Deconstructing Drivers Ed.

                                            Don't loose control!

Honk!!!  Get outta the way!  Blasted idiots!  I swear sometimes, you wonder how these people get their drivers’ licenses.  I find myself on occasion feeling this way and having no feeling, no empathy and no remorse for the ‘idiot’ who just cut me off.  But sometimes depending on my mood, I will not let such simple things affect me.  Why is it then when we know that all people are human and make mistakes, that we torment ourselves into believing that they are below us. . .not to be seen as like of us.  We all make mistakes because we are all human.  But it is how we analyze and evaluate those mistakes, ours and others, that mold us into who we are; either good or evil.  We are constantly tested in our daily lives and forced to reconstruct or reframe our thoughts or beliefs of our world we live in.

In Bessie Head's novel, A Question of Power, the narrator, Elizabeth, is questioning her surroundings and has deconstructed her entire being; stripped of all her beliefs in order to find her place in the world.   “But in order to arrive at this state of belonging, this transcendent place of peace and calm, built on the simple universal truths of love and imagination, the old frame had to be deconstructed (Burton 76).”  The only way one can truly understand or see what they are ‘made’ of, would be to break down completely, bit by bit, and critique what truly lies at the heart.  Elizabeth has several images that assist her in transcending into her journey of herself.  One image, Sello, tells her that “You don’t realize the point at which you become evil (145).”

It is easy to fall victim of our own evils, our demons, our own negativity.  It is far easier to not care, not take action, not do a damn thing, rather than care and take action.  That’s when we don’t realize the point in which we have become our own worst enemy; that which we hate, loathe or despise; the idiot drivers.  Now I’m not trying to make Elizabeth’s journey into a simplistic analogy of driver’s education but I believe that all of us have questioned ourselves in regards to right and wrong, good or evil.  Head believes, “a person eventually becomes a replica of the inner demons he battles with (150).” And although many of us probably haven’t gone mad doing so, I think everyone fights these battles daily, and tries to find peace within them. 

We may know what is right and wrong but why is it so easy to choose incorrectly.  Some may live through the teachings of their bible and yet be the first ones to cut you off when driving.  Sometimes it’s easier to just practice what is best, not do what is actually right.  Head suggests that people have a tendency to surround themselves with what the think they should be or what they hope to be.  People associate with “personalities who accompanied their activities were extended replicas of their own selves (168).”  Whether it is innate or second nature, people have a tendency to be or act like the people around them; or people within their frame.  So how does one act if you don’t have any frame to base ones reference? 

When you have no frame, it is far easier to judge and not associate or like ordinary people who are just like you.  “I’ve lost my sense of goodness completely; just the ordinary kind people use from day to day. I’ve seen a form of greed and grabbing and an arrogance monstrously out of proportion to normal human feelings (190).”  Elizabeth tries to gain insight on whom she is but this is difficult when she has no one to assist her.  A person who befriended Elizabeth, Tom, explains to her that much of her pain is because she endures her suffering alone.  “You are attacked because you are too alone (192).”  If we are alone, then it’s easier to be beaten down, believe our negativities because there is no one to assist in telling us any different.  But there is a real fine line between giving into our negativities because of lack of power and owning our negativities and using it as power.

Sello explains to Elizabeth that her own power within herself was stronger than she had known and that he didn’t ever reveal this to her because he knows what owning that power can do.  “If the things of the soul are really a question of power, then anyone in possession of power of the spirit could be Lucifer (199).”  It happens to the best of us.  We all have good intentions, with the kindness at heart, but when given power, sometimes we do what is best for ourselves rather than what is best for others.  In the end, Elizabeth acknowledges that “from the degradation and destruction of her life had arisen a still, lofty serenity of soul nothing could shake (202).”  By seeing all her negativities she actually began to rebuild her sense of self with the positives of knowing that love is actually within her and within the brotherhood of man.  “She had fallen from the very beginning into the warm embrace of the brotherhood of man, because when a people wanted everyone to be ordinary it was just another way of saying man loved man (206).”

Unlike Elizabeth, I have never been dragged through my own hell.  But I have questioned some life decisions and sometimes reflected back thinking I could have done things a little different.  I believe to have knowledge of what is right and wrong, what is good and evil, what is selfish and what is best for others.  And I believe most of us can relate.  I don’t know if I will change anytime soon in regards to my driving patterns.  I know who has the right of way; I aced my driving exam.  But it is definitely a question of power when you let someone get under your skin.  Because who really has the power when you let something eat at you?  You loose control if you let the negativity embrace you.  It’s best to take a lesson from Bessie Head and understand that people are ordinary, and they will make mistakes, it’s just how you perceive them is what will make this world; better or worse, either positively or negatively.  So next time if someone cuts you off simply deconstruct the anger and remember; your drivers ed., what is right, they're human and above all don't loose control by giving them your power.