I love how poignant and relevant everything in this is. When I first hear the word "clique," I am prone to think of high school and Mean Girls and constant fight to have the right clothes, hair, friends, and hobbies in order to "fit in." But the fact is that group exclusitivity certainly does not stay in adolescense. In fact, "The Inner Ring" serves as a warning about the future for college students about the circles that form in the real world, found in the workplace and beyond. No matter what your age, there is always an Inner Ring at play. It is in our nature to always be trying to get into the next ring, because when we are in a certain ring, we realize it is not as glamorous as it appeared from the outside. As Lewis says, "The circle cannot have from within the charm it had from the outside. By the very act of admitting you, it has lost its magic....You merely wanted to be 'in.' And that is a pleasure that cannot last. As soon as your new associates have been staled to you by custom, you will look for another Ring. The rainbow's end will still be ahead of you." I think it is easy to lose sight of this when we are fighting for acceptance into a certain Ring. We forget that if we are trying to make these friends simply for the status that they can bring, we will eventually be discontent and want to join a new group. But if we instead have "four or five people who like one another, meeting to do things that they like," then we have actual friendship, which "Aristotle placed...among the virtues. It causes perhaps half of all the happiness in the world, and no Inner Ring can ever have it."
I think if we take the time to realize this, we can hopefully become aware of the futility of trying to enter the Inner Ring. As Lewis puts it, "You are trying to peel an onion: if you succeed there will be nothing left." In light of this, we can instead try to pursue relationships with people with whom we actually have things in common with, and be the best workers we can be in our jobs regardless of the invisible hierarchies that form around us.
Cathy, I enjoyed reading your post. It is so interesting how fast things can wear off. It is like what Mrs. Ribeiro said today in class. All the wear and tear of peeling onions brings only tears. Also, when you said how this is a warning for the future, it makes me wonder... Will I be willing to go against the tide when I have to make ethical decisions? Will I be able to sacrifice my wants with the desires of others? Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteYou hit the nail on the head with "In light of this, we can instead try to pursue relationships with people with whom we actually have things in common with, and be the best workers we can be in our jobs regardless of the invisible hierarchies that form around us."
ReplyDeleteWe should always be considering people as people themselves, not just what they can bring us or do for us. Same with vocation: it is something we do for itself, for the joy of it, rather than for what it can bring us. Nice post.
Friendship is so important in this crazy world full of inner rings. We may have a ring of friendship, but as you said, this kind of ring is different because there are no purposeful exclusions. It's just a group of people with common interests, and others don't want to be a part of it because they aren't quite as similar. We don't want to create cliques where we absolutely don't let anybody else join, either. I think friendship circles are great, but we have to be careful about excluding people who want to be friends with us.
ReplyDeleteThis continues to remind me of Ecclesiastes, and how the first two chapters are all about everything of this Earth being meaningless, and how the longing for the object or the inner ring is almost better than the thing itself.
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