Modern society tends to focus on appearances rather
than happiness. Many people today care too much about how they look to others
and too little about how they look to themselves. As a result, the world has
focused on success, looks, and surroundings rather than happiness. To me, this
is why too many marriages fall apart in today’s world. In A Doll’s House, Helmer tells Nora, “Now it’s just about saving the
remains, the wreckage, the appearance”. Helmer wasn’t interested in happiness
from a marriage, but he wanted Nora to stay with him so his business appearance
would stay the same. Nora, on the other hand, was tired of giving up happiness
for a good appearance, causing her to leave Helmer and carry on with her life
looking for true happiness. Their marriage focused solely on appearance and
involved little emotion. I think in today’s world, more people are trying to
achieve something other than happiness through marriage. People are trying to
gain an advantage by marrying someone who could help them succeed more in life
rather than focusing on the qualities of a partner. I feel like this is the
problem that has led to a higher divorce rate. I have also seen the focus on
appearance rather than joy and happiness in several other areas of life. For
instance, up until this year, many people feared for their life to announce
they were homosexual. They feared their appearance would be ruined so they
wouldn’t reach out to obtain true happiness. In fact, many homosexuals still
are in fear of coming out even if it has been ruled to be legal. The world is
driven by what makes one look good and not by what makes one happy. Too many
people are caught up in making money rather than living life. I get it,
everyone wants to fit in and be successful. But why should people give up
happiness to achieve these things? While Nora wasn’t exactly a great character
in the play, I feel that more people need to stand up against social trends and
start focusing on what makes them happy, not what makes the corporations,
executives, and so many others happy.
