The other side of alienation

We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
Our dried voices, when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass
Or rats' feet over broken glass
In our dry cellar

Shape without form, shade without colour,
Paralysed force, gesture without motion;

   Conformity is the disguise for ignorance. Like what T. S. Eliot described in the Hollow man, people now have a natural inclination to give up their individuality and join the crowd. They repeat the action of others; they live a meaningless life. When they communicate, there is no mind to mind connection. They look united but their hearts are alienated. 

   In the dust of our planet is a philosophical book about nihilism. However, it didn’t become popular until a model wore a clothe with the cover of the book. Then it became a trend and people started to follow it. However, they didn’t really understand the idea behind the cover. They are like the hollowed men, murmuring the same words with their dry throats. 

   The reason that causes these phenomenons is that people are afraid of alienation. The more they fear, the more they try to conform, the more they are alienated from one another. In a way, technology helps to solve this problem. Instead of talking face to face, people communicate online. There is a buffer zone in front of them so they care less about the appropriate things they should say. Technology provides people a shortcut to one another’s mind. 

   Alienation is not something that people should be afraid of, it is something that people experience. To be left alone and think about what matters to them, is what people should be doing. Not repeating others’ steps, or becoming a hollowed shell.