Everyone faces conflicts in their lives, and the best way to overcome them is to read a book about a character who faces similar problems. These characters can help you understand your own challenges better, and make you feel less alone in the world. Over time, stories change, books change, characters change, but the main conflicts in the book are all relatable ones that many people may experience. This is evident in the book Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, a book written literally over two hundred years ago. It tells the story of people struggling to overcome misconceptions and vanity that keeps them from being happy. The characters must find a way to get past preconceived notions and biased ideas about the other people around them.In modern times, many people choose to act like the way people want them to, and they often keep to themselves. They do this to get respect and seem more superior than the people around them. Others might not understand their behavior, and think of them as proud. The character Mr. Darcy is a perfect example of this. Born into a wealthy family, he is intent on maintaining his social status at any cost. His cold, reserved behavior intimidates people, and it makes him very antisocial and awkward when connecting to new people. Even though Mr. Darcy is a character in another time period, people living in modern times can connect to his way of thinking. Some people make themselves appear cool and classy thinking it gives them a good reputation, but this can deprive them of a good social life, especially since true relationships are built on being open and honest.
I see examples of this almost every day. At school, some of my classmates try to appear as impressive as possible, and they look down on the other kids who might not be as fashionable as them. Most of the other kids assume that they are just too proud and vain to be friendly to people they consider beneath them. Their social circle is slowly being reduced to just the kids who act like them, and I don’t think they are very happy. They would learn something from Mr. Darcy’s change of behavior in the book, and Pride and Prejudice has also helped me to understand why people act this way. Even though this book is about two hundred years old, and was written primarily for adults, its lesson can be valuable to people of all different ages and time periods.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Penguin, 1813. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process!
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