Introduction
‘Thinking as a hobby’ is a story written by William Golding where he explained how he considered thinking as his hobby. From the study, it can be revealed that Golding was introduced into the field of thinking by his headmaster who used statuettes in his study. On this basis, these statuettes were from images of a lady, leopard, and a gentleman; where all of them symbolized to headmaster’s whole life. In this case, the symbol of the lady represented love since she was beautiful; the leopard represented nature as it was portrayed as being natural while the gentleman symbolized pure thought (Golding 124-130).
Main body
From the story, it can be revealed that Golding wanted to demonstrate how thinking is all about and how it starts by moving the statuettes around. In this case, Golding demonstrated grade three, two, and one thinking and stated that grade three thinking is much of feeling than thought. On this basis, this can be seen from the statuette of Venus where the lady is found to be beautiful and loving hence representing love according to the headmaster. In this relation, Golding reallocated the statuettes to demonstrate the degree of thinking (Golding 124-130).
According to Golding, the statuette of a muscular gentleman represented grade two thinking as it has no power to create whenever it destroys. A good example here of an instance where grade two thinking is portrayed is the case of Americans who preach peace globally but refuse to join the League of Nations. From the story is clearly indicated that Golding at first thought that grade two thinking was more important than grade three thinking and that is why he put the statuette of Venus at a lower position than that of the thinker. In this case, Golding thought that those people in grade two thinking always wait for those in grade three thinking to fail and portray their incapability. On the other hand, Golding considered the statuette of the leopard representing the grade one thinkers and that is why he puts it at the end (Golding 124-130).
At the end of the story, Golding puts the statuette of Venus aside because he had come to love grade three thinking knowing well that it is of importance to many people. In this relation, grade three thinkers who are represented by the statuette of lady are usually not worried by what others are saying about them but they get busy and perform their duty accordingly. In this case, Golding puts grade three thinkers aside because they are the most common in societies as many people have reached this stage of thinking (Golding 124-130).
From the story, the effect of thinking represented by the statuette of Venus is clearly represented by the case of Mr. Houghton who usually talked about clean living and the virtues of fresh air. In this case, he was a habitual drunkard despite the fact that he was being given advice on his drinking conduct. On this basis, grade three thinking is portrayed by Mr. Houghton with his thought about America and the French. It is of importance to note that, the statuette of Venus represented grade three thinking where most people in the society lie in our real-life situation and hence should be left out in the thinking equation (Golding 124-130).
Conclusion
To wind up, thinking is a hobby as stated by Golding, and also comes in various degrees that indicate how a thinker thinks. In this case, people in grades one and two thinking fail to understand what those in grade three think which results in their undermining.
Works cited
Golding, William. “Thinking as a Hobby” The Norton Reader, 11th edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Publishers. (2004): 124-130.