I am going to be analyzing Rene Girard’s ideas from Violence and the Sacred on mimesis and how it inevitably leads to conflict. I will examine and assess how and why Girard believes these subject-model relationships start and why they will eventually never work. We, as subjects, look to models who appear to have success and mimic them, while both going for the same object thus leading to conflict between both parties.
I will now look at a passage focusing on Rene Girard’s ideas from his book Violence and the Sacred. “Once his basic needs are satisfied (indeed, sometimes even before), man is subject to intense desires, though he may not know precisely for what. The reason is that he desires being, something he himself lacks and which some other …show more content…
Rene Girard says that it is usually started due to a subject having “intense desires” and it is implied that these desires do not include a person’s fundamental needs or necessities (pg. 146). Based on the passage, it describes that intense desire as a sense of being in which we lack. When I think of being, I think of a person who has made it, or is successful in their life and everyone wants to be successful. But it is interesting to note that Girard uses the word “seems” when describing that the model possesses being. As Girard says on page 146, when the subject sees that the model has the object in which he desires, he wants to imitate (“mimesis”) and essentially become the model; and this is what forms the connection. This association works well because the subject feels as though he is becoming closer to what he desires and the model takes satisfaction in being mimicked (pg. 146). Although this may seem like a beneficial alliance, Girard points out that both lack originality and character, which leads us to ask if this relationship is healthy and works in the long …show more content…
In fifth grade, we had a new student in our class named Anthony. I had about 3 other best friends and we decided to take him under our wing, if you will. Right away we hit it off and it honestly felt like he was a long lost brother. As soon as we were hanging out at recess, it felt like we were almost the same person as far as likes, dislikes, and personality. It was mind-blowing! Throughout the years I had noticed he started dressing more like me and listening to the music I liked when he never had before. Obviously at the time I didn’t think anything of it but now it stands out to me as a pivotal point. I felt somewhat honored subconsciously, because imitation is the highest form of flattery and as Girard says, the model does enjoy being mimicked. When I began playing football in eighth grade, it was because I wanted to try it out since I never had before. Guess who ended up playing as well; Anthony. This was the point in which things got ugly. We both had always discussed how cool it would be to be “popular” and I used to think football could lead to that. I believe that we both wanted that object of popularity and soon enough we clashed because we were both going for the same thing. Ever since then, there had always been tension between us. At the time I never understood it, but now it makes sense using Girard’s model of