Disillusionment concepts and causes

¶ … sprinkled with skepticism, but once she is well into the piece she produces a deluge of cynicism -- and readers are thoroughly drenched (nearly drowned) in the tsunami of her pessimism (for good reason). Many of Walton's points have validity because disillusionment can hit a person in the face like an icy snowball thrown by a neighborhood bully if he or she is not prepared to face the world as it really is.

Happiness is not the same as immaturity at all, and this paper will delve into that subject, because happiness is finding pleasure and joy in a world that can be brutally cold and callous. But meanwhile when Walton says she knows adults "…who will never recover from happy childhoods," she is alluding perhaps to people who were lucky to have great, loving parents that raised them in emotionally pristine environments, sheltered from simpletons and tormenters. But those same young people from wonderful homes find out soon enough in their adult lives that "the world was not nice after all."

This paper uses examples from Walton as to how a person can become disillusioned, whether that person came from a lovely home where everything was joy and beauty and very little was harsh and ugly -- or even from a home where being happy was a challenge. Living life brings realities into focus; sweetness and light is the exception, not the rule.

Example One: It is true that universities (in some cases) are influenced to accept certain students because the fathers of those students have endowed the university with millions of dollars for the building program -- or some other project that benefitted the institution. Hence, young women learn that if daddy has influence they can get by without having glowing transcripts. "She found out that their fathers had influence that gained entry for their daughters…" while "an honor student" (friend of Walton) "was kept out." In truth, this is disillusioning for a worthy candidate. But wait, in every high school (public or private) attractive girls always seem to get the teacher aide position and other perks.

That is really the same concept as the bubble-brained girls getting into a college because their fathers had influence. A worthy high school girl who excels in biology -- but who is homely and overweight -- won't be likely to get the male teacher aide position (which is worth several points not to mention prestige) when a girl with an outstanding figure, perfect teeth and sexy clothing also applies. Hence, the point is, disillusionment should not always be a new experience at the university because unfairness rears its ugly head in high school for all those paying attention. It isn't fair, but it is how things tend to be in life.

Example Two: A young woman has the misfortune (or good luck, depending on how it is viewed) of overhearing her boyfriend's parents telling him that she was "not good enough" for him. She is disillusioned, with good cause, but she now knows that well-off parents often want their kids to live in the same social strata as they are in. She learned that isn't about love, even though the son of those parents may love her; she learned that sometimes it is about the socioeconomic side, which transcends love and in the end contributes to justifiable cynicism.

Example Three: The idea of not looking closely at passing strangers -- avoiding basically an eye-to-eye meeting -- certainly can be labeled as a cynical habit. Walton notes that cruel people, unbalanced people with serious mental challenges, can be dangerous. This also goes for gang bangers; the rule of thumb is not to make eye contact with a gang member because he may see that as a challenge and try to harm you. But is this really disillusionment or just good common sense?