The impression this article from The Guardian gave me—thinking from a cynical point of view—was that they were trying to advertise hope and the beauty of the world, implicitly making people want to buy the book. Considering the context the novel was written in, with the preceding Australian bushfires, the ongoing pandemic, this would theoretically mean that the target audience would extend to a global scale where anyone would gladly buy hope. While Williams, the author of the article, doesn’t contribute any new ideas, the reiteration and choice to emphasise the insightful parts of the interview does effectively promote careful consideration of the sublimity of the natural world and the things we, the middle class and wealthy, once took for granted. By beautifying the “mundane” aspects of life, both Flanagan and Williams appeal to the sentimental side of people, where they long for the things they once had or for things they didn’t realise they had the privilege of having. Perhaps, considering the UK origins of The Guardian, by promoting hope, it would inspire citizens of the UK to step up their behaviour in order to regain the everyday luxuries of life.
Month: January 2021
CAS – Considering Ethics in Coaching
While I may have overused the example of boxing, I felt that when considering the ethical implications in an in-depth and personally-related manner, it was the most relevant. When working kids I’ve realised that you need to be careful of your behaviour, not that I wasn’t behaving well, but they do look at you and follow the example you set. I experienced this the other day when I was helping out with boxing class of younger kids, around 7 to 11 years old. Initially, they were mucking around when we asked them to split off into pairs, but when I helped out a younger girl and properly did the drill with her, the kids around us watched and then started to take it seriously, maybe because they felt a sense of competitiveness, but they were doing it nonetheless.
As a result of this, I’ve found myself becoming more aware of my actions in any situation. Not necessarily acting differently, but just aware of what I’m doing and how it could affect others—if it negatively affects them then I’ll obviously stop. This is more of a minor and personal example, but it does feel quite significant to me and it’s a consideration I definitely want to uphold in the future as I become more involved in different communities.