SNOBS AND BORES
A snob is a man of low birth or social position, or a man who gives overmuch importance and respect to wealth or social position and who is ashamed of having connections with social inferiors. He is servile to social superiors. He judges merits by outward appearances. Goldsmith’s Beau Tibbs is a typical snob.Snobs are bores. They are amusing at first, become boring after sometime and turn into abhorrent bugbears in the long run. They are eccentric and take pride in making the other people hate them for their eccentricities. No one can admire a snob beyond a limit.
A bore is a twaddler or a nuisance. The worst and most hated of all the bores is the sick-man who ‘complaints’ about his disease. It is not a ‘complain’ in truth, but in his opinion, a proud and vain intimation of a piece of the most interesting and most profitable news to the hearer! He tells his hearer how he got the infection, how many doctors he has consulted, how much money he has spent on his medical treatment and what pain he feels. He may be suffering from T.B., or cancer or asthma or rheumatism or cramps. He mentions the names of the medicines he takes and the number of shots he gets everyday to get temporary relief. He proudly informs his listener of his doctor’s advice to go and live in Switzerland for six months to get complete freedom from his disease. He then explains the diet restrictions imposed upon him in such a way as to show that he likes to have more of them. He visit his friends and relatives or invites them one by one to sing about his sickness.
Even a poor man can be bore. He visits friends and his relatives to glory in his disease. He leaves out none of them from his boring description. While the rich bore is tolerated, the poor bore is avoided for fear of facing a demand for financial aid.What is strange about the disease bores is that they take a romantic view of their suffering. Each one of them imagines himself to be a hero who will be admired by people and who will be loved by young women. His self-importance is sincere and great. He even goes to the extent of desiring to die an early death. Wherever he goes, he voices forth the desire till someone politely or angrily ask him to commit suicide. Some disease-snobs actually commit suicide, hoping that the world will praise them after their death and even raise statues or put up busts for commemoration. They look pathetic at first, but our pity for them diminishes as days pass on and sigh in relief when they really die.
The next interesting bores are the fashion-lovers. They always talk about modern fashions and praise them. They condemn all old fashion. Everything modern and fashionable - that is the theme of their talk with other people. Houses, dresses,hair-cut , films,ornaments, home-decoration, entertainment, cooking, eating, dinners, concerts,ballets,dramatic and music performances,education ,manners- everyone of them should be modern,fashionable,new and up-to the standard. By ‘modern’ the fashion-lover means something new, or some part deleted from the old type, or some addition to it, however clumsy the resultant is. Sometimes the fashion-snob admires a really new design which is worthy admiration. But the often commits the mistake of what is worthless just for the sake of calling it ‘modern’. He is befriended by traders , mechanics, craftsmen, artists and other professionals because by his advertisements of modernity or modern fashion, he enhances their income., he makes us buy cars,drapery,paints and machines of the new shapes on the basis of his conception ‘modern fashion’.
Some of the fashion-snobs are the traders and manufacturers themselves. The other people of the group are from the other fields of life. The art-snobs are the most boastful of all bores. They pretend to know an art or arts with a smack of the technical terms used in them and make the ignorant feel amazed at their knowledge of arts. Everything new is an artistic production or performance- a merit or a blunder- is lauded by them. They who praised Leonardo da Vinci now praise Picaso. They urge many rich people to buy modern painted pictures, statues and tragedies to decorate their homes. Art-snobs help artists to earn their living.
The lovers of Arts are lovers of culture and social prestige. They buy the productions of art and keep them. They drink that their friends, relatives and visitors will respect them more than before for the sake of such possessions. Some art-snobs are mere critics who mock rich people into buying artistic things.
There are wicked snobs as well as good snobs in the society. The drug-snob recommends the modern, sophisticated drugs to his friends. The booze-snob trains his friends in drinking what is fashionable and new. Smoke - snobs are from everywhere. They advertise the new cigarettes and the new tobacco by buying and smoking them or by praising them before smokers. Even some women are tempted into smoking,drinking or drug-taking by the sweet flattery or gentle mockery or description of the effects of such vices.
So snobs are broadly divided into two classes: those who possess the things or habits, and those who merely recommend things or actions. They are always active and keep other people also active. Some snobberies are good while the other are bad; some of them are expensive while some others are not. The snobs who posses the things they like think low of people who do not have them. The snobs who are poor will mock at the well-to-do until they purchase the modern or fashionable things, or do the actions which they call modern or fashionable in modern times political-snobs and literary-snobs are more important that the other snobs. They create changes in the political,economic , social and intellectual fields by their snobberies.
Thank you,
R.Rajkumar.
Like it on Facebook, Tweet it or share this article on other bookmarking websites.