I read several of the Sedaris' essays, but one particularly held sentiment to me when I read it. This was the "What I Learned" post, that dealt Sedaris going to college and not knowing what to do after that, as well as themes of parental pressure.
The writing has to do with what Sedaris went through when he went to an ivy league school. Obviously, people had tremedous expectations of him, especially his parents. He compared this pressure to pressure of religion, more specifically in regards to a "pass-fail system," either do what your expected to do in an ivy league school such as Princeton, or fail miserbly, hence "die" in a sense.
Sedaris went on to say he really didn't know what to do with himself after graduation. Here he is, graduated from an ivy schoool. Everyone expects him to go into a career that is ultimately promising, profitable, and "happy." This is what everyone expected of him, and he had a major problem with it. He didn't have a career, didn't know exactly where to go, and had only this great expectation to be succesful under the general public's eye.
But he did not go down this common trodden-down path. He went somewhere else. This is where I believe Sedaris gets his comparison with Twain. Twain seeemed to have criticized and scrutinize the general public. Who is the general public to tell me exactly what I should do and where I should go? Sedaris obviously took his own path, writing satire about his family; not a common result of going to a "prestigious" school. He in fact went in a direction that deviated from this expected result, that ultimately resulted in happiness and a successful career.
He writes his parents were dissapointed, to the point where they "boarding up the door and disguising themselves" in response to where Sedaris was going.
His parents expected him to go into a great career that everyone else defines as "great." Since he deviated from this, they were dissapointed. Why? Twain asks this same question in many of his stories. Just because a general consensus maintains that a person should go to a great school and do great things, doesn't mean that someone can do something different to achieve success and happiness. Sedaris found something he loved and enjoyed, and that is the true benchmark of happiness and success.
It's funny that David's father preached him to keep an "open mind" when selecting a good career. In his father's head, his "open mindedness" advocated basically conforming to everyone elses opinion of success.
This is why this appeals so much to me. Sedaris went down a path that ultimately resulted in happiness, but far from what everyone else sees as success. To me, a person who still is in the dark on where to go in my life, this story is a great encouragement in regards to finding what you yourself makes you happy, and following that dream. Don't go down a "cliche" path that eveyone else would expect you to go down, do what you enjoy doing, finding out what you really love through your experiences.
What did Sedaris learn? Not exactly what everyone expected him to learn by going to such a great school such as Princeton. He learned to ignore society's results, and stay true to what he enjoyed, and that has made the difference.
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Sounds like an optimistic tale, Chris. At least, in the end. Sedaris is great at the build. He'll show us the bad (the parents' disappointment, the pressures of an ivy league school, the difficulty in trying to find success and happiness) and the good (finding success and happiness). To say, "Screw that ivy league education, I'm going to write essays" is a ballsy move. It's a crap shoot; being a successful writer isn't easy.
I'm not sure what Mark Twain's thoughts were on academia. He may have written on the subject, but if so, I haven't read it. I know how he feels about education. It's a blessing and a curse. He calls out the over-educated people such as lawyers and judges, who use their smarts for corruption and betrayal. Look at the government and the 'intelligent' white people in charge.
My favorite moment in "What I Learned" is when his father says to David (who has decided to study literature): “You’re going to study literature and get a job doing what?” he said. “Literaturizing?”
Perhaps it's only funny to me (and the English majors/minors in the class) who get asked time and time again: What do you do with a degree in English? For people like Sedaris, who ignore those who say he should do this or do that. It comes down to him making his own choices. Luckily, it all worked out for him and he wrote this self-reflective personal essay to celebrate his success.
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