Facing Fascinations

"Perhaps, I was born with curiousity, the likes of those of old crows"
           --Panic! at the Disco, "The Piano Knows Something I Don't Know"

Humans easily become obsessed with objects or intangible feelings. Not only are we addicted to something appealing (whether it be a cell phone or a video game), but we are addicted to the unknown. How is this certain? DeLillo, Orwell and Huxley all portray insight into this topic through their writing.

The entire situation in "Videotapes" is a mystery. Even DeLillo's essay progresses into the horror later in the piece. This mystery captures our attention, the suspense submerges us into the story. We are fascinated with the what is about to happen; the "crude power" that "impends" in our mind "relentlessly" is the power to experience something outside of our own experience. We want to feel what we have not yet felt, we want to know what we do not know because we want to figure out the complete picture of the meaning of life. And this evolving picture can paralyze people with fear about losing their uniqueness in the pursuit.

Orwell and Huxley "feared" the future and predicted the circumstances. They were fascinated with the forthcoming, the not-so-bright future for humans. Their contrasting viewpoints discussing the same topic prove that although everyone has a different outlook, we are unified by our curiosity. Their main inquisitions are centered around fear. Why fear? When you are afraid, something about the situation pulls you away, and you are held back by your reflexes. You scream at the spider, you want someone to kill it, and just as it dies you check to make sure it is dead and gone. Our fear is the spider- we scowl at it when it arrives, we want it to be eradicated, and as it diminishes we "check" into our minds and wonder why it is there in the first place. DeLillo is so afraid of the crudeness of the videotape he becomes obsessed with watching it numerous times. The need to understand the unknown is crucial for advancement into science and for ourselves. We are afraid that our current situation is not sustainable, so we must learn more to improve it. The drive to understand is written in our blood, and the unknown is what keeps our hearts pumping.