Prisons We Choose to Live Inside

Doris Lessing's collection of essays are very insightful into human behavior and how society is changing as a whole. Even though this collection is slightly dated, it is eerily appropriate for today and the current world situation. It has helped to change my perspective on current events and the world in general.

In a time of polarization, Lessings small book shines a much needed light on how we use out-groups and outsiders in general as projection points for the feelings that society and religion tell us are unacceptable. We want to think of ourselves as noble when we identify some evil to correct and go about righteously eradicating it. Unfortunately, the core problem is that we are angry and feel a need to hurt someone or something. That is the real evil that we never look at. How noble were the people in her book who cut down a beautiful and historic tree because it was used to hang someone they liked? Was it the trees fault or did their need to express rage simply find a helpless victim? The behaviors discussed in this book need to be recognised, not only because we will engage in them without thinking, but because they can be used against us by governments, religions and other social groups who fully understand their power. No group can survive for long if the natural aggressions of its members is not diverted toward some outside source. Every group is going to have something, or someone that they are against. While she can go on too long in making some points, If you really think about the studies discussed in this book and began to apply them in your life, you will wakeup to some uncomfortable "slights of hand". Currently religion and politics in this country seem to be focused on homosexual marriage and abortion as "the problems". The message is, "spend your time fixing these people and you are part of the good group." You might want to stop for a moment and ask yourself why someone is trying to divert your aggressive feelings toward social groups and issues that there is a 95% likelihood you will never be part of and whose members are unlikely to ever impact your life. When that righteous feeling wells inside you ask yourself...what is this great group I belong to asking me NOT to look at?

I teach college sophomores in a Humanities course where we spend 4 semesters trying to answer the question "What does it mean to be human?" Starting in the spring of 2003, I will do my best to see that students completing the course have read this enlightening piece by Lessing. Her critique of "groupthink" has never been more relevant. In a world where multiple brands of fundamentalism seem to be gaining ground every day, with marked influence on the under 30 set, I believe that Lessing is a must read.

I read this book less than a week before the September 11 tragedy, and however valid and insightful it seemed then, it became even more so when very blatant proof suddenly unfolded in front of me. Everything Lessing says about group minds, conditioning, and wars because we like them has played out so predictably. Talk of the "terrorist attack" quickly turned to "we're at war," and it seems almost everyone has glommed onto Bush's transparent war rhetoric, gloating about retaliation as if that were the only option. Which all spawned flag fever, with store owners being questioned and boycotted for not displaying one. Not to mention the innocent Muslims and Arabs who've been harassed or murdered out of an illogical guilt-by-association mentality. At a time when rational thought is especially needed, we're in an emotional fervor--and what good result can come from it?This book is a very worthy read anyway but so very timely now.

A great fiction writer such as Lessing has the tools to describe the causes and consequences of human behavior better than most psychologists or historians. In these beautifully written, brief essays, she describes the phenomenon of Eric Hoffer's "true believer" in the light of her own experiences with war, racism, political movements, and the seductive pleasure of self-righteousness. I have probably personally bought 100 copies of this book to give to friends; it is a great antidote for those times when you are sure you are right, and that you are justified in treating other human beings as the Enemy. Lessing addresses the fact that this kind of moral certitude, which is one of the fueling factors for most war, is equally prevalent among all political belief systems. She ends with hope that it is possible to raise children who are too good at thinking critically and at asking questions to ever get swept up in some vicious madness