Analysis Of Claire Messud's 'In Praise Of Boredom'

Modern generations face the burden of productivity. Idle time is time wasted, and stopping even for a moment to inhale results in a rapid exhale– a gasp of indignation. The conflict between the push for constant productivity and the urge for boredom-born inspiration results from the varying views of waste across generations. Through historical and personal context, Claire Messud’s “In Praise of Boredom” establishes a parallel between generations with regard to their focus on averting waste—either of resources for older generations or time for millenials. This focus, in turn, closes the gap between audiences of different age groups. Each generation faces historical events that establish its perceptions about waste. Parents act as the core …show more content…
Her upbringing was not the idyllic childhood, presenting her case not as one of a perfect child but rather as one who understands the difficulties modern generations face in changing their habits. She understands the desire within most adolescents to waste money to fit into the crowd: “I longed to have jeans from the Gap… [and] to wear my hair feathered like the cool girls at school” (2). She addresses the wasteful nature of modern generations, yet she empathizes with their desire to fit in by wasting money on those items because she felt those same emotions. Even though she acknowledges that “[her] parents themselves… had endured the grimness of wartime” and encouraged her to live a parsimonious life, she believes she “could only ever be [an] armchair radical” since she didn’t personally live in their historical time or experience their challenges (2). By revealing this aspect of her life, she is able to form a bridge between her time to the modern one. Even though both generations face varying social norms and resources, Messud creates an emotional connection to her audience in revealing the conflicted nature of her own generation’s mentality. Just as she is at times unable to effectively communicate with the modern generation, the former one faced difficulties communicating with her because of their different values. She even openly admits to her faults in this shift between what society considers a sufficient way to spend time versus the break considered a waste. “This tension has never been wholly resolved. The lure of certain distractions is still considerable,” Messud admits, which portrays her as a flawed and therefore relatable figure (2). The parallel Messud draws between the generations by admitting her flaws portrays her as a vulnerable entity, which establishes her