“Emotion is a conscious mental reaction (such as anger or fear) subjectively experienced as a strong feeling usually directed toward a specific object (or event)"
Merriam-Webster dictionary
Each individual has many ways of feeling different emotions towards the same event. One could feel an intense fear when crossing paths with a cat, but one could also feel the sudden urge to hug the cat. One can cry over a rom-com movie, but another can also feel disgusted by the cheesy lines.
These emotions are being controlled by the part of the brain called the amygdala, located in the base of the brain. The name itself comes from Latin and has a literal meaning of “almond,” which refers to the size of the two amygdalae. The amygdala is not only involved in emotions but is also responsible for human behavior as well.
Emotions are one of the most important parts of humans, not only as a reaction to something but also as a way of communicating with other beings. By having emotions, we know how to react in every situation we’re being faced with, and it gives us a glimpse into someone’s feelings and thoughts. But what if we couldn't feel emotions? What if we couldn’t understand or even recognize the emotions of not only someone else but ours as well?
Like any part of the brain, the amygdala can be dysfunctional. One condition that is called alexithymia could be described as the inability to identify or describe the experience of emotions by oneself or others. This condition is caused by the malfunction of the amygdala, which hasn’t been properly understood until now.
But what does it feel like to live without emotions?
Won-Pyeong Sohn, a South Korean novelist, will bring us into the world of Yunjae, a 16-year-old fictional character who was born with alexithymia, through her book titled Almond. The boy explains that his condition was caused by his underdeveloped amygdala.
As someone who has many difficulties with emotions, Yunjae tends to attract negative attention. Enter Gon, another character with his own luggage that couldn’t defy the gravity of this emotionless boy. As the story continues, the relationship development between the two characters reveals the contrast of their personalities. Yunjae, with his alexithymia, has no empathy and is able to do terrible things without guilt, though he doesn’t do those things at all. Meanwhile, Gon, who feels far too much, results in lashing out at almost everyone and everything, no matter how bad it was hurting him inside.
The author touches on the debate of nature versus nurture; the two of them grew up in different families. Yunjae, despite his inability, was raised with love and care from his mother and grandmother while Gon was left to fend for himself and sometimes received unpleasant treatment from his father. This condition alone has highlighted the importance of morality during upbringing.
Yunjae doesn’t have any desire to hurt others or things. Even though he couldn’t empathize with others, his mother and grandmother had taught him about emotions, and how people would feel when he did certain things. They taught him the importance of saying “please” and “thank you,” and other words to say in certain situations – like what to say when some kids are bragging about their toys, or when someone is complimenting on how he looks. They taught him so he could appear “normal” and not stand out because of his condition.
But that led to another question; what does it mean to be “normal?”
Almond also proved another thing; that even a boy with an inability, like Yunjae, can be caring and loving towards others. Yunjae has shown that “caring” and “loving” don’t always exist or are present because of empathy. We, as human beings who have common sense and morals, can choose very much consciously to care or not to care about our surroundings, regardless of whether we can sympathize and empathize with it. Yunjae, whose weakness is that he can’t feel emotions, knows that Gon is in trouble and chooses to help him, and along the way, it also helps himself to understand the world even better.
This book also shows that friendship and love are two-way streets.
Almond has become famous among ARMY as Suga and RM were both seen reading Almond in their new variety show “In the SOOP” and have mentioned how it was a good read. The fans have speculated that the book might be a source of inspiration for their future works, and many have started to read the book as well. So, how about you? Would you give this book a place on your reading list?
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Written By: Ram
Edit By: Ash
Checked By: Vera
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