Happily Ignorant

"Felicite developed a great fondness for them; she bought them astove, some shirts and a blanket; it was evident that they exploited her." In A Simple Soul by Gustave Flaubert, Felicite was a person of virtue, a person who was devoted to serving people around her. But what happens when people know we are willing to give something simply for charity? This resembles one of the arguments mentioned in Dawkins, The Selfish Gene. People will begin to take advantage of her being so nice, while they themselves don't have to give anything back. While Felicite gives, the children take advantage and benefit themselves. And what is it that causes Felicite to not react and see the truth? In this case it is not so related to genes specifically, but on what her formation is. If she doesn't know that she is being taken advantage of, she wont care for the difference. Ignorance is different from genetical formation. But does that mean that we are born good, or that simply we don't see we are doing good by our own formation? Could it be that we are good because we are programmed to be so?

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The most reasonable answer would be that we are not born ignorant, but rather are affected by our surroundings on the choices we make. So does ignorance make us happy? In this case Felicite is ignorant, but at the same time she is happy. People are taking advantage of her, and she still is happy. So what is the pursuit of happiness? As Chris Gardner clearly states it in the movie The Pursuit of Happiness: "There's no 'Y' in Happiness, it's and 'I' ." Going further ahead from the literal meaning of that sentence, you identify the true meaning of the expression. You shouldn't ask yourself what is it that is making you happy. You should keep away from thinking material things are what actually creates our happiness, but rather think about yourself, and how it is possible that you yourself find happiness in what you do. This was the case of Felicite, who didn't have to look for a reason to be happy, but simply was. So it ties up closer to our formation, to how we decide to live no matter what others do around you, and learn to get the best out of every occasion.