Yesterday was my birthday. And you know how they say that you get wiser as you get older? Yep, I got wiser. (A wise guy, eh? Nyuk nyuk nyuk!) And I know I got wiser because I just got this insight about how books affect people in subconscious ways. In fact, book titles affect people’s behaviors even more. After all, many people pretend that they read while they really don’t, but they hear book titles thrown around (sometimes by Oprah) nevertheless.
Once we have those book titles ingrained in our head, we can’t help but be subconsciously influenced by them. A very good example is the huge number of senior citizens that go on cruise trips every year. What makes them do this? Why do people, many of who didn’t even like cruises before, suddenly have an urge to go on a cruise when they are old? You might blame advertising and media portrayal; I blame Hemingway.
Yep, you heard that right. I am blaming the guy that wrote The Old Man and The Sea
. You might not remember what went on in the book (or what you learned from Cliff’s Notes) but most people have heard of the book title. Subconsciously, they start to associate being old with being at sea. And that is why so many old people want to take cruises. They think it’s their choice, but they are simply victims of these word association games.
Since I am so much wiser now and I gained such insights, here’s more example of how book titles affect our society:
1. War and Peace
: This made people associate the words “war” and “peace”. People waged wars in order to obtain peace because of this book title.
2. Pride and Prejudice
: This book title made people associate the two words together and be really proud of their views even when they are being incredibly prejudiced.
3. Hamlet
: Made people put ham in their omelets. Um… omelets. Yum.
4. Invisible Cities
: Made city dwellers feel invisible and lonely. A famous poet once wrote “Sometimes I feel like I don’t have a partner/ Sometimes I feel like my only friend/ Is the city I live in/ The city of Angels/ Lonely as I am/ Together we cry”.
5. Great Expectations
: This made people raise their expectations to be really great and produced lots of disappointed people.
6. Crime and Punishment
: This reduced crime rate.
7. Light in August
: This had no averse effects on most of the world, but confused the hell out of people in Antarctica.
8. The Scarlet Letter
: Inspired teachers everywhere to grade papers using red ink.
9. Catch-22
: Made many baseball catchers subconsciously want to choose 22 as their jersey number.
10. The Catcher in the Rye
: Provided a hint for what to grow when the aforementioned catchers retire and decide to become farmers.
11. The Grapes of Wrath
: Caused the most recent uprising of a herd of grapes. Feel the rage!
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