On Reading Poems to a Senior Class At South High by D.C. Berry

I spent a few minutes researching D.C. Berry to see if insights into his life would somehow grant me a few insights into this poem. Berry had a good personality and frankly lived a good life. However, he did fight in Vietnam. It seemed to me he struggled with the concept of conforming. This poem reminded me of my own views of high school. We go to high school and conform ourselves into model students. We are the "frozen fish in a package," just waiting to to be turned into something. We let the words and ideas of our superiors drown us. As the little "school of fish," we never stick out and never fend for ourselves. Sometimes I feel as though I go to school only to have another coat of paint caked on to conceal my individuality. It's been such a long time since I've really been allowed to think for myself. I hope I'm not another fish in the aquarium: on display behind a glass, limiting my view to the 4 walls around me.

At the same time, I wonder if we even have a problem being conformed. I mean, the fish get fed right? They have security and clean water. Perhaps they don't get to see the rest of the ocean, but if they never know, does it even matter? I think we like people limiting our potential. We may not admit to it, but if there is a limit on our potential, then we don't have to figure it out or our own. It's easier that way. We become what others except us to be.

Then there are the people like me. I realize I'm being brain washed by the system, but what am I doing about it? Writing silly blog posts about how pathetic it is that society is the master of my destiny. Or like Berry, write poems about being crafted into schools of fish. I guess we are either naive or afraid.