OCTOBER 1999
| THAT"S LIFE RECENT ESSAYS VINSHAN JASILAN, a research fellow at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, is a contributing writer to Renaissance Online Magazine. He is currently working towards a Ph.D. in molecular biology.
FULL ISSUE CONTENTS |
Rejection: the Dark Side of Love
VINSHAN JASILAN
In Northern China there is a tribe who lives on the banks of the Yangtze
where suicide due to a broken heart is endemic. There is nothing so painful as
the words 'sorry but I am not interested' or 'can we be friends'. When fantasy
and yearning have built a minds picture of the perfect relationship, then reality
bites in the most awful way. Rejection is humiliating, crushing, lonely and
frustrating. It is this fear of rejection that stops most people from even
trying to like or love someone. Better in the safe world of 'what if' then the
certain and sad world of 'it will never be' Recently in the quest for a partner a friend let his feeling be known to a
woman he knew. Being a shy guy, he had let his feelings grow without revealing
his interest until he realized that it was pre-occupying his every waking moment.
Knowing full well that it was unlikely that she would reciprocate he decided to
bite the bullet and tell her all in an email anyway. The funny thing about
written confessions is that sometimes more can be disclosed then would ever be
said in a face to face conversation. He therefore laid it on a little too thick.
Bracing himself he awaited her reply. Predictably she wasn't interested and used
the old "friends" line. He has been mopping around now for the last 3 months and
prompted me to reflect on why most of us have to go through this. There are some
by dint of gender and good looks have never been rejected. Some of course are so
immune to rejection that fear has no meaning when faced with a possible let down.
Rejection as with all sad aspects of life has a place in the pantheon of
human life. Where would half of all love movies be if it wasn't for the demihero
who gets rejected then makes a bold self sacrificing gesture in the name of love.
Literature too is full of themes like these. In Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities",
the unexpected hero makes the ultimate sacrifice for love and gives his life for
the sake of his loved one. In "Far from the Madding Crowd", the initial rejection
of Gabriel is a foregone conclusion but gives the book its direction and
punchline. Most rejection stories though are not romantic. No... most always
means never. Ordinary mortals have to live with the heartache and pain of knowing
what they cannot have. It takes time to emerge. Yet without rejection there would be no pathos, no tragedy, no sense of
imperfection and frailty and probably no country and western songs. Whether we
like it or not, to love carries the risk of rejection. And to love is
exhilarating and the only way to know that you are fully alive and not totally
selfish. It is instinctual and involuntary and something that hasn't changed
since the dawn of man. As long as there is love then there will be one sided
romance and there will be rejection. Like the dilemma of Bassanio, if our choice is wrong then we are in for a
tragic, if not fatal, time of it. But to not try, well then you might as well
jump into the Yangtze anyway. * * * * | |