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In Society today, men are bombarded with rules regarding behavior and the image of masculinity they must project. Media and pop culture display masculinity without properly defining its boundaries, creating a double standard for men which is both confusing and impossible to live up to. The confusion and doubt that such a double standard causes often has disastrous social implications. Not only does it make men miserable and self-conscious, but in addition it places a stereotype on men that is extremely difficult to overcome.
It is also very common in our culture to find literature which labels men and in a negative way. An example of this is The Rules which gives women 'advice' on what to do to catch and keep Mr. Right: 'Don't try to change him because men never really change. You should accept certain flaws or find somebody else. ' This leads the reader to assume that the authors have lumped all men together, and that they are all the same and unchanging. When reading High Fidelity however, we find an example of a protagonist who proves this stereotype false. Rob battles society's expectations and his own insecurities while making a huge change from a miserable adolescent 35 year old, to a happy and fulfilled adult adult.
The language of the novel allows us to see deep into Rob's thoughts and insecurities and relate them to our own, while the modern setting helps to enforce the middle class ideology that individual change is not only possible, but important and relevant to the men (and women) of today. Throughout the novel, as Rob exhibits signs of his inability ro accept adulthood, we as readers can relate. When he finally takes some initiative and drags himself out of his pit of despair, we realize that if a guy like Rob can do it, we can do it too. In this way, High Fidelity impacts our culture by proving that men can break the stereotype and indeed can change.
The statement 'it's not what you " re like, but what you like' basically summarizes Rob's views on people in general. Before his change, Rob identifies a judges people solely on their musical taste or lack thereof. In the shop this develope's into a type of snobbery, especially with Rob and Barry who tend to have more outspoken views... On many occasions they make customers feel less 'worthy' by making fun of their musical choices. An example of this is the middle aged man who came into the shop looking for the Stevie Wonder record 'I just called to say I love you' as a gift for his daughter. Barry yells at him, is incredibly rude, and basically forces him to leave the store all because he asked for 'uncool' music.
Championship Records is more of meeting place for elitist guys who have a knowledge of strange and obscure bands rather than a place where people can come simply to enjoy (or get lots in) popular music. Barry, Rob and Dick seem almost to see the store as some sort of religious mecca where they enlighten people, and thus battle the evils of (EEEK! ) bad pop. To Rob, and especially Barry, music is a good way to judge how much respect to give to someone. This becomes apparent in chapter six when Rob goes to the woman's house to look over her husbands record collection. Though the man has obviously done something very immoral by cheating on his wife, Rob respects the man greatly for his superb record collection and even identifies with him in saying that he feels 'desperately, painfully sorry for the man. '.
Eventually Rob leaves without taking advantage of what seems to be a record collectors dream. This, to Rob, is taking the moral high road, afterall, music is life remember? This all changes later, however, when Rob's love for Laura allows him to gain another perspective. This is evident near the end of the book when Laura takes Rob to meet her friends, and he falls in love with them despite their un-hip record collection. He now believes that its not 'what you like, but what you " re like that matters' (hornby 280). Very few people in the world have a taste for music that could truly gain Rob's respect.
Now, with his new view of life, it is easier for Rob to cultivate meaningful relationships with people based on personality rather than materialistic judgments. This serves as a clue into the larger context of the story. We live in a highly materialistic world where people close themselves off from fantastic opportunities because of their closed mindedness. Through the sometimes comically dramatic characterization of Rob, we see how important it is to stop making these judgments and take hold of our lives if we want to be happy. Another obvious change within Rob that would refute the belief that men do not change, is his slow transition from selfishness to selflessness (well as close as Rob could get to selflessness anyway).
Throughout the novel Rob seems to struggle with growing past the male adolescent behavior that most women would associate with a typical man. He is mean, he is rude, he sees women as objects to compete for, and he has a complete and total need for domination in all areas of his life. Rob seems to want to be the typical 'man's man' that society promotes these days (think THE MAN SHOW- women as objects = women on trampolines? ). The theme of Rob's need for dominance is very clear. He tries to dominate in his relationship with Laura, at the shop, and over other males as well in order to prove that he is the strongest. This leads to the intense need for competition that characterizes the early, less mature Rob.
An example of this would be in the way he describes the motive behind his need to win Laura back: 'If I can convince myself that she does want me a bit, then I'll be ok again because I wont want her' (Hornby? ). Laura is indeed a prize to be won, and Rob's obsession with competing with Ian in the bedroom shows that Laura, in Rob's mind initially, is merely a means of dominating over another male. This is possibly what has bothered Rob about many of his early relationships as well. On page 156 he says 'in short I've lost again, just like I lost it with Charlie all those years ago. ' He cannot bear the thought of his earlier girlfriends choosing other men, because this implies that he is in some way inferior.
Rob's obsession with competition gradually becomes less and less as the story progresses and his changes become more obvious. The first signs of this are when rob talks about his feelings of 'homesickness' for Laura, and when he cries to the pop song that Marie sings at her concert because he misses Laura. In this case she is not a prize to be won, but rather a force which makes him feel more comfortable and at ease. Again at the funeral Rob sees Laura crying and says ' I want to go to her and become a different person, and remove all traces of what is me, as long as she will let me look after her and make her feel better. ' Here we begin to see that Rob can exhibit emotion about something other than his beloved pop music and being the best. Laura isn't a game to be won, and Rob doesn't feel he has anyone to impress. He obviously realizes that he cares for her, and this opens a floodgate of change and self-improvement.
As Rob changes and becomes less selfish and more optimistic. He goes from wallowing in self pity and bragging about being 'average', to actually getting on the road to fulfilling his dreams. There are two major events that lead to this new view of life: Laura's moving out, and her father's funeral. Both of these force Rob to reassess who is actually is vs.
who he should be. When Laura leaves him, he believes that it could be because of her new job that they have grown apart. Laura, (in her completely un-rules girl way) tells him that in fact it is not that she has changed drastically, but that he has not changed at all: 'you are EXACTLY the same person you used to be. You haven't changed so much as a pair of socks in the time I've known you. If we " ve grown apart, it's because I'm the one who's done the growing. ' (Hornby). In addition Laura refuses to some back to him until he changes his ways.
If for no other reason than to get her back from Ian, this gives Rob motivation. Later at the funeral for Laura's father Rob's change becomes more and more evident. Facing death is something that Rob has never had to do before and it forces him to become a 'grown-up' and face his fears of death and commitment.
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Research essay sample on View Of Life Double Standard
