A Closer Look into the Duality of Fear Fear is one of the most powerful emotions that we experience. Although we are scared of many things, the underlying cause of all fear is our own imagination. In examining The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol by Nikolai Gogol, the reader is forced to rethink their fears and take a deeper look into human tendencies. Fear is a complex and uncomfortable topic because it reveals very personal weaknesses and the inner workings of our minds. The stories of Gogol have taught me that people fear the future, judgment of others and reality, as well as how people react when facing their fears. To be perfectly honest, when I was freewriting about fear, I initially just listed what I was scared of. Specifically,
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When we decide to ignore the causes of our fears, it is much easier to hide rather than confronting them. Even when we don’t know the reason as to why we are afraid or even what we are scared of, it is just human instinct to avoid the issue. When Akaky walks back home after a party with his coworkers, he feels “a foreboding of something bad” but rather than investigating the root of his fear he thinks “No, better not to look” (412). Fear works in peculiar ways as Chartkov “wanted to cry out” when he felt frightened and yet he was forced “to keep silent” (347). I find it ironic that we scream to express our fear but eventually we become so scared that we can't even use our words. In another scenario, when the important person reprimands Akaky, the emotion of fear spreads throughout his entire body: “Akaky Akakievich was simply stricken, he swayed, he shook all over, and was quite unable to stand: if the caretakers had not come running at once to support him, he would have dropped to the floor. He was carried out almost motionless” (418). The physiological response to fear, in this case, affected his entirety, and rather than the typical fight or flight instinct, Akaky freezes. Not being able to quickly react when we experience fear often happens in the real world; I feel like a dear in headlights whenever I am driving on unfamiliar roads. Perhaps it varies based on the individual, but as I am not a very vocal person I am accustomed to internalizing my fear. Personally, I feel that silent fear is more intense than loud fear (i.e. from people on rollercoasters) since it stays in our minds and is not easily
When we decide to ignore the causes of our fears, it is much easier to hide rather than confronting them. Even when we don’t know the reason as to why we are afraid or even what we are scared of, it is just human instinct to avoid the issue. When Akaky walks back home after a party with his coworkers, he feels “a foreboding of something bad” but rather than investigating the root of his fear he thinks “No, better not to look” (412). Fear works in peculiar ways as Chartkov “wanted to cry out” when he felt frightened and yet he was forced “to keep silent” (347). I find it ironic that we scream to express our fear but eventually we become so scared that we can't even use our words. In another scenario, when the important person reprimands Akaky, the emotion of fear spreads throughout his entire body: “Akaky Akakievich was simply stricken, he swayed, he shook all over, and was quite unable to stand: if the caretakers had not come running at once to support him, he would have dropped to the floor. He was carried out almost motionless” (418). The physiological response to fear, in this case, affected his entirety, and rather than the typical fight or flight instinct, Akaky freezes. Not being able to quickly react when we experience fear often happens in the real world; I feel like a dear in headlights whenever I am driving on unfamiliar roads. Perhaps it varies based on the individual, but as I am not a very vocal person I am accustomed to internalizing my fear. Personally, I feel that silent fear is more intense than loud fear (i.e. from people on rollercoasters) since it stays in our minds and is not easily