When its Really Hard to Care

            Why do we value  something that does not have any real importance? Why must we care for the things that have no meaning?  Life is simply thrown away when we pretend we care.

           Billy Pilgrim confesses he hates his job as an optometrist. Reading about his field, bores him tremendously. Studying this topic makes him sleepy and shatters a shimmer of light into darkness. Optometry might as well be the most tedious job a person could have. It might as well not be even a job, rather than a slow death. It is suicidal yet silent. Although Billy does not say this, in the book it states "Billy Pilgrim tried hard to care." (pg.61) These words say absolutely everything Pilgrim might be thinking at the moment. 

         Today, one really doesn't find importance on studying certain subjects. We just question and make up excuses for why the topic seems completely usless and irrational. However, by the end of the day, one gives up and realizes that one's lack of experience can lead to invented judgments. What we truly can affirm and judge at our age, is our perception of beauty. 

             Young adults nowadays are not only surrounded by materialistic influences such as propaganda, but most importantly, our search for physical attractiveness. This has caused us to become obsessed with the physique. Infatuation is our desperation in the single life. Teenagers base popularity on good-looking people. For looks define a person and their value through some adolescents eyes. However, if our social life depends on this diminutive aspect of life, then is it grating to say that "its really hard to care?" 

                Are these the people one wants as friends? Those who call themselves your companion, however are only interested in what you have to offer them. In addition, those who search for popularity and are attracted by your social skills, are determined to climb the steepest mountain in order to stand on top. Beauty is money, which buys power. However, what importance does popularity have if people only care about one's sexual appeal? In addition, what importance does beauty have if people will only see you from the outside, rather than the inside. Only a small percentage of the world would be interested in getting to love the person inside. 

              Beauty is an illusion. For their are thousands of definitions for physical attractiveness. In addition, it forms part of a body who will later be gone. The world will not be grateful for a person's beauty after they have passed. The world will not remember one's popularity. So, why is beauty important.  Why is it so hard to care? Why am I trying to care?

             Billy Pilgrim is going through this same crisis. Throughout the book, this character demonstrates how his constant struggle to agree with others has made him unhappy. Before the war, Billy was "someone who tried to care," however, after the war Billy was a person who "didn't care." His talks on the radio about Tralfamadores, demonstrated how this protagonist has surpassed the "its hard to care" crisis. What caused Pilgrim's change of mind? War is like a awakening for those who once threw away life, by letting it pass unhappily. So why was Billy transformed after this memorable experience?

           We all need an awakening. To stop pretending who we want to be, and start being who we actually are.