Rodrigo Simoes Period
1 Mr.
Shapiro 05/05/14
The
Essence of Quality
Quality
surrounds each and every individual in this world; yet, many of them do not
know what quality is. Actually, many of them may think that they understand
quality, however, truth is, nobody knows for sure since quality may take many
different shapes and forms. This aspect is pursued in detail throughout
Pirsig’s novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, as the
protagonist battles constantly with the pressure of figuring out the definition
of quality himself.
Before attempting to begin the journey to define quality, one must understand
that it will be one of the hardest terms to define in one’s life. Pirsig
demonstrates this difficulty by clearly portraying in his novel’s protagonist
the difficulty and frustration he encounters while attempting to define it. The
protagonist and narrator is nameless throughout the novel, and he pursues his
past self by going on a motorcycle road trip across the U.S. as he does so, he
finds himself in various situations where he fids himself having memories of
the past and the frustration he felt when trying to define quality. Having been
a philosophy professor, he had once suffered such great difficulties in
defining quality that he was unable to provide his students with a definition,
instead, he assigned an essay where they could brainstorm their own and provide
help to the entire class the next day. The assignment shows how the professor
was ashamed, and maybe even embarrassed in not being able to provide the
students with a definition to such a common word, “quality”.
The narrator’s past self was called Phaedrus. At the end of the novel the
reader is given the understanding that the narrator changed his life completely
to leave the soul of Phaedrus and become something else. Some factor in
Phaedrus’ life was not allowing it to be enjoyable, which caused the separation
between Phaedrus and the narrator. That factor was the presence of the
mysterious “quality” in his life. On the narrator’s road trip, however, he
finds himself pursuing that definition again, attempting to explain it to
others, and debating on whether or not they understand it or if even he
understands it for himself. Once when the protagonist and his son, Chris, were
staying in Montana at a friend’s house, he was asked to talk about “quality”
and he show he was studying it. Pirsig provided a myriad of the protagonist’s
inner thoughts at this point, displaying the narrator’s difficulty and
uncertainty of whether or not to try to explain as he was not sure of the
definition himself and the others wouldn’t be able to understand it either. The
difficulty of quality always shined through the protagonist’s actions, and the
pressure of its understanding affected everyone surrounding him.
Quality in real life is given the impression that it is common and widely
known. Yet has everybody stopped to think what quality fully entails? Is
quality applied in the same manner to all aspects of the real world? What does
it mean to have a quality life? A quality meal? A quality workout? Maybe some
deem quality to be a symbol of effort, others, a word meaning that whatever the
do, success will come out of it at the end. A quality work out perhaps means
that one will focus all his efforts into exercising his body to become
stronger, not performing many repetitious movements for no purpose, but fewer,
more concentrated ones. This brings the interpretation of quality as being an
essence that takes up more time but delivers better results, which in some
cases may e true, but yet does not apply to everything in life. A “quality” bed
for example would not follow that definition. Does quality in this case, as
pertaining to the bed, take the form of a positive describing adjective? Does
it mean that the bed is durable? Comfortable? Quality in the present real world
takes various shapes and is open for interpretation by all, it will never fall
under one definition as it is already widely used throughout many different
industries that use it as the please.
Now
throughout the novel, quality was connected with motorcycle maintenance, and
especially between the styles of maintenance between John and the narrator. In
this instance, the quality maintenance each character looks for entails the
same purpose; give their bikes the best possible care. However, they d not
entail the same type of maintenance, since both characters have different
definitions of quality themselves. John’s quality maintenance for his
motorcycle entails taking it to a mechanic who knows how to repair and keep a
motorcycle in excellent shape, since John does not know anything about
maintaining a motorcycle. In contradiction to john’s style of quality
maintenance, the narrator does not trust any mechanic and prefers maintaining
his motorcycle himself. To him, that is his quality maintenance, and the best
solution for keeping his motorcycle in excellent shape.
The
way in which each character sees quality with their motorcycle maintenance can
be used to identify how they see quality in their family relationships as well.
As the narrator takes a close and personal connection with quality, and feels
he can deliver the best quality there is, his relationship with Chris resembles
a close father-son interaction, where any problems that arise are taken care of
in a personal matter, without contacting anybody else. As for John and Sylvia
however, their interactions may need an outside source. Much like John’s
motorcycle gets taken care by a mechanic, their relationship is shaped to some
degree by the lectures and life lessons the narrator provides throughout their
trip across the nation. When one decides on how to interpret quality in his own
life, that definition usually extends throughout all aspects of his life, and
that is what we see in the novel with each character.
With
each person seeing quality in a different way, there is an array of different
examples of how quality is used in everyday life. Ranging from many different
sectors in business, to many different areas of intellectual development,
quality is seen everywhere. Due
to the presence of quality in everyday life, the importance of knowing
what quality is for the single individual is vital. Through Pirsig’s novel one
can understand the rationale behind knowing what quality is in their life, and
that is, in order to have peace of mind one must know what quality stands for
in their life. It can be seen through the lives of both the narrator and
Phaedrus that they did not have peace of mind. What did they have in common?
They suffered from not knowing how to define quality in their lives. All their
struggles in life came form not knowing how to define quality. Without knowing
what quality is, how are they supposed to enjoy life? How are they supposed to
know if what they are doing with life is of positive quality or not? All the
hardships they endure through the novel are directly related to the mysterious
quality factor that embodies their lives.
As a result of not knowing what quality is, Phaedrus was forced to let go of
his self, which in turn brings about the narrator’s character. He loses his
job, seems like a horrible professor and is humiliated. At the same time, the
narrator, as he attempts to procure his past self and the definition of
quality, ruins his relationship with Chris, as he they grow further apart
throughout the novel. From what Pirsig provides in the story, one can
definitely state that not knowing the definition of quality in their lives has
no positive effects, but only negative.
Positive effects of determining what the definition of quality is
in your life include many factors that will allow you to live with peace of
mind. Once one has the definition marked in stone, they will understand that
quality has multiple faces, different definitions but an overall same effect on
every life. By conquering quality, one is able to experience pleasure, work
towards positive aspects in life, and deal with other mind-boggling aspects in
their lives other than being stuck in trying to find out their own definition
of quality. Quality in one’s life allows for easy brainstorming, effective and
efficient use of time to complete a required action and the ease of mind to
focus on other struggles of life. Not knowing what quality is is a major obstacle
in one’s life. It is much like a wall separating the real life from the life of
struggle. Once that wall is breached, it opens their lives to a complete
paradise of opportunity, free from struggles and inefficient use of time in
attempting to define their quality. Everyone’s ultimate goal is to define their
quality, and once that has been accomplished, their lives are theirs to take.
My
opinion of quality is straightforward, however, that is my opinion, and again,
just like quality, many others may see it differently. To understand my
definition of quality I have taken many different perspectives of “quality” in
my life. One’s definition of quality reflects upon one’s personality. A
complicated personality will have a complicated definition for their quality
while a rational personality will have a rational definition for their quality.
In my terms, “quality is the measure of the ratio of the effort one puts into an
action and the success that results from it”. It is simple. When one puts
his mind into something and is determined to accomplish a goal, at least some
quality work is needed to successfully reach that goal. The quality can be
measured by determining how much effort one put into his actions, and how much
for that effort resulted in positive results, getting him closer to reaching is
goal. The most effort and the most success results in maximum quality work
while the least effort and the least positive results equals the minimum
quality work. One should always lean towards maximum quality for several
reasons. Not only does the most amount of effort into an action yields great
learning experiences, an active mind, and a healthy self, but also, it allows
for greater satisfaction, more happiness, and a chain of reactions for more
success in the future when one sets his mind to maximum quality work. After
all, what is the point of doing something without trying to do it to the best
of your ability? If that is the case then the action is not of importance to
that person, and they should pursue goals that interest them in order to take
advantage of the positive entities one attains from working to their best
potential and maximum quality work.
Even
though it I in ones best interest to work with quality, does that guarantee it
always brings upon success? Unfortunately, absolutely not. The world we all
live in is a complex, unfair, and powerful system of elements, emotions,
occurrences, and disturbances in everyday life. Even though maximum quality
work is the best way to attain positive results from an action, it does not
guarantee success. However, what it does guarantee is the learning of
exceptional set of skills, the knowledge of hardworking and the understanding
of the world as it is. Planet earth is a hard place to live in, and the ability
to be able to fail, learn, and move on is not only essential in life, but also
present in one of the many outcomes of working with quality no matter what the
final outcome turns out to be.
Pirsig’s
novel allowed for the interpretation of quality for all its readers. No only
did he provide an example to be learned and followed, but also an opportunity
for all to look into their own minds and find their definition of quality and
what role it is and may play in the future. Quality surrounding us is asking to
be reached and defined. One must only set his mind to it, and the world will
open gates of opportunities to an intellectual journey leading onto uncountable positive experiences the world has to
offer.
Word Count: 2009
Works Cited
Pirsig, Robert M.. Zen and the art of
motorcycle maintenance: an inquiry into values,.
New York: Morrow, 1974. Print.
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