapt to the demanding lifestyle that accompanied his position as a doctor for the masses of an impoverished Haiti because of the circumstances in which he was raised.