The critical necessity of mutability as an integral part of the human condition and the risks associated with its lack of understanding are exposed and closely examined in George Orwell's novel Coming Up For Air , his penultimate novel. novel, and Of Mutability, a series of poems by Jo Shapcott. Both Orwell and Shapcott explore the enduring state of transition in which human beings are eternally linked by discussing loss and mortality from many and varied approaches, and considering how people can frequently falter and fall into despair when they realize the inevitability of mutability. plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay In Shapcott's titular poem, Of Mutability, the writer describes how “Too many of the best cells in my body itch , feel jagged, become raw.” ". In light of the cancer the writer was suffering from at the time of writing, it seems that she understood how easily and quickly things can change. One could say that this shows how humans struggle to truly understand the vital nature of mutability without being directly confronted with it. This is a point echoed in Orwell's writings in Coming Up For Air where he describes how Bowling's memories of his youth in Lower Binfield have become blurred and idealized, and when he returns to the village he realizes how radically things have changed. Bowling describes how “You remember it in great detail, and you remember it incorrectly.” From the appearance of his former love Elsie which was now "a kind of soft, lumpy cylinder" to the swimming pool where he once dreamed of catching "huge" carp which was now "half full of tin cans". In this way, Orwell shows that even those who are able to understand that mutability is inevitable often fail to understand it. Bowling, for example, is clearly distressed to see what has happened to his swimming pool and the woods surrounding it when he rushes past the man who is showing him around Upper Binfield – so much so that he says: "Is Doesn't it make you vomit sometimes to see what happened to your swimming pool and the woods around it? see what they are doing to England.” And this, even if he regularly notices how things have changed for him in his own life. He describes matter-of-factly that his wife Hilda now looks “shrivelled”. Additionally, Bowling works in the “insurance business,” a profession that relies almost entirely on predicting change and how best to deal with it. so it's surprising to see him react so strangely to mutability. This is why it is surprising that someone who has so obviously experienced the variability of life and can clearly cope with it at times can also react with such anger and surprise to such events. other times. For example, later in the novel he reacts hysterically upon realizing the loss of his childhood pond. In this way, Orwell shows that although we can sometimes predict mutability – "perhaps they have exhausted it", it is still often very difficult to understand radical change, and so we may react in particular ways as we let's struggle to accept mutability. . In the long run, although Bowling has accepted mutability in the first novel – his teeth and his body for example, he is not prepared for it in the latter parts of the novel. In both texts, the writers explain how youth and health are easily taken for reasons. granted and we do not expectnot that they will be lost while we have them, but they are also very easily taken from us. In Of Mutability, Shapcott describes how his body "itches, feels shredded, becomes raw." In this way, it seems that she never believed that her good health would be threatened, due to the use of the phrase "better cells", which creates an image of parts of her being invincible and eternally young. Because of this, it is particularly surprising for the reader to pick up on the next line, which contrasts so sharply with this image of perfection through the harshness of words like “shredded” and “raw.” So in this way Shapcott shows how people can be blissfully unaware of the fact that they will be affected by mutability, while also showing how quickly things can go from perfect to harsh and painful. These words of Shapcott have great relevance to the writer, who was battling breast cancer at the time he wrote this collection of poetry. It could be argued that in light of this, it is impossible to understand mutability unless we confront it directly, as Shapcott did in this time of rapid change and terrifying uncertainty. This is similar to the experiences of death and the very depths of human depravity during the Spanish Civil War. These dark and distressing ordeals seem to have had the effect on both of them of opening their eyes to the inevitability of mutability, which allows them to accept it and help them to be able to open the eyes of their readers. . In Coming Up For Air, Orwell uses similar techniques to show how mutability in terms of aging and declining health sets in on a person, leaving them seemingly shocked and confused as to how such a thing could have happened to them. arrive. For example, in the first book of the novel, Orwell, through Bowling, is able to describe how "When your last natural tooth disappears, the days of being able to fool yourself into believing that you are a Hollywood sheik are definitely over." In this way, Orwell shows that he believes that understanding mutability is something that can only be achieved at the moment when all seems lost and there is no turning back. The idea that we truly believe we have lost our youth and vigor only when we have lost our last tooth is almost laughable, but it perfectly demonstrates how humans so often blindly overlook how central mutability is in their lives. Again, Orwell shows that although we may sometimes have an idea of ​​how mutability will affect us, we never truly understand it or believe it until we have no choice but to 'accept the inevitability of mutability. The way Bowling goes about getting his new false teeth shows that even once we are forced to admit that mutability has affected us, we still try in vain to cling to some allusion to the past, even if we can't. be not complaining about missing teeth. This is arguably another manifestation of our inability to understand mutability. Instead of just giving up on looking young and attractive and admitting that his youth has gotten away from him, he uses fake teeth to hide it, even though he calls them "bloody fake teeth", making it clear that he despises them. Indeed, throughout the novel, Bowling makes negative remarks about his appearance, describing himself as "fat" with a "red face" and wearing "vulgar clothes". All of these things simultaneously show that he knows he lost his youth to mutability, but also show how he cares enough about his appearance that it clearly makes him..