Happiness is what you as a person feel content with. Hughes writes "Happiness is nowhere, Some old fool said." I feel that he is referring to material things not having the ability to make a person happy. No matter what new gadget we buy or vacation we take, humans always want more. In the long run, we don't know what will make us happy. Their are unhappy people who are poor, as well as unhappy rich people who are bored of getting everything they want. We don't always know what will make us happy. We may believe that there is a way to obtain absolute joy in our lives, but is there ever a point in life where we can feel 100% happy, or only 100% happy for that moment in time, such as receiving the newest phone or buying a cool car?
Friday, February 18, 2011
Hughes views on Happiness
After reading "I Thought It Was Tangiers I Wanted", Langston Hughes questions where happiness truly comes from. From what I got out of this poem is that you cannot travel to happiness. It isn't waiting for you. I believe it comes to you randomly, and you can get it with some luck. There is a famous saying that 'money can't buy happiness', however, some people think it can. So my question is, Does happiness only come from within, and if not, is it shallow of someone to try and seek happiness from worldly possessions?
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ReplyDeleteAli,
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you wrote about "I Thought it Was Tangiers I Wanted" because that means now I get to reply to you about this beautiful poem. :o) As I sit here re-reading what is on the page in front of me, I am so in love with lots of things about this brief yet incredibly insightful and memorable work. (In fact, my mind has a montage of the sights described in the poem on replay as I type.) Over the past few years, I've lived all over the place. From New York to Oregon to New York to London and back again, I've often found myself feeling restless no matter where I've gone. No matter how many miles I put behind me, I always felt like there was something additional to seek out or that there was a better place to be elsewhere. To this day, I'm not really sure what it is I’ve been trying to come across or whether or not a location can even play a role in helping me find it. According to Hughes, whatever it is that I am seeking out, it is "within oneself," and not something X amount of stamps in my passport will ever grant me. If I'm being completely honest, I don't know if I agree with that one hundred percent, but I do think that it's a start. After all, it seems vital that a person find peace within themselves before attempting to find it elsewhere. In others words, you can't jump from point A to point C without confronting point B. Basic, I know, but I think it's true.
You pose the question, "Where does happiness come from?" Oh boy. I definitely think we're going to need a bigger blog! ;) I have no idea where happiness comes from. I'm not sure anyone truly does. (Actually, I just recently learned that raisins are dried grapes, so the root of happiness is definitely something I won't be able to enlighten you about any time soon!) What I do know is this - you only live one life (unless you're a cat - then you live nine) and that one life is yours to live to the absolute fullest. I admit that I’m likely being a bit hypocritical when I say this because I know I need to listen to my own advice at times. Nevertheless, there is something I do know for a fact: Tomorrow isn't guaranteed and today means you should go nuts (whatever goings nuts means to you, you should just do it!) Yes, I know I sound like a hippie, but I think I look decent in bell-bottoms so I'm cool with that!
Your post also asks, "Is seeking out happiness through material possessions an act of shallowness or superficiality?" Nope, I don't think so! I realize that the obvious answer to that kind of question is probably "Yes" to most, but I think I'm going to be controversial and say "No." In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with trying to find something through worldly possessions. You wanna buy a lot of stuff, then that's your journey, maaan. ::throws up the peace sign:: Okay, okay, I'm half joking, half not. I guess my ultimate answer is that all things are fine in moderation. Don't get too greedy or don't get too generous, and the middle ground will reveal itself (cryptic and fortune cookie-like, much? - I can't help it, it's your fault for posting this deep blog!).
Back to Hughes’ poem - I think he’s on a journey of his own (literally and figuratively). He’s been all over the globe, convinced that Tangiers is the place he’s been looking for (Tangiers of course can stand for any place we want it to, whether it’s Oregon for me or India for someone else). Upon realizing that arriving in Tangiers will not give him what it is he thought he wanted or needed all along, Hughes comes to the realization that, “Happiness lives nowhere.” So to give you the least satisfying reply ever, I think happiness is what you make of it. Now if only I had just written that last sentence four paragraphs ago! ;)
-Tami
P.S. The last response had to go. All of the spelling and punctuation errors were making me look laaaame.
I truly enjoyed reading this poem and to an extent I do agree with the idea of happiness only existing in oneself. While I believe that worldly possessions can bring about temporary satisfaction, I do not believe that ones ultimate happiness will be reached through attaining a new car or any other fancy material object. However, I do feel that ones surrounding can certainly have an affect on how happily ones life is led.
ReplyDeleteI feel that, in this poem, Hughes seemingly went to Paris to attain 'happiness' but found that visiting "Venice" or "Notre Dame" did not bring about this ultimate joy. With this said, my question is, can one ever truly be happy within him/herself if he/she is not happy with the world he/she lives in?
For example, Hughes is a renowned writer, columnist, and benefactor to the Harlem Renaissance, all great things that one would think should bring about happiness, but yet, he still seems to be on this search. He leaves America, his home, in search of happiness. It is obvious that America was not a 'happy' place to be, certainly not for African Americans. So then, even with all of his achievements, (if the quote is believed) could he have ever truly been 'happy' while also living in the US?
In the same way, having travelled to France, did not bring about happiness, how could America?
We do see that 'happiness lives nowhere' but can one ever be happy within themselves if they are not happy with their environment? Ultimately, I think it (happiness or lack of) has just as much to do with him (Hughes) being displaced as it does with his search of finding true happiness within himself. I believe many different things factors into ones ultimate happiness.
In the article "Langston Hughes and Alain Locke" the author discusses how "hughes satirizes the 'niggerati' who believe that art will bring down racial barriers, prevent lynchings, and save the race." (p.68) Yet is later "happy" in Paris with Locke when he was introduced to "circles and concerns that had until then remained outside his own folk-oriented interests, and initiation into a more sophisticated appreciation of the role of Afro-American culture in world art."(p. 69)
ReplyDeleteHe is later remembered by Paule Marshall as a mentor that allowed her to contribute as an international speaker for Civil Rights. This makes me ask the question isn't he most happy as the "niggerati" he was opposed to? And being part of an elite group does he not have the power to bestow a voice to those that have none?