Final Thoughts on the Floating World

In Professor Burton’s novel Artists of the Floating World, Burton challenges the reader to open up to the vast cultures and narratives that surround us in our world. He states to be recognized as a citizen of the floating world the reader must, “recognize and acknowledge the narratives that constitute our identity………make ethical choices when framing our understanding of the world….to be attentive to the subaltern voices that circulate widely in a media saturated world…..and when we use words, we have a responsibility to do so with care and precision.” I am one to admit at first I was very close minded and thought the text by authors such as Ishiguro, Head, Mukherjee and Rushdie was bland and had very little meaning or connection to myself. But after reading my perspective changed. I realized that I have a very close mind, and the narrative I have written for myself excluded a great deal of the world’s culture.

In Bessie Head novel , Margaret Cadmore had a very confusing and somewhat frameless beginning. To live one’s life without a distinct bearing or direction is very dangerous. She never got to meet her birth mother or any immediate family. "I have not a single known relative on earth, no long and ancient family tree to refer to. . . . I have always been just me, with no frame of reference to anything beyond myself" (Burton pg. 63.) This would be devastating to anyone. To never experience a family members love is like never tasting chocolate, almost impossible. The culture she grew up in was prejudice and sometimes evil, I envy Head, she taught me that you can use anything (for head it was art, she wrote to provide direction in her life) to express your darkest and most feared experiences in life. Then use this outlet to help shape who you will become.

In Salman Rushdie’s short story, “The Prophet’s Hair”, the reader is introduced to a type of spiritual influence. However this influence has stemmed from one of the seven deadly sins, GREED. “Greed is the selfish desire for or pursuit of money, wealth, food, or other possessions, especially when this denies the same goods to others. It is generally considered a vice, and is one of the seven deadly sins in Catholicism.” (Wikipedia) In the end Atta, Huma, and Hashim all die. The moral of the story here is do not let material objects take control of your life and make you greedy. Greed is dangerous is can easily absorb your life and leave you to drown in it. As in this story holding sacred religious artifacts or any material object that have some sort of power, is not worth the consequences it can bring.

Rushdie made me realize that material objects are not important. Professor Burton states, “Half the worlds population lives on less than two dollars a day and has no access to proper sanitation.” This was a definite eye opener. To become a citizen of the floating world, I came to the conclusion that I do not need all that I have, and giving so little to someone could mean so much.

Both Rushdie and Head forced me to open my mind and eyes. To realize that the world has so much to offer and most are not willing to understand or hear it. I have learned that my narrative needs to be reshaped and rewritten constantly in order to become a true citizen of the floating world.