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Who Is Greg Graffin's Anarchy In The Tenth Grade

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In the beginning of one’s life, it is always a challenge to grow up and to discover a new sense of self. Nowadays, divorce is a growing tragedy in a child’s life that can cause a rippling effect down the course of their future. The narrative essay by Greg Graffin called, “Anarchy in the Tenth Grade”, has a similar concept about him dealing with life without a father, trying to understand high school, and finding out what kind of man he wants to become. In this essay, Graffin struggles to conform to authority in relation to the in-group theory, and lives with two role identities of his subculture lifestyle battling fatherhood which is more than a conflict of social identity. The role identity that McCall and Simmons suggest is which …show more content…

On the other hand, to Graffin, it was a group that he longed to be apart of and to relate to his sense of self. He has difficulties contributing to his different social groups in which Allport mentions this idea, proclaiming that, “Adolescents may view their neighborhood gang as a far more important in-group than their school” (5). This links the two theories together in a sense that an identity role cannot be without an in-group for an individual to honor that role. The hardships Graffin faces at a young age influences his in-group decisions. The punk group bonds over hardships, sex, drugs, and voices their opinions. The group colors their hair, wears tight jeans, and the color black is often represented. Consistently, they are often found disagreeing or questioning the presence of authority figures because of their strong passion as nonconformists. Nevertheless, as Graffin grows up he changes overtime by keeping the same thoughts on the punk subculture, but he moves on with his life in pursuing education. The poverty and divorced parents are Graffin’s ascribed status, but his achieved status is not only becoming punk. It is also earning his master’s degree and continuing his education. Continuing to care for his subculture lifestyle, he wants to better the punk community to be more of a gateway for people to express emotion. Furthermore, he wants to teach …show more content…

In high school, it is difficult for him to conform to authority. He rebels against the perspective of others labeling him in the out-group, the pressures of school, and the unoriginality of others. At this point, his musical identity takes over his role of being a student. Even going back to college, he struggles to complete his master’s degree because of the similarities to his high school years. Another experience he deals with, represents an inability to form relations with women because of his inner punk views. Being a punk male, he has a hard time understanding women and their views on society, “We were too young to have sex…it became more an act of rebellion and experimentation than an expression of affection or intimacy” (27). This reflects the role-identity theory because Graffin is unable to pursue a relationship with women since his punk role is stronger and takes over his judgment. At this point in this life, he is trying to have a loving relationship, but he is conflicted by his identity as a nonconformist. The restriction he faces to take the husband or father role will always be influenced from his majority punk role. Stryker asserts that the salience theory is how people will behave more frequently based on the importance of a particular role. Graffin definitely projects his inner punk identity more often compared to his other roles.

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