With Friends Like These Analysis

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Within humanity there exist multiple coercive forces which govern the everyday actions, thoughts, and behaviors of individuals. Of these, perhaps the most influential is our ability to connect with other people, to empathize and mimic. In the scientific writing ¨Monkey See, Monkey do, Monkey Connect¨, Frans de Waal educates the reader of our primal tendency to mimic and empathize with others. In the Informational text ¨With Friends Like These¨, Dorothy Rowe explains the social dynamics regarding validation, and how friends are necessary for a healthy mind. In the Latin American short story ¨And of Clay Are We Created¨, Isabel Allende tells a tragic story which unfolds in a heart-wrenching revelation for the emotionally isolated characters. The three authors of these selections convey through their writing that human bonds…show more content…
Dorothy Rowe, author of “With Friends Like These” suggests that our perceptions of reality are fragile, and everything that we consider to be our sense of us, is merely a guess. According to Rowe, This is why validation, the confirmation of one’s ideas, is irrefutably important. Friends accomplish this uniquely human need by offering emotional support to those in need of validation. Without validation, people will be “annihilated” (Rowe 36) as individuals, and their internal sense of self, shattered. If somebody’s manufactured image of a friend does not turn out to match with the true nature of their friend, this may lead to the breaking of a bond. Bonds are heavily reliant on validation, so if personal requirements of it are not met, and adequate change cannot be made, “falling out” (93) surely will follow. Falling out can have negative consequences and irreversible effects on the psychology of an individual. Emotional isolation, self-doubt, as well as a range of other issues may come as a product of this, only further emphasizing the importance of validation within

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