A Scanner Darkly

A Scanner Darkly

  • Submitted By: sarahkreuz
  • Date Submitted: 12/09/2008 12:16 PM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 1173
  • Page: 5
  • Views: 748

Sarah Kreuz 741209 Paquette Eng 1A 1 October 2008 Perception and Reality Look around you, what do you see? You see the world from a perspective that you have been viewing from your whole life. But how can you be for certain what you see is really there, and if not, how do you know. “Within something’s very eyes; within the sight of some thing. Which, unlike little dark eyed Donna, does not ever blink. What does a scanner see? I mean really see? Into the head? Into the heart? (Dick 185)”. While walking down the street, one may see many people. They can be seen as they appear: happy, smiling people, or they can be seen for what they really are: criminals, liars, or severely depressed people. Although people perceive what they see, or think they see, as real its always not. One’s view of reality is based on how society makes it out to be or what people tell us. Do not talk to strangers, drugs are bad, and you need to go to college. What we experience and think for ourselves shapes our reality. People and society do not shape it for us, but they definitely influence it. Our perceptions, no matter what they are, do not let us see the world as it really is, whether we are on drugs or not. This means that we see the world as we think it is, even if were ultimately wrong. Many people can argue that reality shapes us but they are wrong; we shape what we think are our own reality. In Philip K Dick’s novel, A Scanner Darkly, the characters live their own life and form a reality of their own world. This can be done by seeing based on what one thinks. By walking through the streets one may see people as lairs, criminals, or depressed because that is what one thinks they are. On the other hand, walking down the same street, one may see them as happy, friendly people because that is what they appear to be. Even though we may never see the world, as it really is, our perceptions let us make our own reality, regardless of if it is right. The thoughts in one’s head can play...

Similar Essays