Happiness Literary Analysis Essay
Is it really possible to find happiness while not being true to oneself? Both the poem “Identity” by Julio Polanco, and the article, “Can We Cultivate Our Own Happiness?” by ABC News, expands on the topic of finding happiness by being genuine and valuing one’s own strengths. While Polanco expresses himself more metaphorically with the use of weeds or flowers, ABC News is based on a book called Authentic Happiness and other statistics. Some common subjects that are conveyed in both texts include having the freedom to do things that make oneself happy, identifying one’s strengths, and not focusing on the negatives.
A commonality that both texts share is being free to spend time doing the things that make oneself happy. While each author expresses this concept differently, they both share the same idea of finding happiness in being unrestrained whether it be the activities one takes part in or just liberty itself. When the author of “Can We Cultivate Our Own Happiness?” demonstrates different categories of where people derive happiness from, he describes an example of the Good Life category as “…hobbyists who become so immersed in their work that time ceases to exist” (Seligman 2). People in this group “…take great pleasure in the things that they do” (ABC 2). The poet addresses the same point by saying, “If I could stand alone, strong and free, I'd rather be a tall, ugly weed” (lines 21-22). In this quote, Polanco directly states that he would rather be a weed if he were free to do anything whereas Seligman talks about the same point by showing how hobbyists can find the same liberty in their work. Both the hobbyists from the article and the speaker from the poem relate since they share the same privilege of being able to express themselves freely, which can enable them to find their confidence.
Another connection between the texts includes identifying strengths in order to discover one’s confidence. This is shown in the poem where a theme of confidence is portrayed in the speaker’s tone. An example of this is: “I'd rather be unseen, and if then shunned by everyone, than to be a pleasant-smelling flower”(lines 13-15). This quote is important since it helps readers understand that the speaker has chosen to be a weed due to its priority of freedom over appearance, and has found confidence by capitalizing on the advantages. Meanwhile, the article does the same by telling readers to identify themselves in how they find happiness to boost one’s confidence. ABC News states, “To cultivate happiness, you must first identify which of the aforementioned happiness categories you fall into… then ascertain your individual strengths and virtue… apply the qualities in such a way as to enhance your happiness-generating category”(ABC 3). These lines list the steps to help cultivate happiness by building off of existing strengths, instead of trying to fix the weaknesses. Essentially, both texts relate by recognizing the advantages one has, and are able to take this to aid in improving one’s life.
These texts also discuss not focusing on the negatives, or rather, being able to look at the situation from an optimistic point of view. In Polanco’s poem, the speaker states, "I'd rather smell of musty, green stench than of sweet, fragrant lilac. If I could stand alone, strong and free"(lines 19-21). Although the speaker knows that weeds are not seen as something that is pleasing to others, he or she looks at weeds from a different perspective by saying that they are strong and free. ABC News does the same in “Can We Cultivate Our Own Happiness?” by writing, “For example a student of Seligman’s who fell into the “good life” category was a grocery bagger and did not like it. Further testing identified that one of his key strengths was excelling in social interaction”( ABC 3). Seeing this, Seligman then suggested that the student should use his job as an opportunity to socialize with the customers instead of focusing on the part of the job he disliked. Both the speaker and the grocery bagger found a way to look on the bright side of something negative, which is a common theme in both texts.
While the texts, “Identity”, and “Can We Cultivate Our Own Happiness?” are written differently and utilize different styles of writing, both works share some common themes including doing what makes one happy, finding confidence by valuing one’s strengths, and looking at a situation from a positive perspective. These ideas are extremely important when starting one’s path to happiness, which is why people must learn to use what they have to become happier people.
