The Need for Approval

The Need for Approval

I have lived in Lincoln all my life and sometimes it’s easy to just get stuck in the flow of the community rather than picking apart the pieces that make up it’s center. Reading through Hamlet and looking at the elements present at the character’s centers has helped me make connections in my own community. In taking a more in-depth look at Lincoln Nebraska, there seems to be a need for approval that blankets the community. This need for approval can prominently be seen through objects in the community, however there are also a few groups of people that play a part in it as well. Specifically in this project the members of Lincoln that make up the community are those who work to design and build the updated buildings downtown, the designers of the different Hearts of Lincoln, and Husker Nation as a whole.

Through each of these groups of people and with the five images that follow, I hope that you are able to see how exactly Lincoln Nebraska holds the need for approval at it’s center. Hamlet provided many great examples from several characters and as I’ve picked apart those individuals, I am learning more about myself and I realized that often I also have a need for approval from others that can tend to cloud my own perspective on life.

 

Building Greatness

“For nature, crescent, does not grow alone In thews and bulk, but, as this temple waxes, The inward service of the mind and soul Grows wide withal.”
(Act 1, Scene 3, p. 15)

Both people and places are constantly changing and the new Hudl building is an obvious example of how the community of Lincoln is searching for approval from outside eyes. As times change and money becomes more of an icon in the world, the challenge to be just as successful as everyone else comes to the surface. In this quote, it is talking about how as Hamlet grows up he has to meet more expectations than when he was younger and this is a simple parallel with Lincoln. When Lincoln was first starting out, it didn’t have to meet the approval of many but as times have gone on and money has become more of an object, now there is the challenge of continuing to meet that approval in the community, which often times leads to construction improvements. Hamlet is starting to gain more responsibilities as he grows up and has to gain the approval of many more people, especially his dead father. Much like Lincoln building up to improve, Hamlet wants to “rebuild” the kingdom in a way. He wants to gain approval from his father by getting revenge for his death.

 

Caught up in the Lights

“Have I, my lord? I assure my good liege, I hold my duty as I hold my soul,
Both to my God and to my gracious king.” (Act 2, Scene 2, p. 34)

Whether you are in the community of Lincoln or not, there are set standards that you’re supposed to reach to gain the approval of others. In this picture you see the Christmas house. They aren’t required to put up their lights every year, however they know that they would be letting a lot of people down if they didn’t. This can be paralleled with Polonius because he has that same desire of approval from those around him- especially his king. He isn’t required to do anything for the King, he already holds a good position with him. However he feels like if he doesn’t give his full allegiance to him then he will be letting him down and he will lose his approval. This is why Polonius is constantly in other people’s business. He wants to be the first to know and report back to the king so he can have that satisfaction of the approval he receives. He wants to put on a show for those around him, flaunting that he “knows all,” just like the Christmas house puts on a light show for Lincoln and kind of flaunts all the money they have.

 

The Ultimate Role Model

“Let not thy mother lose her prayers, Hamlet. I pray thee, stay with us.”
(Act 1, Scene 2, p. 10)

Around Lincoln in the summer, there were a total of 89 hearts scattered around town and now they have been moved to various locations. Each heart was unique and the designers spent hours making it exactly perfect, representing exactly what they wanted it to stand for. They wanted each heart to be ascetically pleasing to whoever would be viewing it, they wanted their audience to approve of their hard work. Much like these hearts around Lincoln, Gertrude worked hard throughout a majority of the play to gain the approval of others. She especially wanted to be the best mother that she could be and so she focuses all her attention on him, making sure that he approves of her and that he feels like she was a “good enough” for him. In this particular quote Gertrude is praying for her son to stay home and not go to Wittenberg. If he decides to go, she loses both him and the approval he gives to her as a mother. I thought that this heart fit with this quote not only because of the approval it gets from the Lincoln community, but also because of the elaborate mom design there is. So many components went into the design to make sure that it turned out the right way, to make it the “best” mom. Similarly, Gertrude tends to focus on all the different actions she can take to turn out the right way, to be the “best” mother.

 

Hungry for Success

“Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen, Th’ imperial jointress to this warlike state, Have we—as ‘twere with a defeated joy, With an auspicious and a dropping eye, With mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage, In equal scale weighing delight and dole— Taken to wife.”
(Act 1, Scene 2, p. 7)

Shown above is a picture of Memorial Stadium and in light of recent events, its obvious how much approval is needed from Husker Nation when it comes to football. Coaches are hired and fired just to make room for someone who will do bigger and better things. The only thing that matters is making the viewers happy, giving them a National Championship to watch. Much like our own Nebraska football, King Claudius shows that the need for approval is at his center as well. He puts himself in a position of leadership because he thinks that he can make the kingdom a better place. He backs himself up in this quote by saying that the idea came from his kingdom, that they were the reason he became king. He marries the queen for the better of the kingdom and promises to work to make the kingdom great again. In fact, there have been signs floating around with Scott Frost and the words, “make Nebraska great again” and this just further emphasizes the need for approval from both King Claudius and Nebraska football specifically under the leadership of our new coach.

 

Neglecting Responsibilities

“I shall obey, my Lord.” (Act 1, Scene 4, p. 19)

This picture shows a whole bushel of apples, neglected on the ground. They were not quite good enough to be picked and as time passed, they fell to the ground. I’m not saying that apples have some kind of soul driving them, however they do posses the need to be good enough to be picked and taken home so they can be used for their obvious purpose, food. They have a need for approval from humans. Ophelia shows her need for approval in a similar way. She is caught up in a sort of a love story with Hamlet, however in order to gain approval from her father she must completely neglect Hamlet and all his words to her. Her obvious purpose is to fall in love with Hamlet and take a step further into their relationship, but in neglecting him she finds a new purpose of being an acceptable daughter to her father. This opens up a new way for her to gain the approval of someone around her. The quote above simply demonstrates her new allegiance to her father, his approval is what now lies at her center. In the same way that Ophelia finds a new purpose, so will these apples. Their obvious purpose is to be eaten in prime condition, but being on the ground that is no longer the best option. Their seeds will end up in the ground and their new purpose will be to grow up and become their own trees. When they grow and start producing their own apples, this opens up a new way for them to gain approval from those who come to pick apples. If they can produce apples in prime condition they will be accepted, much like if Ophelia acts just the right way around her father, she will also be accepted.

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