What does the Fringes man mean by "they try to strangle the life out of Life"? (p. 155)
I feel that when the fringes man says "they try to strangle the life out of life"(pg155), that he is trying to tell David, and get his point across that what the people of Waknuk are doing is wrong, and that everyone with a "deviation" is still a person, with a heart and feelings. He is saying that they degrade you and put you down until you feel that you truly don't belong, and until you feel that the life that you do have isn't worth living.
What the Fringes man meant by telling David that "they try to strangle the life out of Life" (p.155), was that the people of Waknuk arn't truely living. They arn't living the right way because they try to make everything so perfect, that it isn't even perfect anymore. A perfect society doesn't mean that it literally has to be perfect in everyway. A perfect society is a society that is happy and respectful to one another. A perfect society is a society that accepts one another for who they are. Equality is important in life, and wich none of this David's society has. David's society is literally killing or "strangling" the meaning of life.
I think what the fringes man meant by saying "they try to strangle the life out of life"(p. 155) is that David's society focuses on the small details instead of the big picture. They are so strict and unaccepting of others that they don't understand the true meaning of equality, which is the base of a successful community. His society judges it's citizens on appearances or their differences opposed to personality and heart. It's so extreme that, in the beginning of the novel, David was looked at differently just because he was left-handed. In life, there is so much more to that. People's differences should be celebrated because there really is no such thing as the "true image" or perfection. If everyone was the same, life wouldn't be as interesting and that is how David's society strangles the life out of life.
The Fringes man meant that since they seek perfection constantly, "it's thier great sin," (154). He says that the people of
Wakunk "got the arrogance to think themsleves perfect," (154). They "strangle the life out of life" (155), in a way because life is about being different and equality, and people of Waknuk (most people) ignore the fact that that's what life is all about. Life is about emotion and heart, which they do not care about to take into consideration, but instead punish people who are different. Nothing and nobody is perfect so I don't see how they can judge others' and punish them for not fitting their criteria of "normalcy." That's what life is all about, and most people of Waknuk do not even live life how they should, instead of being so strict, they should be accepting, and appreciate that everyone has differences, and that it's a positive thing.
When the fringes man says "they try to strangle the life out of life"(155), he is trying to tell David that what the people of Waknuk are doing is wrong, and that any living thing should be treated the same as we all have heart beats and feelings. The people of Waknuk are rating and treating anything with a deviation as if it were lower class and ot worthless.
What the Fringes man means by that is, they life in such a strict and pretty tough crowd. Everything is normal, trying to keep everything the same as much as possible, which takes the fun out of what life really is, he means that they're taking the life they've been blessed with and just wasting it away with pointless things that shouldn't be a matter or issue.