Comparing Group Minds By Shirley Jackson And The Lottery By Doris Lessing

Throughout life, one faces with many experiences, and how one deals with those experiences shapes one’s life. Laurie Channer’s “Las Mantillas” and Margaret Atwood’s “It is Dangerous to Read Newspapers” share the same theme of action versus inaction however, they define it from opposing perspectives. Action and inaction are complete opposites thus leading to completely different results. Whether taking action or remaining passive, strong feelings occur that can impact one’s life. Distance is also a huge factor in whether a person takes action or not, which is explored in both texts. While Channer’s “Las Mantillas” emphasizes the positive impact taking action has on an individual and society and Atwood’s “It is Dangerous to Read Newspapers” critiques the effects of inactivity, both agree that when faced with injustice it is vital to take action for one’s beliefs.

It is the future, and society has been ruined. The word “I” has been erased from society; the only replacement being the word “we”. Ayn Rand’s novel Anthem explores the effects of a horrific, totalitarian society. Children are separated from their parents at birth, careers are assigned, not chosen, and free will is the ultimate crime. Living within this structure, Equality 7-2521 finds himself lost in contradiction; collectivity should lead to happiness, but for him, individuality seems to be the key. Through vivid setting, a provoking major character, and symbolic details, Ayn Rand’s writing is focused on one thing: to show “the meaning of man’s ego.”

In a world where showing a bit too much shoulder was forbidden, came Susan Glaspell. Glaspell was an American playwright, born in the cruel times of oppression. This influenced women’s opinions on certain subjects which caused them to be silenced by fear of rejection from society. “A Jury of Her Peers” was based on an era where women felt as though it was unreasonable to speak up if they felt it was not absolutely dire. Harboring these pent up feelings could cause a person to act antagonistic. Minnie Wright was an example of this. She killed her husband and was subjected to the judgement of her peers. As the group investigated Mr. Wright’s death, there were two stories unraveling. The in depth explanation that the women figured out and the simplistic version the men had seemed to pick up (Glaspell). People would benefit from reading this story to begin to understand the struggle of what this and other women had gone through. Penn Manor American Literature students would benefit from having Susan Glaspell’s story “A Jury of Her Peers” in their curriculum because of how she expressed feminism through her writing at a time when it was new and discouraged; her ability to emphasize the themes with her settings and characters; and her literature that follows a protagonist that navigates through a sexist world.

Oppression is something that all humans are faced with at some point in their lives. No matter how large that oppressing force may be, it is sure to have an effect on those in its path. Zora Neale Hurston, and Celeste Ng are two authors who wrote about how their characters live in the face of hardships and both show a dramatic change in their characters from beginning to end. Hurston writes about a young woman, Delia, living in the 1920’s dealing with an abusive husband in her short story “Sweat.” Ng’s novel Little Fires Everywhere follows two families living in a prim and proper town in Ohio in the 1990’s. Throughout these works, the characters are consistently challenged by cruelty of the powerful forces surrounding them, but more importantly,

The story of St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell, demonstrates several types of individuals which a society holds. For instance, there is the independent type of character, they are the ones who do not like to go with the flow. In the story, it was portrayed by one of the main characters named Mirabella, the youngest among fifteen girls. Another, are those types that go along with the norms, they are the individuals who generally do what the society approves of, and no qualms associating with others. It was exemplified by another main character, Jeanette, the girl who easily adopted the human ways. Lastly, those who lies in the middle, these are the types of people whose eyes are open and could understand how to “read the map and navigate the ship”, which was put into character by the girl named Claudette, who’s the narrator as well. The portrayal of social classes propelled me to choose this story, which led me to analyze and restate for better understanding of the underlying messages which the author wants to relay to its readers. Though it has a bit of fantasy incorporated in the story by adapting the characters of werewolves, it even highlighted its purpose to explain the author’s ideas. For that, I inferred that the main argument which the author wants to share is that even a maverick in an extreme condition can be subject to conformity, given the chance for rehabilitation or training to become adapted to the norms behaviors.

Does deviating from one’s gender norms inevitably doom one down a spiral of moral corruption? Tim O'Brien, author of “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” and Ernest Hemingway, author of “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber”, certainly seem to hold this view, as evident by the fates of the major female characters in their respective works. The deviance of the major female characters in both works appears to corrupt not only themselves, but also pollute their partners, causing them to suffer injury or harm as a result. The degree of injury ranges from negligible, like Fossie’s demotion and broken heart, to fatal, like the bullet that rips through Macomber’s skull. It begs the question, are these stories meant to serve as cautionary tales for their female readers, or possibly for their husbands, so they may recognize gender deviance and stop it in its tracks before their wives transform into Margot Macomber or Mary Anne Bell? This essay will analyze what such characters say about pervading views of women, both in society and in literature.

For the online version of BookRags' Having Our Say (novel) Literature Study Guide, including complete copyright information, please visit:

The first similarity is that both of these dystopian stories demonstrate how people force themselves in a tradition that they have been told to follow even if they have an option to seek for change, and to explore the negative consequences of mob rule. In both stories, individuals within the community fail to think independently and refuse to question their preconceived traditions and beliefs. The consequences of this blind obedience to tradition are

According to Elizabeth Lowell, “Some of us aren't meant to belong. Some of us have to turn the world upside down and shake the hell out of it until we make our own place in it.” Sometimes what every situation needs is an outsider to flip the script and create a new outlook on everything. In Shirley Jackson’s novel, “We Have Always Lived in the Castle,” the speaker, Merricat, is an outsider of society on many levels, such as mental health, gender, and that she is an upper class citizen in a poor area. Although Merricat is mentally unstable, her outsider’s perspective criticizes the social standard for women in the 1960s, indicating that social roles, marriage, and the patriarchy are not necessary aspects in life such as it is not necessary to have the same outlook on life as others.

Social influences shape every person's practices, judgments, and beliefs. (Asch 306) In "Opinions and Social Pressure", Solomon Asch examines how individuals tend to conform to a group or majority. He does this by explaining the results of his experiment that he devised to observe to what extent conformity occurs. In her essay titled "Group Minds", Doris Lessing claims that as a society we have enough knowledge about conformity to do something about it, yet we choose not to. Although Doris Lessing and Solomon Asch both suggest that people desire independence yet yield to conformity, Asch's experiment adds specificity to Lessing's claims. Lessing speaks generally about groups and the effect they have on conformity, whereas Asch's experiment

Emma Goldman’s concept of “internal tyrants,” as discussed in her piece The Tragedy of Woman’s Emancipation, describes how the conventions and expectations that are prevalent in society that affects the personal thoughts and feelings of women and thus shapes their actions, preventing them from living totally free. Goldman discusses how these internal tyrants can be seen when a woman worries about how she will be perceived in her social circles and communities, and may subsequently allow those perceived reactions to dictate her behavior and attitudes. She internalizes the idea of their judgement and this affects her decision making without her always recognizing it. Goldman explains that women do not know the true meaning of emancipation

At a Cost Leaders have constantly envisioned a world where stability allows everyone to live happily, but few have stopped to think that there could be negative consequences stemming from this pattern of thinking. Although the extreme form of collectivism employed in the society of Brave New World is effective at maintaining order, it robs people of their self awareness. Through conflict and character development, Aldous Huxley tells that in order for a society to achieve a state of stability, a loss of individuality must occur. The conflicts that result between characters who have become aware of their separate identities and those who remain conditioned show the impact of individuality on social order.

Muriel spark’s The Prime of miss Jean Brodie is a perfect representation of the influence of authority within social groups. The story follows a group of six girls, Sandy, Jenny, Rose, Mary, Eunice and Monica. These girls are led by the eccentric Miss Brodie at Blane’s School for Girls. Miss Brodie takes these girls under her wing, teaching them everything she can about life, but since they have been in this “set” (Spark 10) since they were ten, they grew up thinking that everything Miss Brodie said and did was right. The girls were young and impressionable, which is why Miss Brodie was able to exert her authority so influentially over them. Although the girls admired Miss Brodie, they failed to see that she was controlling them. In the story, the author uses symbolism, characterization and literary devices to bring

Although the subjection of women arose the same way as slavery and other forms of oppression, it differs from the fact that it does not occur by the rule of force but rather, by voluntary acceptance (Mill, 1995, pg.16). As mentioned earlier, women were “conditioned” to believe that it was their duty to be obedient to men; that it was natural to live their lives for them. In a way, a woman’s obedience to man

In the various works provided to the class many themes are present in all of them, this paper will be focusing on the authors methods of critiquing social norms. The short story, A Telephone Call by Dorothy Parker paints a harsh reality from the perspective of a highly anxious woman forced into a lifestyle that many would relate to in the 1900s. “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning exposes the duke and the terrible social norms he reinforces through a poetic format allowing the reader to interpret his strange behavior on their own. Their Eyes Were Watching God, a novel, by Zora Neale Hurston attempts to defy social norms and showcase the positive outcomes of such. Lastly, A Streetcar Named Desire is a play by Tennessee Williams which satirically points out the extremist behaviors that are approved and even rewarded by society. These pieces of literature from different genres still point out the same issues in social norms in regards to the power struggle between men and women and gender roles. Although the perspective changes, as the characters are different or the economy of words is different between the genres the message stays the same.