Introduction

Just imagine a lake where the water is as still as glass, appearing not to move at all. Suddenly, you find a small stone in your hand and decide to toss it right in the lake, ripples are created. Rings upon rings, the ripples expand. Now if you were to throw more stones into the lake, hundreds of ripples would emerge from the water, possibly enough to eventually create a tsunami that could harm millions! This is how something so small could affect something so greatly. 

Relationships can be Broken for the Worse

This applies to what we had previously read in Othello when Emilia, Iago’s wife, had stolen the handkerchief that belonged to Desdemona. Even though this action may seem harmless, it caused a great impact in the plot of the story. Stealing the handkerchief led to the deaths of characters, as well as the feelings of guilt and betrayal, especially since “This was [Desdemona’s] first remembrance from the Moor”. In addition to this, the handkerchief represents the fidelity or loyalty of Othello and Desdemona. When the handkerchief was used against them by Iago, it had broken that loyalty and trust of one another.

This could be seen anywhere in the world considering the fact that one little mishap could ruin a whole relationship with anyone whether it’s one person or the entire world. For example, a person might not greet their friend and walk right past them, leaving that friend feeling guilty as if they did something wrong. Even though the friend might feel like this, the person might not even realize the situation and their relationship or views of each other could change for the worse.

From Something Good to Becoming a Nightmare

In some cases, one little thing may seem good at first, but when a lot of little things combine, it could turn into one big mess. Similar to the story about “The Mojave Phone Booth ”, the existence and popularity of the booth started from one call. Like all good things in the world, everything starts small until it slowly expands. In this case, that single call had led to thousands of people all over the world trying to call the booth. All seemed well as different people from different regions of the world were able to connect with each other, until the phone booth disappeared. This displays how the little things could seem good in the moment, but many little things over time could have consequences.

In my opinion, it is almost like taking care of small children. Taking care of one or two kids might be manageable and fun, but taking care of 40 kids all at once might be a nightmare since it would be harder to supervise every single one. Even though this example may not apply to everyone, it is easily understandable that a lot of smaller things compared to one single small thing can be way more difficult to handle or lead to risks.

The Role of Society

When a society considers something to be normal, most people don’t bat an eye. In other words, once something is normalized by a group of people, others usually don’t seem to question it or even care. This act of normalization stems from a smaller belief or idea that branches out and grows upon the minds of others. As an example, when we learned about the history of honor killing and the acts of violence against women, it was easy to differentiate how women were treated vs how men were treated in society. Oftentimes throughout the centuries, the “…wives had to obey their husbands, while husbands had the power to send them to solitary confinement for adultery and to divorce them – but not the other way round”. This was a common practice at the time as it had become the NORMAL way of living and was hardly ever questioned due to the male superiority.

Conclusion

In the end, it doesn’t quite matter what the size of something is, whether it’s a problem or a blessing. Either way, even the smallest things have the ability to create a change, beneficial or harmful. Just remember that there could be consequences to your actions, so be mindful of everything that you do.