Tum Tum Souriyamth
Dr. Beverly A. Johnson
English 212-01
November 22, 2014
Good Hair – Essay Two There are three reasons Lucas commits suicide, and each reason teaches an important life lesson to Alice. First, Lucas commits suicide due to the pressure of finding a stable profession that he could be proud of. This is important because it teaches Alice that she should be thankful for the opportunities that she is presented in her field of profession. Next, Lucas commits suicide because he was no longer able to bear the burden of the he raped Alice during their childhood. This is relevant because Alice can finally face her past and be able to finally move on from such a tragic experience in her life. Lastly, Lucas commits suicide because he allows the opinion of other people to dictate the way he lives his life. This is key because after observing Lucas, Alice is taught that she needs to make her own decisions without caring what other people have to say. Lucas felt so much pressure from struggling to find a stable profession. He had high expectations and the potential to succeed in the corporate life and maybe even become a successful entrepreneur, unfortunately he failed. This failure caused a pain that built up for so long it ended up resulting in him taking his own life. Alice always cared to find her dream job and to strive to work in an environment she enjoys. Alice takes for granted the opportunities that she is presented with. Instead of complaining about being unhappy with her career she should be happy that she has a job that is in her field of interest. There are many people who aren't lucky enough to even have jobs. Ultimately the lesson that Alice can take from Lucas feeling so pressured in finding a job is that she should be more proud of what she does. Alice is successful in the eyes of others. Alice just needs to make it so she is happy with what she is doing because one must be able to accept themselves in order to be comfortable and enjoy life. Today people in society are constantly stressing out about finding what they want to become in the future. At the age of eighteen we are told to go to college to learn about a career that we want to do for the rest of our lives. At such a young age people are pressured by friends, family, and society to choose what they want to be. At times that pressure could feel like the world is collapsing on an individual. People have different ways to deal with this pressure. Some people find ways to relieve their stress through hobbies, sports, leisure, and clubs. However, there are many people who let all this pressure build up and crash down on them. Lucas was one of the people who allowed the pressure to build to the point where he couldn’t take it anymore. From a readers perspective it teaches us that we need to find things that help us manage our stress. We cannot allow the pressures of society to break us down. Instead of giving up on life, we should allow those pressures to spark a flame and ignite our drive to succeed. Turning all negative thoughts and remaining optimistic is what will get people to persevere through hard times. It is likely that with patience, optimism, and a strong drive any individual would be able to find a stable profession that they can be proud of.
Alice learns that the situation that happened between Lucas and her while they were young not only affected her entire life, but in the long run it played a role in the death of her brother. The lesson that Alice can take from this is that you cannot ignore major conflicts that occur in life. If people ignore events that tend to leave an awful mark on their life chances are things will continue to go downhill. Instead of ignoring a situation the best thing a person can do is face it. Facing a situation allows for clarification and reasoning as to why something happened. In turn it may make the situation easier to cope with. In life people make mistakes and no one is perfect. There isn’t one person