...Rebellion or Conformity? These two words both totally opposites, one meaning to obey or agree with something and the other, open opposition toward a person or group in authority. These two choices are an evaluation throughout life, an individual is face with the conflict which he or she can adapt to, rebel against, move beyond, or conform to. People are usually labelled as a, conformist or a rebel. A conformist usually develop the tendency to conform within small groups or/and society, from subtle unconscious influences, or direct and overt social pressure. People often confine to conform from a desire for a sense of security without the risk of social rejection from peers. Whereas a rebel, refuse to obey rules or accept ‘normal’ standards of certain behavior or looks, usually motivated by a sense of freedom by self – determination aimed to revolutionize. Nonetheless the act of conformity and being rebellious can have its bad and good effects depending on the situation. A simple example of ‘good’ in conformity like driving on the correct side of the road to prevent confusion and accidents can be seen as a beneficial conformity. Positive conforming like this, allows one to learn and adopt appropriate behaviors required to relate and develop correctly within a society without being perceive as seclusion. There’s also ‘good’ in the act of rebellion as it can be seen in history during the Third Servile War (1098-71 BC), when Spartacus along with the slaves rebelled against the...
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...Rebellion and Conformity We can look to a very famous poem by Langston Hughes called “Harlem,” where Hughes describes the repression of there “dream” which refers to segregation and the movement against African-Americans from being able to advance. In this case rebellion, not conformity is needed to shape society in a positive way. To conform to segregation and hatred towards another race would be to damaging for a society to grow and function properly. As Hughes mentions in the poem, “Maybe it just sags, like a heavy load. Or does it explode?”(Hughes 406). Does this mean that every injustice should be met with a show of rebellion? That is for society to determine. Conformity and rebellion are two facets of life that will never end. Just recently the elections in Iran were taking place, and they are the best example of how the push to conform led people to rebel in open defiance of their government. A rigged election led the people to open rebel against a government that sought to conform the people to their ideals and values. “When a million people showed up on Revolution Avenue in downtown Tehran to pretest the results of the June 12 presidential elections, most of them wore sneakers, in case they had to run for their lives. The crowd included people of all walks and ages (32). The point that I have been trying to make throughout this paper is that justice, or injustice, leads to conformity or rebellion. It is as natural as human evolution itself. “ That people are...
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...story, the eagle symbolizes life and all of its unexpected events that it throws at us and the weasel represents how people should react to life. The eagle tries to get the best of the weasel, but the weasel does not allow the predator to knock him down. He instead takes up for himself and goes after it. This is considered to be the way people should respond to life, by getting back up when life knocks them down. This use of symbolism illustrates the theme of conformity/rebellion by showing how the weasel took a stand against the normal way of life and the food chain by fighting back against the predator rather than lying down and accepting its fate as prey. It is said later on that this is what the author wishes to do, to live like the weasel and be “open to time and death painlessly, noticing everything, remembering nothing, choosing the given with a fierce and pointed will” (Dillard). Thus, the symbolism in “Living Like Weasels” involving both the eagle and the weasel helps articulate the theme of conformity/rebellion within the...
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...Home Page » English and Literature Conformity and Rebellion In: English and Literature Conformity and Rebellion “Lead or Follow” Should I conform? Should I rebel? This has and always will be, a constant battle struggled individually, or as a society. A certain amount of conformity needs to exist in life in order to avoid disorder. This is the reason we have laws. Take those laws, rules, control, or even expectations, to an extreme, and some form of rebellion is probable. Struggle with these opposites, and you have a catalyst for war, or perhaps, being fired from a job. Literature represents life, and this theme can be found at the root of many literary works. “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson, reflects blind conformity by the villagers with a hint of rebellion. Every June 27th the lottery takes place; the prize for winning is death. The villagers believe sacrificing one of their own will ensure a good harvest. The villagers are so blasé about the lottery it is said “the whole lottery took less than two hours, so it could begin at ten o’clock in the morning and still be through in time to allow the villagers to get home for noon dinner” (339/1). We get our first sense of possible rebellion when Mr. Adams says, “over in the north village they’re talking of giving up the lottery” (342/31) Mrs. Adams adds, some villages have already given it up. Old Man Warner’s retort is, “Pack of crazy fools…Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon. First thing you know, we’d all...
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...My own thoughts on Youth Rebellion Youth rebellion is a vital process of a child's turning into an adult. It can also be seen as teenage rebellion. What is the exact definition of youth rebellion? This is the Wikipedia version: "As part of their development into young adults, humans must develop an identity independent from their parents or family and a capacity for independent decision-making. They may experiment with different roles, behaviours, and ideologies as part of their process of developing an identity. " Youth is one of the most precious periods of a person’s life, and yet one of the most difficult. Teenagers are no longer satisfied with being treated like children, but yet they don't fully understand how the adults' world operates. Not to mention their lack of experience on adult stuff. They try to develope an independent identity and pursue for equal rights as adults. What most teenagers are searching for is just the meaningful cause. Young people are so full of confidence that they are always considering of "I am able to change the whole world" or "The earth will stop rotating without me." Young people are like a mass of flames. They have the will to reform the society. They are also eager to destroy things that constrict and oppress them. Their voice can be a powerful weapon to change the shape of the whole world within proper guidance. Adults, however, believe that the world is just the way it is and never think too much about changing the...
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...one of the most important cultural forces in millennial North American life, across every class and demographic * how can we all denounce consumerism yet still find ourselves living in a consumer society? * we don’t actually critique consumerism; its a restatement of the critique of mass society * the critique of mass society has been one of the most powerful forces driving consumerism for the past 40 years * anti-consumerism doesn’t undermine consumerism; they reinforce it * they’ve failed to understand the true nature of consumer society * identify consumerism with conformity * fail to notice that it is rebellion, not conformity, that has been the driving force of the marketplace * counter-culture theorists like to think that their rebellion is a reaction to the evils of consumer society * what if counterculture rebellion was a contributing factor? * people in wealthy industrialized society are on average happier than poor ones * greater wealth comes a greater ability to meet needs and desires * economic development has been shown to generate a steady increase in average happiness levels, but after a certain level of development has been reached the effects disappear completely * the middle class continue to feel squeezed economically * people are working harder, under more stress, less free time * some people question the value of economic growth altogether * serious sacrifices in order...
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...have available to achieve those goals. For example, not being able to pay for college, not having money, job etc. will make this Individual join a gang or start selling drugs in order to achieve cultural goals such as successes. Not only that, but when individuals are faced with a gap between them they will tense up and have five moods of adaptation. For instance, the five mood are conformity, innovation, which mean accept cultural goals, but reject the conventional methods of attaining those goals and ritualism are individuals who do not believe in the established cultural goals of society, retreatism...
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...Disobedience is the catalyst of social progress; conformity is the hindrance of social progress. Wilde believe that through disobedience society is able to progress in the right direction. In rebelling against the status quo, we are able to produce positive changes to improve our society as a whole. This progress has been shown through the course of time in history as well as literature. In history, there have been countless rebellions, revolts, and revolutions that have resulted in a country’s progress. The Haitian revolution of the 19 th century possess good examples of change being brought about through disobedience. By the 1700’s, Haiti had become a lucrative island in the Caribbean, producing (generating) substantial amounts (supplies) of sugar on...
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...conforms out of fear of punishment. “Thoughtcrime does not entail death: thoughtcrime IS death.” In both texts the power of the institution is sustained by demanding no free will and no individual thought or emotion. In Equilibrium the things that trigger emotion (such as literature, music and art) are outlawed. This is witnessed in the opening of the film where John orders the burning of Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa”. This emotive painting symbolises rebellion against “Father”. Father and Big Brother’s laws are administered by enforcers. In 1984 they are known as the Party, and in Equilibrium they are the Tetragrammaton Council. These enforcers seek out any rebellion against their leaders and make sure that those that digress are severely punished publically through torture, reconversion and/or death. In Equilibrium, Preston’s partner Brandt said, “You heard Father’s orders, they are either to be shot on site or incinerated without trial”. Such public displays of power through punishment makes the people afraid of rebellion and life outside of the society, outside the rules. They sustain their hold on power because the people find it safer to conform than rebel. The fear of the unknown is a powerful tool used by the institutions. In 1984 it is purely the mystery of Room 101 that creates fear. No one really knows what is behind the door but people choose not to rebel because they are so terrified of the threat it creates. O’Brien said, “You asked me once, what was in...
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...most people within that culture and should be attainable by all , that is not always the case. Sometimes some people lack the means and /or the opportunities to reach those goals. This is usually because of two reasons, lack of opportunity or discrimination, according to structuralism. People with less opportunity often are poorer and, less educated. The people being discriminated against are typically minorities and female. When the goal is unattainable, this leads to a road of deviance. One main idea is that not everyone who fails to reach their goals chooses a deviant lifestyle, only those with the opportunity to do so, do. When strain does occur there are 5 modes of adaption to deal with it, conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism and rebellion. Conformity is the most popular mode and means that the goals are met and the ways of meeting the goals are respected. Innovation is when the goals are met but the way they were met isn't considered "high status" . It usually involves very hard work and blue collar jobs. Ritualism does not meet the culture's goals but makes their own, and is happy with what they have. Retreatist shun away from the norms of the cultural goals , this is the rarest. Rebels fight against the norm and seek to create their...
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...expectations of the world. Sammy is a character that has many qualities. At first you can say he is distracted. From his encounter with the old lady and the mistake he made at the register proves that he is very unfocused and strayed in his thoughts. He also loves detail. The descriptions he gave within the story shows of how particular he sees every detail. ...read more. Middle Another struggle his has is his immaturity that leads to his infatuation over Queenie, who at the end does not even notice him. He never was able to show his rebellion as he quit his job only to prove to the girls that he was too like them. Lastly, his conflict with the life he leads. The manager tells him at the end that he would regret his decision of quitting and that his parents would be disappointed. This enables as us readers to understand he had financial issues in his life that he struggled with. Sammy has a struggle between conformity versus non-conformity in his life. This conflict he endures leads him to quit his job. He describes his working condition as very poor and low as he calls his cashier lane a âslotâ. He does not really conform to his working conditions. He explains how he is not like Stokes, a married...
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...Ms. Latasha Keith HUMN401-1305B-01: Literature and Film Professor Bonnie Ronson January 19, 2014 Unit 2 Individual Project – Canonical Classics of Literature Section 1- Introduction Ken Kesey’s novel “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest” is set at an Oregon asylum in the 1950s (NovelGuide.com). The book is a study in the institutional process of the human mind, a critique of Behaviorism and a celebration of humanistic principles while exploring themes of individuality and rebellion against socially imposed repression (NovelGuide.com; SparkNotes.com; CliffsNotes.com). These themes and ideas were the topic of discussion during the publication of this novel because the world was introduced to communism and totalitarian regimes. The novel was published in 1962 and received with immediate success (SparkNotes.com). Section 2 – Biographical Information La Junta, Colorado is the birthplace of novelist Ken Kesey. He was born in 1935 and grew up on a small farm in Oregon and Colorado with his family. He married his high school sweetheart in 1956 and they had three children together (Lone Star College). He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon where he participated in wrestling and theater in 1957 (Lone Star College; SparkNotes.com). In 1959, Kesey enrolled in a creative writing program at Stanford University, the same year where he began volunteering with the Stanford Psychology Department (CliffsNotes.com; Lone Star College). The Stanford Psychology...
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...own untested and subjective opinions, values and ideas as truths. This is exemplified in James McTeigue’s film “V for Vendetta”, where the government, ruled by High chancellor Suttler is riddled by corruption, immoral values and based on acts of discrimination against anyone who is regarded “undesirable”. It is only when V goes against the grain with “...the power of ideas...” is hope given to the people to rebel, and become face-less behind a mask, to carry on the great legacy of Guy Fawkes. Who knows how long this could’ve continued if the mainstream was not challenged by V? as such government had already exploited its power to such limits creating a status quo that was unreasonable and simply absurd. Hence, rebellion is vital, as without it blind acts of conformity to horrific behaviours such as carried that carried out by Suttler and by those in...
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...Conditioning makes way for Conformity What is one’s individuality composed of? Of what is it forged from? The majority of one’s personality is influenced by hereditary and the environment. The world around us influences us more than people think, more than people should wish for. Everyone grows up, constantly being conditioned by the world around them. For example, people begin to talk the way their friends and co-workers do, using similar diction, phrases, and dialect. In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, the differentiated hereditary aspect of individuality is completed taken away as the world’s “hatcheries” are able to produce and purposely condition infants to become like everyone else. The government determines what the humans’ lives...
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...Written in 1953, Ray Bradbury’s science fiction novel Fahrenheit 451 depicts a society where books are outlawed and people indulge in modern technology. Because books contain profound knowledge, they represent individualism, which refers to free and independent action or thought. The totalitarian government in the novel fears that individualism will lead to rebellion; therefore, books are banned and burned. The government also implements various modes of indoctrination in order to establish conformity, or correspondence to certain standards, in society. Montag, the protagonist, is a fireman whose job requires him to burn books, but several mentors help him recognize the faults of government suppression. By doubting the government and defying...
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