Try-hards

Throughout the history of mankind, people known as “try-hards” like Piggy from __Lord of the Flies __, Creon from __Antigone __, and Shylock from __The Merchant of Venice __ have always been patronized, criticized, and thought of as annoyances. The reason for the unfair treatment is because they are usually passionate in their subjects, exert all their efforts while aiming for perfection, and have a tendency to never give up easily. However, try-hards should not be condescended upon because of their over-whelming positive attributes. Try-hards should be perceived more frequently like the tortoise from __The Tortoise and the Hare __, Cinderella from the fairy tale __Cinderella __, and like Gohan from __Dragon Ball Z __.
 * __Try-Hards __**

There are three major criterions that indicate whether a person is a try-hard or not. The first major criterion for try-hards is that they have a strong tendency to be very passionate in their subjects. However, most perceptions of try-hards consider this strong passion as lame and they mock it. This popular perception of try-hards suggests that having enthusiasm is for nerds and outcasts. For example, in the book __Lord of the Flies__, Piggy is seen trying to help organize and lead the kids on the island with great enthusiasm and advice. However, most of the kids just ignore him and make fun of him for trying so hard when to them he is just a fat, useless burden that causes many setbacks. Unfortunately, the actions of the kids correlate with students in schools today; the students consider people that work vigorously in their classes to be boring and nerdy while the lazy students themselves try to avoid work as much as possible and just try to “pass the class.” These students are trying to make others apathetic like themselves so that they won’t be the only students having poor grades in the class. Although most perceptions of try-hards in literature and the media consider passion in a subject unappealing, there are a few examples that display try-hards in a positive light. For example, in the television series __Dragon Ball Z __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">, a young teenager names Gohan trains intensely and vehemently in order to defeat the extremely strong enemy that killed his father. Gohan fits nicely into the criteria of try-hards, but because he is trying to avenge his father in contrast to some less sentimental task, people are actually inspired by Gohan’s emphatic training instead of criticizing it. Gohan’s actions represent the good intentions of most try-hards in that they just want to create a positive influence in their environment. Therefore, being passionate should be a trait that everyone should adopt since it may lead to completing goals which at one point may have seemed improbable.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The second major criterion for try-hards is that they exert all their efforts in attempting to complete a task to perfection. A group that goes hand in hand with try-hards is the perfectionists. Many people criticize perfectionists because they are considered too picky and uptight, but for the most part, those traits are just misconceptions. In reality, perfectionists simply want their creations to be at the highest possible quality. King Creon shows the qualities similar to a perfectionist. Creon wanted his kingdom to be in order, so he exerted all his efforts in order to make his kingdom great even if he had to upset less significant people along the way. While Creon ended up living a tragedy because he was portrayed negatively, some try-hards receive great recognitions and praise for giving all their effort. This recognition is shown pretty clearly in the fairytale __Cinderella.__ In the story, Cinderella put all her efforts into in to cleaning the house and doing all the chores so that she can go to the royal ball that the prince was holding. She tried very hard in order to please her step-mother. However, her evil step-mother and sisters ruined her dress and told her that she was not allowed to go. Fortunately for Cinderella, a fairy god-mother noticed her good deeds and hardships and rewarded her with a beautiful outfit, so Cinderella would be able to go to the dance. The story shows how hard work never goes unrewarded and how being a so called try-hard can actually lead to happiness. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">media type="youtube" key="I6SdCDpvTnw?version=3" height="288" width="512" <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The last major criterion for try-hards is that they never give up very easily. This criterion is the source of confusion for many try-hards about why people criticize them. Aren’t we all taught the phrase “Never give up?” So from what it seems, the people that criticize try-hards are likely to give up when it becomes too difficult for them. They do not want to give an effort, so they scrutinize the ones that do. For example, in __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Merchant of Venice, __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Shylock tried endlessly to just live in harmony with his Christian neighbors. However, the Christians would patronize him and treat Shylock like a fool. When Shylock tries to gain redemption from the Christians for harassing him and not paying the loans back, the Christians end up reversing all the punishment to Shylock, leaving Shylock in a broken state with no identity. The story unfairly portrays Shylock as the bad guy when all he wanted was justice for the cruel treatment he received from the Christians who he actually tried to be friends with. In reality though, never giving up can lead to unprecedented results which at one point may have seemed unattainable. By persevering through tough times, a person can handle everyday, normal tasks with ease. Take for example the tortoise from __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Tortoise and the Hare. __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">In this story, a tortoise and hare are in a race to see who wins. No one believed that the slow tortoise could even stand a chance against the quick Hare. However, because the tortoise never gave up on the race and tried his very best in contrast to the Hare who didn’t really try, the tortoise shocked the nonbelievers and won the race. The story goes to show how never giving up and self-confidence can make anything possible.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Although many people may criticize try-hards, it is hard for them to deny their perseverance, competitiveness, and enthusiasm. And realistically, there should be no negative connotation towards try-hards. While popular perception of try-hards is that they are just annoying burdens to society, try-hards onlytry to be the best since hard work usually pays off. In the end, whether popular perception continues to portray try-hards negatively or not, the truth of the matter is that try-hards just want to be a positive influence to society.

Works Sited:

 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Brown, Scott. Shylock converting to Christianity. Digital image. Theater Review: If You Transfer The Merchant of Venice, Does It Not Bleed? Vulture, 13 Nov. 2010. Web. 20 May 2012. <http://www.vulture.com/2010/11/merchant_of_venice_pacino_rabe.html>.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Cinderella-stepsisters Spoil Her Dress. Dir. Klauzstar. YouTube. YouTube, 10 Dec. 2006. Web. 20 May 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6SdCDpvTnw>.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Disney, Walt. //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Cinderella. //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> New York, NY: Gallery, 1986. Print.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Golding, William. //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Lord of the Flies. //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> New York: Coward-McCann, 1962. Print.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Piggy's Death. Digital image. No More Grownups. 9 May 2011. Web. 20 May 2012. <http://rogerhunts.blogspot.com/2011/05/no-more-piggy-no-more-conch.html>.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Shakespeare, William, and William Lyon Phelps. The Merchant of Venice. New Haven: Yale UP, 1923. Print.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sophocles, and Richard Emil Braun. //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Antigone //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">. New York: Oxford Up, 1973. Print.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Stevens, Janet, and Aesop. The Tortoise and the Hare: An Aesop Fable. New York: Holiday House, 1984. Print.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Toriyama, Akira, and Gerard Jones. Dragon Ball Z. San Francisco: Viz Comics, 2000. Print.