I can honestly say that I can not even begin to fathom the living hell it would be if I was illiterate let alone being an illiterate young parent. I would be extremely embarrassed and probably ashamed of myself if I couldn’t even read a picture book. I couldn’t be able to live with myself knowing that I wouldn’t be able to know what is really going on with the world. With the country’s economy in a depression it is not a time in the world where ignorance is bliss. If you want to survive safely in this country you need to know what is going on, and not being able to know what is going on would only throw your life into chaos. Forget trying to get a decent job with being illiterate. The best I job situation I imagine that I could get, if I am extremely lucky, would be maybe at a fast food restaurant or working landscape. I think even for the most physical of labor you are going to need to have at least some comprehension to do some of the basics.
If I were to be illiterate then I wouldn’t even be able to do half the stuff that I am into. Acting and theater would be totally shot for the simple fact that I wouldn’t be able to read or memorize my script. I wouldn’t be able to read my manga or comics since that is just reading with very illustrated pictures. Traveling would be terrible since I wouldn’t be able to read the signs for directions. My whole life just would be shot to hell and back with me not being able to read or write.
I don’t know how I would be able to keep being illiterate a secret as a parent, even if for a long length of time. I would imagine at this point in time in the world, with technology the way it is, that it would be extremely hard to not being revealed as illiterate. How would I be able to explain myself to my kid? The only possible way I can imagine keeping the fact of being illiterate a secret is if I had a very close friend who knew about it and just kept me informed about everything going on, either that or watching the news every other day. My family would probably know full well if I could read or write since of their background of all being successful in school and life, mother as a P.H.D. and my father is well place social worker boss who sometimes works for the government. My life would just be a living hell.
A living hell doesn’t seem to cut it as a description for being illiterate, right? I agree 100% with your post, life would it pointless, and you would be screwed like no other. Although I don’t read books much, I do, like you, read some comics from time to time and I would be lost in the world of video games if I couldn’t read information off the internet. I couldn’t even think of a possible job that someone could do if they were illiterate, but you have some good examples and I agree that even a landscaper would need some basic knowledge to properly perform their job. Oh, yeah don’t even think about being an actor without being able to read or write it would be impossible. I think the kid of an illiterate parent would be messed up, not being able to be taught how to read or write by their own parents? That is an interesting thought about a friend who would know your secret and keep you up to date on current events, or things that you would just need to know. Again I agree with you fully, someone could not get an inch in the world while having a secret like illiteracy.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with you on being iliterate, it would suck "big monkeys," and it is kind of difficult to think of yourself being iliterate growing up in this day in age. The world would exist as you knew it on that day, and that hour as it is being told to you. How would you debate with someone on something, especially with someone who could read and write? If a intelligent person told you the world was going to end tomorrow, how could you prove them wrong? It's hard to imagine life without words and meanings. How does the iliterate survive? That's my question.
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