Community And Community Essay

The relationship of an individual to a community remains very difficult to describe, because of the various ways that it could be defined; although, the relationship between a community and an individual remains very close. “The word community itself is changing, coming to mean a group of like-minded people sharing common interests, when in the past it referred to a group of people of various skills and interests cooperating with one another in order to survive” (Shea 259). Many views and differences come upon a community, these differences can help benefit a community and the individual’s within the community. First, in the speech, “Commencement Speech at Mount Holyoke College,” Anna Quindlen, an American author, journalist, and opinion

Quindlen later states, “The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.” Becoming one’s true self remains what a community needs in order to be successful. A community can not strive with everyone trying to be perfect; although, it remains very important for members and individuals of the community to participate and cooperate in community functions. A community relies on the individuals who remain willing to help better the community in all ways. Also, in the speech, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr., one of the most influential leaders of the civil rights movement, wrote, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” King suggests that the help that remains given to the community by some, may affect others indirectly. In other words, sometimes when community functions remain in the hands of members of the community, it remains up to the individuals in charge to make the functions a success. For

We are determined to be starved before we are hungry.” Thoreau has a very different view on the role of society and community. Thoreau believes that we have lost the true meaning of a community and what we stand for as a community. He later states, “Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!” The word simplicity basically sums up Thoreau’s life, he was a man who did not believe in the new ways of a community. Thoreau says, “We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us,” meaning that without men, there would not remain a railroad. Thoreau felt that he would find himself if he moved away from his community, which he did. After moving away from his community, Thoreau was able to find himself. Quindlen was also able to find herself after leaving the college scene, like Thoreau, they were both able to find themselves after hard