Pre-Reading: Things Fall Apart

3. Many people are afraid of change.  Discuss a time when change was destructive, and discuss a time when change was beneficial.  Why are people so afraid of change?

Many people are afraid of change. Why? Because they don’t know what to expect. I, personally am not afraid of change. Though I do get nervous, but I am not afraid of change.  Sometimes change can be a bad thing, for example moving across the country. This would be a bad thing because not just because you are leaving all your family and friends behind but also because you leaving everything familiar and entering uncharted territory. But something good could come out of that. You could find better opportunities, like going to a better school/college or a better job. I believe something good always comes out of change.  Most people are afraid of change because they don’t know what’s going to happen and can’t prepare for it. It could also be that they are afraid because they can’t always control when or how things will change.

There are times when change can be beneficial, for example when slavery was abolished in the mid to late 1860’s. This was beneficial to all the African Americans who were held against their will as slaves. It took years for things to change and even after slavery was abolished that didn’t stop people from being racist. There are also times when change can be destructive. For example when Hitler/the Nazi’s took over Germany. They committed mass genocide, so many people died. So many women and children died. So many kids left without out parents, so many parents whose kids were killed.

In conclusion change can both be beneficial and destructive, but good things can also come out of the bad. When the Nazi’s controlled Germany they committed mass genocide, but they also helped the country become more prosperous, Germany came out of the depression it was in under the control of Hitler. That doesn’t make up for the millions of people killed during the Holocaust nor does it excuse or make any of it better, but it does show that even in the most dire of situations a little bit of good/improvement can happen.