Conformity In 'Age Of Innocence' By Edith Wharton

Conformity: Adjusting one’s behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard. In the movie, when Judy said that she though that the predator’s attacks were due to genetics, everyone conformed to this idea. The prey started to separate themselves from the prey and conform to this idea.

Conformity is when one complies with rules or regulations, typically relating to social norms or expectations. In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Montag lives in a society where people value conformity and obedience to the government. In this society, the government uses censorship and installs strict social regulations on its population to control them to act the same, behave the same, and think the same. Citizens are a part of a population seemingly brainwashed by the oppressive government that controls their daily lives. In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury portrays how outside forces can influence the thoughts and moral traits of the characters. In the beginning, Montag acted as everyone else did in his society, conforming to the government

Imagine living in a society where everything someone does is conforming to someone else. In the novella Anthem, written by Ayn Rand, the author talks about conformity by referring to how all men need to be alike and fit in with each other. Equality 7-2521 the street sweeper, believes in the feeling of individualism and rejects the collectivist society around him. Social conformity becomes dangerous in Anthem because while Equality 7-2521 follows all the rules at the beginning of the novella, throughout the book he begins to break them.

Conformity, it’s something everyone deals with, even if they do not realize it. Although, what happens when conformity takes control over everything? What if the world was stripped of individuality, no citizen has any rights to hold on to, while not being able to think for one’s self. That is an image what it would be like if everyone in the world were to conform to a restricting society. Just think of all of the advances in technology the human race has come up with in the last ten years alone. None of that would have been possible in a society where no one can go above another person's IQ level. This is the world the characters in Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem live in. The reasons that total conformity is dangerous is because individuality is not possible, no family history, and advancement would not be possible.

The balance of power has been one of mankind’s most prominent and fought-over issues, particularly among the two sexes. Men are biologically predisposed to be more powerful, and humans have historically associated a male’s physical strength with authority. At the same time, women have been conditioned to yield to a man’s power, and have been taught that men are meant to hold economic, societal, and domestic control, as displayed by New York’s high-society in Edith Wharton’s timeless novel The Age of Innocence. Yet, power is an unquantifiable, metaphysical idea completely unrelated to one’s gender. Power is held in the eye of the beholder, and over time, women have used this idea to manipulate and control men without them even knowing. In doing so, women have been creating their own power for centuries, though society does not recognize it nor give them credit for having as much control as they do. Despite its setting in a patriarchal 19th century society, Wharton manages to defy even modern gender roles by contrasting the influence of resolute Ellen Olenska—a presumably promiscuous noblewoman—with lawyer Newland Archer’s submissiveness so as to suggest that women truly hold power over men during this time.

Ellen Olenska portrays the other side of the juxtaposition of women in The Age of Innocence. She is more individualistic than May and her experiences outside of the United States such as her failed marriage in Europe show that Ellen is a woman who is independent. For this reason, Ellen fails to grasp the social code once she enters the society of Old New York. A great example comes at the beginning of the novel when Ellen enters the opera in clothing that is provocative for the event. When Ellen enters the opera in this European-style dress that reveals too much shoulder, she shocks Old New York. “The suggestion of this headdress, which gave her what was then called a "Josephine look," was carried out in the cut of the dark blue velvet gown rather theatrically caught up under her bosom by a girdle with a large old-fashioned clasp. The wearer of this unusual dress, who seemed quite unconscious of the attention it was attracting […]” (6, Wharton). The

In fact, this also applies to the situation of understanding what social conformity is. This subject has been around for centuries, forcing many to behave in a certain way that the society expects. The influence of peer pressure is still a topic has an impact to the world, especially the adolescents. The “[s]ocial psychologists have suggested that one core function of compliance and conformity is to maintain group harmony”(“Social Influence and the Brain:Persuasion, Susceptibility to Influence and Retransmission” Cascio,Scholz,Falk) and this applies to many individuals who value public opinions more than their own. They seek to be “good” people and make an effort to follow the trend of the crowd. More often than not, this also relates to the confidence level of an individual, “If those others agree with one’s beliefs, one gains confidence in them; if they disagree, one loses confidence” (“Conformity,” Levine). This is indeed what many people face today from all different phases of life. Daisy, one of the characters in the book The Great Gatsby, is a perfect example of a person soaked into social conformity. From the beginning of her marriage life with Tom to the end of the book, she progresses into immoral stages of life. Day after day she conforms herself into a world filled with corruptions, such as adultery and murder. Although, she is an adult, she is a character that is stuck in a stage that her age group have already

Conformity is a form of social influence, when we conform we act and think like members of our group. Often people even alter or change their personal beliefs to match those around them. When we conform we feel pressured to fit in with others, to be a part of the majority. While we may still have contradicting beliefs towards things, we change our behaviors and actions to match what everybody else is

Conformity: “Agreement between an individual's behavior and a group's standards or expectations. A conformist is one who follows the majority's desires or standards.”Conformity is not always necessarily a bad thing, but can be when followed excessively. For instance, can you imagine what this world would be if everyone looked, dressed, talked, walked, and acted the exact same. This is what life is like at Mica High, and this paper analyzes the negative aspects, and consequences of conformity in Stargirl.

There are two types of traits that Ray Bradbury gave to his characters; those traits are conformed, and non-conformed to society. Citizens in the novel live in this society, truly, believing that books are evil and will make them unhappy. These are conformed characters. Their dystopian world does not allow people to read or have any amount of individuality. Beatty is a conformed character, who is also captain of the firemen. Clarisse is a seventeen year old who reads, and questions everything. In the book Fahrenheit 451, many characters represent conformity while others represent nonconformity.

Throughout second semester we have read many stories that have strongly illustrated the idea of conformity, but in Fahrenheit 451, Swamp Boy, and Harrison Bergeron the theme of conformity is most prevalent. The characters in each of the three stories become trapped by the act of conforming to their societal norms. The people in the societies participate in confirmation because it is what everyone else is doing, and they crave acceptance from others. As humans, we conform to the world around us because it is expected and we fear any individual that abides by the social norms.

Could you imagine a society where individuality is not valued? Or one where people willingly gave up critical thinking? A world where reading is banned, books are burned, and people face capital punishment for reading? Of course, a world like this has existed hundreds of years ago, but such a world seems improbable now. However, Ray Bradbury explores a world in his book, Fahrenheit 451, about a dystopian future America in which all activities must conform to specific standards while reading is prohibited and books burned. A central aspect that Bradbury explores is through his characters interactions and the revelations that people are not being true to themselves. F451 reveals the fine line between conformity and individuality while illustrating through his characters actions how these characteristics are intertwined. All individuals conform in someway, but awareness is key; however, it can be difficult when confronted with tools meant to distract people from critical thought and a society that seeks to crush those who step out of line.

The pressure of conformity affects individual expression and varies in degrees in which it impacts an individual’s life. Regardless of time period, conformity is able to force individualists to abide by the social standards inculcated into society and deemphasize the importance behind individualism. In the 1920s, New York City adopted a structure parallel to conformity in its figurative hierarchy after the grief and devastation of World War I. With fear of the unknown, a reestablishment of tradition and routine followed, including an adaptation to the use of silences. The individuals with class and power used silence as a vehicle to conform and unify but, free-willed individuals gave another purpose to silence. It became a tool to express

Newland declares to the table that women have the right to be “as free as [men] are” (Age of Innocence 38). As the women talk further about Ellen, Newland states that he is sick of the “hypocrisy that would bury a woman” for preferring to be with her husband, contrary to what others believe (Age of Innocence 37). Newland sees a small connection between the women’s opinions and his own relationship with Ellen. He begins to see he must make a choice between Ellen and May, unbeknownst to him that his choice will be what is “socially acceptable” to old New York (“Edith Wharton” 2). Newland then decided that May should have the same “freedom of experience” he has (Age of Innocence 42).

The Age of Innocence, written by Edith Wharton, is about the upper-class society of New York City in the 1870’s. The novel follows the life of an upper-class lawyer named Newland Archer. He is going to wed May Welland, who comes from another upper-class family. As the novel progresses Newland starts to become intrigued with May’s cousin, the poor Ellen Olenska. Ellen is called “poor” because she is shameful in the eyes of the society that surrounds her. Ellen left her husband and moved back to New York City to be with her family. Divorce is not acceptable in the 1870’s high society like it is today. Newland tries at first to protect Ellen from the bad reputation that she will perceive if she divorces