Jack Hourihan
Mrs. Whaley
English CPE
February 12, 2015
Success, money, possessions, love life, and happiness, all of these thing
impact how you live your life. What if I told you that your ancestors played a role
in how your life is lived out. Most people don’t usually think about how how the
past influences their life today and later on in life. Thing such a last name,
ancestry, etc. can partly predetermine how you live your life.
In today’s society the main factors that predetermine ones life is family
wealth/respect, where one lives, education, and more. I think in today’s society it
is easier to control your fate and your future. Today there is more opportunity for
a poor man to become rich, a disabled person to be successful, or a criminal to
regain respect. It is easier than ever for anyone to turn their life around. Some
people take the idea of fate onto a whole different level, they claim that a
person’s last name contributes to a person’s fate and future. In my opinion a
person’s last name does not have much of an effect on how a person lives their
life. It seems quite silly to think that a few letters can contribute to a person’s
success, this may have been somewhat true a long time ago, but today it seems
quite a stretch.
Personally, I feel a person's fate is not already determined and it is being
written every second. “There is no such thing as fate, you choose which path you
walk down. There is nothing dragging you down a path you haven't chosen.
Everything happens because of the choices you made.”(Unknown). My
ancestors, the Hourihan family from Ireland, were not the most successful or rich
people, just simple farmers and church workers. When they moved to Queens,
New York in the late 1800’s, it was not fate that took them there is was hard work
and a strong family bond. A last name however may have an effect on your life if
you live in a country such as the England, Netherlands, Sweden, etc. who are
Monarchy’s with Kings and Royal Families last names might have more of an
impact on the way you are treated personally and politically.“Looking at 181 rare
surnames held by the wealthiest 15 percent of English and Welsh people in the
mid-19th century — to be clear, these were not the same elite surnames as in
the medieval era — we found that people with these surnames who died
between 1999 and 2012 were more than three times as wealthy as the average
person.” (Gregory Clark). Despite the impact of last names in countries with a
monarchy it doesn’t really seem to have an impact on the common American.
Today there is much more opportunity for success than people had a long
time ago, our generation has even more opportunity than our parents have in
their life. We have many new types of technology which opens up many types of
jobs and plenty of opportunity to exceed in school to get into a good college. We
also have many chances to help not only ourselves but we can also help others
through charities and at your own will. I believe that in the future I could become
better off than my parents, given that I work hard and take my chances for
success. However if I make poor choices and don’t apply myself I may not be as
successful as my parents, this furthers my belief that there is no such thing as a
predetermined fate.
America is commonly referred to as “the melting pot”, this nickname refers
to how America is such a multicultural country with people from all over the
world. America has last names from all over the world, from China, Germany,
Russia, Italy, and many other countries. There are no people with ”royal
American” last names neither do people with a last name that is royal in another
country have advantages over others. America being so multi-national and being
a democracy leaves no room for royalty because in a democratic republic all
citizens have equal chance for success.
Despite, the limited effect of my last name on my success and fate I feel
my last name represents my family and I well. Hourihan is an Irish last name that
originated a small town, Skibbereen, in the south west of Ireland. There are many
variations of the last name Hourihan, these variations include Hourihane,
Horgan, Hourigan, Arragan, and many more. The last name, Hourihan, was first
found in the ancient Kingdom of Deis Muin, which was a smaller tribe in the
prehistoric kingdom, Corca Laoidhe
Today’s American society is far different than it was a few hundred years
ago, and is very different than many European nations. Although last names
reflect your background and ancestors it doesn’t determine your future, only you
can determine your future. Today, more than ever, people have opportunity gain
success, money, possessions, love life, and happiness. America is the “Land of
Opportunity”, America did not get this name for no reason.