The Ideas of Milieu, Essay Example

It might be useful for Alex to understand the broader concepts of Milieu in order for him to better understand the views of his parents and that his own situation has broader dimensions i.e. it is not personal but has wider ramifications.  His troubles seem somewhat confined to his personal space and the world around him and as such provides a narrower focus of understanding. If you were to take the same problems into a more holistic perspective you would obtain a wider appreciation of the events and perhaps feel less persecuted.

For example the people of Pennsylvania in the community where Alex has moved to sound ultra conservative.  They also demonstrate aspects of stereo-typing and bigotry i.e. people from Brooklyn New York are rough, poor people who will not integrate into our neighbourhood and may lower the standards of the place.  This type of behaviour is born out of ignorance but often deeply embedded in a community over time.  This can feel very personal and a form of individual attack but it has much broader implications within a societal group.  Alex has nothing to prove but integration into new social groupings can often prove challenging and difficult, it just needs observation from the correct viewpoint.  Alex demonstrates a high degree of social responsibility and control of his life at an early age. He is to be congratulated for taking his part-time job in order to help himself through college and relieve himself as social burden to his parents.  This shows a high degree of maturity, social awareness and moral responsibility to his parents.  This is bound to place a degree of stress on Alex as he works through this phase of his life.

Perhaps Alex is forgetting that his parents are also having difficulties in making the social adjustments and it is not all about him!  Their apparent indifference to Alec’s stress may be because they are having to deal with their own personal trauma. For example their integration into the Pennsylvania society, the lack of acceptance by a new social group, managing their finances as they struggle to earn enough money for their family.  In addition neither of his parents went to College so they might not readily accept the importance of a good education as they have managed to survive without one.  It is the obvious generation gap and the inability to communicate and feel empathy towards the plight of two different generations.  This is hard for Alex as he is being morally and socially responsible and all that he needs is a bit of acknowledgement, encouragement and understanding from his parents. On the other hand the parents have been in survival mode and struggled through life without a good educational background and as such leaving them disadvantaged in modern society.

The attack on New York City (9/11/2001) would have had a profound impact on a 14 year old boy.  This may have increased his personal determination to become an achiever and develop his education.  Equally in 2003 Brooklyn failed to make any significant economic gains having the highest concentration of poverty in New York. Statistics oddly enough shown that 60% of the Brooklyn Jewish community were living in conditions of extreme poverty.  This personal arena of poverty, poor health conditions and loss of hope might have triggered Alex to change his own circumstances by improving his education.  In this context his parents, despite their shortcomings, may well have been supportive.

Alex main issues in his everyday life in Pennsylvania may well have been geared to achieving personal acceptance in his new community. Dealing with a degree of bigotry, social non-acceptance and disdain from others in the community.  He may have been made to feel an outcast with no real sense of belonging in the community.  He may have found difficulty in obtaining suitable employment, hence the job in the grocery store.  This may have been the result of stereotyping, lack of suitable references, lack of social recognition etc.  President Obama commented on the small towns of Pennsylvania in a recent speech explaining small town frustration and lack of jobs “they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or antitrade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations” (Barone).

Works Cited

Barone, Michael. Obama’s Remarks Are Liberal Snobbery. 14 4 2008. 25 8 2010 <http://politics.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/barone/2008/4/14/obamas-remarks-are-liberal-snobbery-2-2.html>.