Analyse af Jonathan Franzens essay 'Liking Is for Cowards'

B – Jonathan Franzen – Liking Is for Cowards. Go for What Hurts.

Jonathan Franzen is an acclaimed American novelist and essayist. His essay “Liking Is for Cowards. Go for What Hurts” is based on a commencement speech which he held at Kenyon College, Ohio, USA. His essay was first published in The New York Times, May 28, 2011. The title figuratively encourages youth to experience love, by being less attached to social media, and instead welcome love-involving experiences with open arms and an open mind, opposed to fear.

At first, the topic of Franzen’s essay indicates being addiction towards newer technology, social media etc. due to the introductory section of his relationship with his Blackberry phone. But truly the overall message of Franzen’s essay is fearing rejection. The essay is based on the necessity of taking chances with actual risks. He describes social media as a place, where you’re temporarily liked but never loved. Liking is a function on Facebook, where you admit to acknowledge another person’s update, e.g. status update or photo upload. In his essay, Franzen metaphorically uses this term of “liking” in context of general behavior on social media. He opposes love towards being liked, and the huge differences between these often conflated and misinterpreted concepts. Through social media, the younger generations are able to receive a somewhat accepting recognition in the shape of self-promotion, but what they might experience online is nowhere near a match of the affection they can receive physically from those that care about them in real life. By hiding beneath the covers in your room, while on your mobile phone, you do not get to sense and know-how such relations function. Franzen is urging the younger generations that love and fear shouldn’t be combined. Daring to love is one of the most fundamental basics of humanity.