Thinking as a Hobby by William Golding really got me thinking. What caught my attention were the three statuettes. These were symbols of the 3 Grades of thinking. The narrator explores in depth about these Grades and show what they bring to a person whether it is good or bad.
To start off, the three statuettes were amazing symbols. The Grade-Three Thinking is being symbolized by Venus. In Greek Mythology, she is the goddess of love and is described to be the most beautiful living being there is. As the narrator states, the Venus statuette was too busy looking beautiful. Why would a goddess who will be beautiful no matter be busy trying to look beautiful? Does she think she looks terrible at the moment? Does she think she is ugly? Grade three thinkers believe in one thing, but they do things that are the opposite of what they believe in. For example, a racist who hates African American, but he loves President Obama. I believe Venus is thinking she is ugly at the moment even though she believes she is the most beautiful person in the world. A person like her should not have a thing to worry about. The leopard statuette is like the Grade-Two Thinkers. A leopard can a aggressive and combative just like how a Grade-two thinker can be in an argument. Grade-two allows a person to analyze a belief and find the flaws and contradictions about it. They analyze like how a leopard would analyze their environment to find where there prey is at. The Naked Man statuette was supposed to be the best thinker. It leaves me to believe he symbolizes the Grade-One Thinkers. A man he thinks hard enough would make the smart choices and have good thoughts about the world around him. When the narrator met a German, they both had their barriers. Those barriers were their background and language/communications. They were both aware of it, but it did not stop them from having a peacefully good time. Their difference were strong, but it did not mean they cannot talk to each other or be friends. This is being smart. It is the safest way of thinking out of the three.
