Individualism: Image

[Image Description: a woman and two men are climbing up separate ladders. The woman and the man on the right are having no trouble climbing up their respective ladders. The man in the middle, whose ladder looks worn out and unprofessionally repaired, is struggling to stay on the ladder. The caption under reads, "Ladder of Success."]

     A characteristic of individualism is self reliance and competition. I chose this image because it showcases how individuals must make do with their own abilities in order to get ahead (or reach success) in an indivdiualistic society. For example, we can infer that the ladder represents a myriad of things: social status, familiy upraising, one's talent and skills, and open opportunities. Individualists place a hefty amount of value on the individual's ability to achieve success, however, I intepret this comic as, no matter how much of the above you have, some times you just run out of luck or opportunities (hence, the ladder breaking). The fact that none of the people beside the man in the middle are lending a hand shows that, in the world of individualism, it really is every person for themselves.