Human Connections

Human connections can greatly influence actions for better or worse. Having no connections can deprive someone of the knowledge that comes from interaction, and having many connections can sometimes be overwhelming or harmful as seen in many literary works. Therefore, it can be debated whether we need human connections or not.

Oedipus is a tragedy, which means people suffer, most of all Oedipus. One thing that sets him apart from the others is how many connections he has. He has connections with his wife, his children, other people in his family, and more importantly, his people. These connections are what caused him to care about who killed Laius. Had he not been the king of Thebes, the feelings of the people would not have mattered and the plague would have been something unchangeable by him. This way, he wouldn’t have looked into the prophecy, ultimately causing him less harm. The human connection led him to harm, this is why many leadership positions are considered dangerous

In “God of Small Things” Rahel, and her mother Ammu’s relationship is more complex than any other in the book. Ammu loves Rahel and is very protective of her since her divorce where she lost a lot of herself. This causes her to say things from her trauma like, “when you hurt people, they begin to love you less.” This causes Rahel to fear losing her mother’s love and fight to keep it. This is another example of harm coming from human connection. Projecting insecurities onto other people is a coping mechanism, that all humans with stress or trauma will use. The way they use it however is what can make the difference to destroy connections or make them stronger.

Even though connections have negative impacts like in Oedipus and God of Small Things, there are still many ways they can help development. In Saving Sourdi, Sourdi and Nea's connection helps them get through many obstacles in life. From the bad customer to Sourdi's wedding, Nea always held Sourdi as her priority and worked to protect her. Recognizing her efforts, Sourdi helps Nea get through her obstacles as well. This unity created from connections can act as a helping hand to get through setbacks.

In God of Small Things, the twins Estha and Rahel have a different kind of connection. Due to their upbringing being very similar, they have very similar thought processes as well. This is why they can somewhat sense what the other is feeling. Their connection is the strongest in the novel and they use it to their benefit. When Ammu, their mother, passes away, they know what the other is feeling and tell each other that they are there for each other. This unique relationship in the real world is something we could all use as we all go through bad times.

Relationships have many downsides, but we benefit so much from them, even the bad parts which we can learn from. To this day, there has not been one prosperous civilization that was built by just one person. Collaboration was needed and made everything so much easier for us. In prehistoric times, humans always stayed together and we could not go on and make progress without these connections. No matter what the world throws at us, we will get through it, together.