Our Obligations

I am writing about the nature of obligation and where it derives from. By reading this essay, I hope that it gives people a better understanding about what defines a person and the different principles that determine our decisions in life. Some will base their morals off of religion while others will be held to the comfort of their naivety. In my essay, my aim is to express the root of our obligation and how it is expressed in our interactions with people who are foreign to us.

No matter the status of our upbringings or the morals we are held to as children, we all come to an age of logic and reasoning. At this age, our cognitive decisions rest in the shadow of an influence, which is made through the teachings and biases of the ones we look up to the most. Some will learn to look at everything through a religious lens, resting every decision on the rules of God, others’ priorities will rest on the comfort of their privileges. At this age of reasoning, we are forced to apply our logic to the decisions we make and the people we meet. Sometimes, these interactions may be with people who are foreign to us and we must decide how we will accept them. With this in mind, the question is: how do these forms of logic respond to our obligation to others? And what is the reason for these responses?

Looking into the novel, Exit West, by Mohsin Hamid, it is apparent that one form of logic can develop through the nature of struggle. Although struggle is often a broad term, there is much evidence that reveals a genuine result of bonding. In this novel, the reader is introduced to Nadia and Saeed, a couple growing up in a middle eastern country, corrupted by regulation and war. As the war drags on and desperation grows exceedingly, the reader begins to notice a change in the logic of the young couple. Instead of choosing to fight back in greed and isolation from the rest, they expressed gratitude and selflessness for those around them. Several times throughout “Exit West,” the two characters experienced the loss of their family and friends. Through this loss, there held a strong sense of obligation and appreciation of the simpler things, understanding that one-day things might change for the better or the worst. “This loss unites humanity, unites every human being, the temporary nature of our being-ness, and our shared sorrow, the heartache we each carry and yet too often refuse to acknowledge in one another”. So if suffering breeds connection, what is the result of comfort? And how does this play out in our obligation to others?

Through interpreting the short story, “Return To Nigeria”, we can answer these questions. While reading this story, the author reveals the vast differences between two countries through the perspective of a Nigerian American woman named Enuma Okoro. One known for its habits of luxury and the other for its state of extreme poverty. These being America and Nigeria. Growing up in America, Okoro’s mother taught her to be ashamed of her home country and look at it as something less than her; a place dominated by the poor and riddled with violence and gangs. While living under this influence of bias, she eventually learned to hate her heritage and adapted to the American culture of her peers, accepting their ignorance. Enuma explained that Americans often didn't accept her culture and ethnic background, forcing her to adapt to theirs. Because of this, certain aspects of her life began to change; this even included her name, “We let teachers mangle our names, then adopted their mispronunciations — introducing ourselves with syllables our own relatives tripped over.” This inheritance of the American culture diluted hers. But after a short visit to her home country to honor one of her family member’s passings, everything changed. In the small town of Akunwanta, she felt a sense of belonging and reintroduction to the origin of her ancestors. Growing up in America, Okoro often felt isolated from the community she surrounded herself with. Being a Nigerian, she never truly felt accepted in the U.S. due to the differences she held from the rest. Reading Okoro’s story, the reader can notice a correlation between comfort and compulsion, seeming that it can create a sense of exclusion from those who are different from them. Being in America, people are often sheltered off from the rest of the world, therefore unable to cope with the diversity of other cultures. Through this, we can understand another form of logic constructed from the nature of ignorance.

Other times, obligation can sprout through belief, such as religion. For example, in Enrique’s Journey, while leaving his home town in Honduras in an attempt to find his mother, Enrique passes through a town well known for its Christian based principles, this being “Veracruz”. Sonia Nazario talks of the culture of the people in this town expressing the fact that many of the residents living there are heavily religious and believe it is their duty to God to treat others with compassion and empathy. In this town; according to Nations Encyclopedia, the town maintains around 85% of a religious population. Some of those living in Veracruz choose to devote their lives to the welfare of the migrants passing through to get to the US. Possibly one of the most iconic laws of Christianity is to treat others how you would like to be treated. This idea is followed through acts of “gift-giving” where the community of Veracruz lines up to the train tracks that many immigrants take to travel to the U.S. It is here that they throw food to the hungry and desperate families passing through, supplying them with fruits and bread as well as drinks such as water and coffee to help them on their way. 

Furthermore, looking deeper into the roots of our principles, we can draw several differences. While some are bred through safety and comfort, others are produced through suffering and desperation. And sometimes, people will turn to religion to teach them the morals of life. Although these forms of logic provide an overall basis for the root of our decisions, it also shapes the morals of our obligations and how we associate with the people outside of our circle of affiliation. Some may feel inclined to look at them with ignorance and separate themselves from the things that are foreign to them while others would choose to offer aid to those they don’t know. Through these forms of logic, we can understand that obligation is founded through the character of our surroundings and the principles in which we have learned to pursue.