Berlant Cruel Optimism Summary And Theory PDF

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Berlin Cruel Optimism full essay for critical writing with the theories and the explanation for each theory...

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Yoselin Dominguez Cruel Optimism Lauren Berlant’s book Cruel Optimism describes “cruel optimism” in the opening of the book as “a relation of attachment to compromised conditions of possibility” (24). Cruel optimism results from our desires for materials or anything that may be stopping us from thriving. We have these desires because we believe that obtaining them will grant us access to the “good life” when in reality the road to achieving this goal causes us so much pain or stress because it is simply unattainable. The act of feeling optimistic and hoping for better is not what’s cruel, rather our attachment to these desires that we will most likely never get hold of is quite cruel. People become worn out in the process of trying to achieve the “good life” that their life is no longer good at all. They are living a bad life as they focus solely on moving up the social ladder or achieving equality surrounded by factors that show this will never be achieved or will show any progress anytime soon. These visions of the “good life” will continue being unattainable in the present. Although one’s hopes and dreams might provide the optimism which gives you the strength to live, they also prevent you from truly living because we become buried in our steps towards that end goal. We end up forgetting to enjoy other little things along the way. Berlant explains cruel optimism through the book Was by Geoff Ryman. “Was validates fantasy as a life-sustaining defense against the attritions of ordinary violent history” (45). Ryman created a “true story” based on Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, in this story Dorothy Gael lives a depressing and painful life in Kansas. Her parents died and she was left an orphan, with her aunt and uncle, Aunty Em and Uncle Henry Gulch. Her uncle ended up being sexually abusive, constantly raping her and her school life was not any better than her life at home. In school, she

was being bullied for being fat. Her aunt also killed her dog, Toto and refused to feed Dorothy. To continue hoping for a positive change in her life she creates fantasies that ultimately lead to the creation of Oz and her madness. Oz isn’t really Oz in this book, it is actually Was. That is the name of the land Dorothy Gael creates in her imagination to disappear to when she wants to forget about the awful life she is living and continue holding onto the last bit of optimism she has left. She becomes obsessed with Was and goes insane. She starts believing it is all real and she ends up passing away at a nursing home after the network release of the movie The Wizard of Oz, which was inspired by her. Berlant focuses on one particular example of the book Was in which we learn about Dorothy Gael’s infatuation with her Turkish substitute teacher, Frank Baum. She makes fun of her professor to avoid her feelings being present to everyone else, but when he asks her to step out and write she makes up a story in which her and her deceased dog, Toto, are living a very happy life with her aunt Em and Uncle Henry. Her story speaks of a place surrounded by love from everyone which was the complete opposite of the life she was living. After the substitute praises her for opening up about her personal life through her writing, Dorothy becomes frustrated and lets out the truth about her life. She tells everyone about her uncle raping her and her dog being murdered amongst other things. Finally she yells out that she can’t say anything. What she means by this statement is that no matter what she says at that point, everything in her life will remain the same. Her talking about how “good” her life is does not change the fact that she is truly being tortured and no amount of hope can change that. This is the point where Dorothy realizes what cruel optimism is and where it begins to affect her mental stability. Dorothy is unable to come to terms with the realization that no amount of optimism will save her

from the hell she is living in and she ends us losing her mind. This is when she gets lost in her fantasies of a perfect world that we know of as Oz. One in which she still has Toto and their stomachs are kept full with smiles always present on everyone’s faces. This loss of control over her mind allows her to continue holding onto her optimism. This clearly shows how being optimistic can lead to cruel results. The little bit of optimism left in Dorothy caused a world of a difference when others believed her made up story to the point that she was driven to insanity. Another example Berlant makes about cruel optimism is based on Charles Johnson’s Exchange Value which focuses on experiencing two different lives where the one initially desired turns out to be truly unbearable. The story takes place in the 70s and discusses the lives of brothers, Cooter and Loftis. They plan on robbing the house of one of their neighbors who no one knows much about, Miss Bailey, because she comes and goes. Both of their parents died trying to achieve the American dream and since no one ever believed in Cooter succeeding he went along with his brother’s idea because he did not want to die striving for the unattainable like his parents. They were always poor and the brothers wanted to change that. When the brothers entered Miss Bailey’s house they discovered that she was very wealthy because her previous employer left her with all of his belongings and she was hiding it all along by acting strange when she stepped out in public. When Cooter and Loftis saw all of Miss Bailey’s belongings they started thinking about everything they could exchange her things for. Like how much money they could get from a piano and the endless opportunities that would come with knowing how to exchange her belongings for a better life for them. Cooter ends up spending all of the money he steals on things that bring no value to him and only make him feel worse because he did not earn any of what he was spending, therefore did not deserve to spend it.

Loftis ends up going insane and building a trap to keep himself and everyone away from spending the money he stole. He believes that once you spend it you have lost all power because the power is in having money to spend not actually spending. There are two examples of cruel optimism in Exchange Value. One is the dream of achieving more in life, the American dream, which the brother’s parents work so hard for, just to die in the process. The second refers to Loftis’ hoarding. He will die having spent none of the money he stole because after so desperately desiring money he believes it is best to spend none of it. If he ever does spend it he will be tortured by his expenses like Cooter because the money will never truly be theirs.

Works Cited Berlant, L. G. (2012). Cruel optimism. Durham, NC: Duke University Press....