Example Of The True Definition Of Crazy Essay

Many people use the word crazy in different ways to explain several aspects of life. On a general scale, crazy could be compared to something that is beyond the normal state of an individual. Crazy would go beyond the normal perceptions of life and is something that exceeds the normal actions. People in most cases are considered to be acting in a crazy manner when they do things that look strange and capture the attention of other people especially in a public place. Some of the actions that would be considered crazy include shouting on top of your voice for a reason; that cannot be understood by the rest of the population. “In today’s stressful world being a little crazy is important to survive and find humor in life; craziness is sometimes the only way to remain sane.”
A general definition for the word crazy according to the oxford English dictionary is considered as a varied spectrum of habits that are associated with certain abnormal mental or a series of behavioral patterns. In general it is associated with habits or things that are completely out of the normal context of life. People living in the world have expectations in terms of what they see, what they feel, hear and taste. When such expectations are exceeded by several other aspects that do not seem to appear normal to all their senses, they are considered on a general term as crazy.
In “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, Ken Kesey portrays the main protagonist Randel Patrick as a fun loving crazy person who changes things in a mental hospital and gains popularity through his unusual witty ways. He challenges the dictator Nurse Ratshed through his rule defying crazy ways. Craziness in this novel has been portrayed as challenging the norms of the society and adding spice to life. The hero of the story starts some unusual activities like gambling and a deep sea fishing trip that trigger the wrath of the head of the hospital. Something that started as a fun sport later develops into a grim struggle.
Looking at the context of E.A Poe- "The Black Cat", the narrator intrudes the story by first lamenting that he doesn’t “ expect” the audience to believe the story he is about to unveil to them. He also informs his audience that he doesn’t ask them to believe the story. At a first glance, it is clear that the reader’s attention is captured through the strange introduction offered by the narrator. He then informs the reader that he had to be crazy if at all; he would have the thought of the people reading the story to believe him. He explains how he hardly believes himself and explains that he isn’t crazy and at the same time isn’t dreaming at all. The story confuses the reader already as the narrator explains and opens the readings (Black Cat, 2015). The reader in this case has already captured the thought of the narrator being a crazy person who does not seem to believe in the story he is writing at first. People are captured with confusion where they do not actually know what to believe in when they are getting at the beginning of the story. The narrator of the story in this case uses the aspect of being crazy to capture the attention of the reader. They are forced to go ahead to read the story to know what is really going on maintaining the attention and focus of the reader.
In the story Jack London-"to build a Fire", the audience is introduced to a man who is unnamed. He leaves the Yukon Trail with high expectations of reaching his associates who he refers to as “the boys” at an estimated time of six o’clock. The audience is informed in the story that “the man” as he is called in the entire narration is accompanied by a dog who knows well that it is not time for travelling. As he proceeds along a creek trail taking precautions to avoid the overlying hidden springs, he realizes that the weather is too cold. In the story, an encounter is made with a crazy individual who is fully aware of the weather conditions that are on the outside.
A crazy encounter is made where the audience is informed of how the man realizes that half his legs are soaked and frozen into ice due to the cold environment (Burns, 2002). The story in the case tries to explain the crazy encounters by explaining the strange and unusual habit that is presented by a human being who is believed to have a bigger brain compared to the dog he is travelling with. In addition, we are informed that the dog was fully aware that it was not time for travelling around. A crazy encounter is also made when a comparison is made between the dog and the man. All people expect that a man should be in a better position to think of what is best in such a situation, which is avoiding traveling when the weather is not welcoming. Instead, the story explains that the dog was in a better position to understand that it was not the right time to travel.
Emily Dickinson “Much Madness" also presents a set of enlightening masterpiece to specific people who are able to read through the specific lines. Most of the people who read the context have a direct feeling that the reading was directly inspired by the rebel lifestyle of the writer. The writings are a clear indication that the writer who is a prominent lady justifies the radical life choices that she has made. All the readers might get to a point where they could award her with the crazy factor. She also asks weird questions like “What would you do if all of a sudden everybody around you went insane?” after posing the question to the entire public, she acknowledges the fact that anyone would consider the question as a “zombie apocalypse type situation where everyone decides to give cannibalism a try”. In her presentation, she looks at the crazy factor in a different perspective. The main question to be addressed is whether the world is always right when it considers something as crazy.
People never take into consideration to gauge a situation to know whether it could be them who are wrong (London, 2010). Judgment is passed on a stereotype kind of analysis. A crowd will look at a situation and from it make a fair judgment that suits the interest of their views not knowing the difference between appearance and reality. The context of James Thurber - “The secret Life of Walter Mitty” looks at the mild-mannered who goes on to drive into Waterbury Connecticut. He is accompanied by his wife to make a regular shopping that is done on a weekly basis. The five heroic daydreams that he has display a certain level of craziness to any individual who is termed to be normal (Thurber, 1983). The various daydreams of being the pilot of a U.S navy, being a surgeon, a royal air force pilot and a deadly assassin who is testifying in a courtroom clearly indicate a mind that is wondering around different professions some of which are crazy for the case.
Something that all of us would accept is that all geniuses have at some point of their life been termed as “crazy” or even insane. The most famous example is of the Greatest Scientist of all times, Albert Einstein. His frequent odd behavior that did not fit into the regular behavioral pattern was disliked by many. The interesting part is that the so called crazy people find others acting abnormally. There have been instances where some upcoming people due to their innovative thought process have been termed as crazy because the rest were jealous or afraid of their success. John D. Gartner in his famous book The Hypo maniac Edge explores interesting reasons behind the success of Americans. The writer being a psychologist holds the genes responsible for the wealthy Americans. He gives the word Crazy a new dimension; craziness is over enthusiasm, propensity to take risks and creativity. America has the highest number of Hypo maniacs; ones who instantly follow weird ideas.
“Americans may have a lot of crazy ideas, but some of them lead to brilliant inventions.” (John D Gartner. The Hypomaniac Edge, June 2011.) The ancestors of Americans have passed on their crazy optimism and self worth. People like Columbus who discovered America thought that he was a Messiah. It is definitely a crazy thought process; he thought that Americans were Gods selected people. Craziness is at times accompanied by self destruction because of impulsive behavior and pride; Alexander Hamilton the economist is an apt example in this context. In Hollywood films the duo the Mayer and Selznick created a reform in films but due to their crazy bipolar disorders lead to its downfall too. The father of industrial revolution Andrew Carniege thought he was chosen by God to bring World peace and for the evolution of the human race.
Many creative people like the artists and writers are supposed to have the crazy streak in them. According to the latest research all creativity is not positive; the creativity at times gets bad; the curiosity might lead to dangerous ideas like making explosives. One thing for sure is that crazy people are definitely not conventional people. They want to attract attention and do strange insane things to get it. The media channels are full of some coverage’s where some crazy person gets on the top of towers and buildings and threaten to commit suicide, which they never do; they just want attention. They might even risk their lives when they perform their crazy acts.
Wal-Mart the biggest store chain has many recorded incidences where people is seen doing crazy things while shopping. They wear horrible and funny attires; sport some strange hair band at funny at the cash counter. Some drivers act crazy and might cause big traffic jams; there are many shocking instances of road rage. Teenagers think it is cool to act funny and crazy to be popular among their peers. They drive without license or while they are drunk just to prove a silly point. The Telegraph is full of such instances, in February 2015 “The National Express West Midlands driver can be seen steering with his elbows while reading the paperback with both hands.” This driver risked the life of many passengers along with his life just to act funny or show off.
There is no doubt that acting crazy at times brings the needed excitement fun in ones boring life like Bunge jumping, river rafting or travelling to a unknown place. But if the craziness factor gets overboard it might land a person in trouble or even in jail. So the next time you come across a crazy person or an act you will know the reason behind it.

Works Cited

Ken, Kesey. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.1962. Retrieved from
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/332613.One_Flew_Over_the_Cuckoo_s_Nest.
Black Cat: Edgar Allan Poe: Free Download & Steaming: Internet Archive." Internet Archive. Web. 27 Jan. 2015
Burns, Allan. Thematic Guide to American Poetry. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2002. Print.
London, Jack. Lost Face: And Other Stories. Auckland: Floating Press, 2010. Print.
Thurber, James, and Sandra Higashi. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Mankato: Creative Education, 1983. Print.
Baumgartner, Paul, Jeffery. Characteristics of Highly Creative People. The Creativity Post. January 2013. Retrieved from
http://www.creativitypost.com/psychology/characteristics_of_highly_creative_people
Gartner, D, John. The Hypomanic Edge: The Link Between (A Little) Craziness and (A Lot of) Success in America Paperback. 18 Jun 2011. Retrieved from.
http://www.amazon.in/The-Hypomanic-Edge-Between-Craziness/dp/0743243455
The Telegraph.The crazy drivers who have stunned police.February 2015. Retrieved from
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/8805953/The-crazy-drivers-who-have-stunned-police.html.