There are many different variables that play a role in a person’s response to a change. Every day several things in each person’s life changes, some embrace it and others fear it. Many people fear all types of changes because it disrupts their normal routine. Others view it as a good thing because it can bring many new opportunities and chances to experience new events. Change can be embraced or feared depending on several different factors.

When a change takes place in a person’s life affects the person’s reaction. Adolescents and children are less developed and are not emotionally capable of keeping calm during certain situations. The younger people are during changes, the less they understand what is going on. If a family moves and they have a senior in high school and a two year old, the two year old is not affected as much because he/she has not made friends yet and does not have a set routine that he/she have been doing for years. Where as a senior in high school has already developed into a friend group and they have gotten used to a school and town; similar to Lord of the Flies, where young boys are left on an island after a plane crash and have to fend for themselves (Golding). They are young boys who do not understand how to maintain leadership or obtain food. If the boys were older they might have had a better knowledge of how to be rescued and their personalities may not have changed so drastically. Their age played a role in their reaction to change and since they had no adult to guide them and put order in their lives. Therefore, age affects how someone will react to change.

Changes are made for many reasons but, whether or not the change is made to benefit the person will affect her/his reaction. For example, a job promotion is embraced by people who get that opportunity to change. On the other hand, getting laid off is feared by many because that change negatively affects that person’s life. Just like how building designs change in the short story “Simplexity” written by Jeffrey Kluger. The designs change to benefit the people inside of them in case of emergencies (Kluger). This change would be embraced because it would help you be capable of evacuating quickly and increase chance of survival. Changes made to benefit a person are embraced.

If the person decided to make the change themselves, it would always be for their own benefit. Therefore, if someone else makes the decision to change for them, then it could be positive or negative. If a married couple decided to move to a different state, this change would be embraced. If a married couple were forced out of their home and into a different state they would be fearful of what will happen to them in the future because someone else made the decision. In the poem “Magic Island”, the people chose to move to the new area and embraced the nice weather and peaceful ocean (Song). They were prepared for the worst by having an umbrella nearby, but still did not fear the change they had chosen to make. Trusting other people to make decisions in someone’s life is risky because someone else does not always know what is best for you. If someone else makes a decision that affects another’s life, it is feared. If someone makes the choice themselves, they typically have a reason and embrace the change and new opportunities.

In “Metamorphosis”, the main character, Gregor, turns into a cockroach overnight. A full change of his physical appearance is frightening and not embraced (Kafka). The nature of a change impacts the response to that change. If someone gets moved up to a higher team in a sport, that is positive and embraced. Most changes that have to do with being brought down, less money, or that make someone lonelier will be feared. “One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin.” (Kafka). This change would be feared because it is a downgrade of something he had previously. Changes that put people in higher positions, give them more people in their life, and have to do with more money will be viewed as positive. Some people cannot stand to live out of their normal daily routine and will always fear changes because it means adapting to something different. Adventurous, risk-taking, open minded people celebrate new opportunities. What the change is affects what the response to the change will be.

Many factors, such as when a change takes place, who decides to make the change, if the change is beneficial, and what the change is will affect the response to change. There is no way to tell if a person’s reaction will be embraced or feared until the change occurs. However, there are some changes that are rarely celebrated and some that are rarely feared. A reaction to something different depends not solemnly on one variable but a combination of multiple factors.

Work Cited
Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Coward-McCann, 1962. Print.
Kafka, Franz, and Ian Johnston. “The Metamorphosis”. Auckland, N.Z.: Floating, 2008. Print.
Kluger, Jeffrey. “Simplexity”. London: John Murray, 2007. Print.
Song, Cathy. “Magic Island”. Print.