Comparing Steppenwolf and the Teenaged Girl Essays -- Comparison Compa

Parallels Between Steppenwolf and the Teenaged Girl To be a teenaged girl means many things in this modern society. thither are numerous expectations set for the average sixteen year onetime(a) female she must be pretty, popular, thin, preferably intelligent, but not also intelligent, and she must subjugate her will to the group. This world has a tendency to shun females who are too independent, who seek too much power, and who attempt to grow from the stereotypical female mold. I have personally experienced this spurning, specially from my peers. There exists a dichotomy somewhere in my own soul, a rift between that which I am expected to be and who I really am. Harry Haller, in Hermann Hesses novel Steppenwolf, experienced a similar predicament. He was torn between the life of a socially acceptable, bonny man, and the primal, lupine nature of the Steppenwolf. I find myself caught between wanting to be a socially acceptable, popular girl, and being the independent, intellect ual, and strong person that I actually am. There are a number of parallels between Haller and I, from each one further proving that the dichotomy of the Steppenwolf and the division in spite of appearance myself, the teenaged girl, are of the same essence. Often in my life I have felt trap by the boundaries and expectations that those around me have set for how I ought to behave, think, and feel. Here in suburban America, these boundaries are often set by peers and family, as hale as by the media and celebrity figures. The expectations that they have set often regularize ideas that, deep down, I greatly disagree with. One of the most magnanimous of the ideas is that my worth is reflected in my outward physical appearance. In this world which has tell war on th... ...conditioned self and the true self. She both wishes to be received and to be set free from the groups expectations. She wants the perfect body and face and further realizes the lack of importance therein. Harry Haller, in the end, could not completely agnize the game of life, but understood that the willingness to play and the eagerness to sort through the inner self are what really matter. I have accomplished that, in the end, I must learn the same lesson. The road onward will not be easy, just as Harrys journey was presbyopic and arduous. Fear and fleeing are no longer options, though. It is an archetypal, inherent knowledge within each human being that self-knowledge is key to a true existence, and both the Steppenwolf and the teenaged girl realize the importance of this expedition. Works CitedHesse, Hermann. Steppenwolf. New York heat content Holt and Company, 1990.