Living In A Society Of Misfits

All i’ve heard from others is that money is everything. That its all you need to survive. That's not true, you don't need wealth. There's people with wealth or people without wealth. That's where people rate you or how you're famous or known out there because you have you have money. Well none of that matters because we were all born to be equal nothing more, nothing less. You might think thats how its suppose to be, where someone's on top or on bottom but everyone should be treated the same.

Deviance is an act that goes against the social norms such as rules or expectations. It can be something small such as running through the stop signs or it can be something big such as hijacking an airplane. Deciding if the act is deviant or not depends on the context (society, environment, etc.). According to Howard S. Becker, it is not the act itself, but the reactions to the act that, makes something deviant. Deviance is not a word that is used for judging people, but it is used to refer to an act to which people respond negatively. Norms vary among different cultural groups, therefore, one deviant act in one group might not be deviant to another. For example, it will be considered deviant or going against the norm if someone decided to

In American society, wealth has played a particularly significant role in shaping the culture and standards set for our country. With every dilemma that has occurred, money was been an underlying deciding factor in the end. John.F.Kennedy makes this very clear in his statement on lowering the prices of steel, all the way Jennifer Price's take on people being obsessed with a money, even Scott Russell’s article on the status quo Americans believe determines one's happiness and success. All of these passages tie together to show just how money influences our very own society.

The Misfit is our antagonist in the short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” written by Flannery O’Connor. He is a mysterious man who’d give you the sense of trust, but his actions are not pardoning. He’d show the qualities of a good man and the qualities of a psychopath. His background and stories don’t quite fit his actions, that is why he calls himself “The Misfit.” Although The misfit’s actions are ringing the bell of a psychopath, his inner-self shows otherwise. The Misfit is full of flaws but he is no psychopath, he’s just a man who is forced to live a life that was not meant for him. Deep down inside he’s a good man, but life forced him to act differently.

Unlike the Grandmother, the Misfit truly questions the importance of his life and his part within it. When the Grandmother begins to plead for her life in a religious sense, the Misfit shares his thoughts on Jesus and religion. He states that “Jesus thrown everything off balance,” (O’Connor, 195) then goes on to actually compare himself to Jesus. “He hadn’t committed any crime and they could prove I had committed on because they had the papers on me.” (O’Connor, 195) Here, the Misfit victimizes himself. He believes he has been obligated to suffer for a crime he has committed, yet does not fully understand the reason why. Although he does not necessarily admit that he committed the crime, it comes off as though he knows he did something

Money will not always be there for you, but your family and friends will be. According to society, being in the upper class, you have to have money, nice clothes, and a nice house. To be in the middle class, you have to have some money, some nice clothes, and a good-looking house. To be in the lower class, you have to have little money, not very many clothes, and a house that is not in good condition. American society does not put people’s personalities and characteristics into consideration. American society puts people’s physical features and wealth into hand.

The Misfit is a complex character created by Flannery O’Connor. He is talked about first when the Grandmother reads his criminal background at the breakfast table. Right when the Misfit meets the family the Grandmother starts questioning his faith and past, and through the Grandmother’s persistent behavior that you find out the truth behind the Misfits hard exterior. The reader understands that the Misfit was brought up by parents who were the “finest people in the world” (O’Connor 1312). With this type of background, how can one expect the Misfit to be such a cold blooded killer? Because of his kind nature in the beginning of the story, it’s almost impossible to understand how he could just kill. Through deeper analysis one can

Whether we choose to admit it or remain completely oblivious, our world is composed of social norms that govern our everyday actions. Everything from brushing our teeth to wearing appropriate clothing in public is predetermined and dictated by society. Violation of these established rules inevitably earn an individual a label of “weird,” “abnormal” or “deviant.” The concept of deviance as been debunked by a plethora of scholars—many of whom have adopted an anthropological perspective on the issue. Collectively, their theories and arguments portray the intricacy of the deviant phenomenon and its embedment within

In school, how many outsiders are there? There are numerous people in school who are and they are outsiders for different reasons. It may depend of their social class or family problems. Either way, they’ll get pushed aside because they a different. Most people don’t realize they’re an outcast. Every person on this planet is an outsider to a different person. They can be an outcast to a person in their neighborhood or to a person across the world. Whether, they fit in at school or at work they’ll be an outcast to another person because they’re different. Anyone around the world and throughout history, people could name a person who is to them.

In a culture with such diverse commonalities, the differentials that set precedent come from social norms. These norms set the template for what acceptable behaviors are and are not. Social norms have the potential to change and evolve over time however. Take slavery for instance; in early American history slavery was very commonplace and socially acceptable for its time. Later, slavery was abolished and then in the 1950s and 1960s the Civil Rights Movement worked to gain equality for African American citizens. The evolution of our social norms is often precipitated by the actions of Social Groups that exist within our society. Other times, changes in our society are instigated by the actions of social deviants. Revisiting the example of the Civil Rights Movement, Rosa Parks was in fact a social deviant; being a black woman in her time, her refusal to move to the back of the bus was socially unacceptable. Her actions prompted the unity of multiple Social Groups, thus provoking a civil movement that altered the perception of social normality. It can be said that societal change in itself is a social norm in which Social Groups, deviants are both necessary functions to bring about the growth that makes us who we are as a society.

Why does the Misfit recoil from the grandmother when she touches him,”as if a snake had bitten him”?

Last year, Colin Kaepernick, an American football player did not stand up for the flag. “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” he protested. In the Misfits we’re reading right now in English class, a character named Addie had a similar protest with Colin Kaepernick about standing for the flag. I support Colin and Addie, because the police shootings are becoming a huge problem each year, and because veterans support him.

As we all have observed, throughout history each culture or society has unique norms that are acceptable to that group of people. Therefore, to establish and come to the acceptance of these basic norms, each society must develop its’ own strategies and techniques to encourage the fundamentals of behavior, which is clear in our modern society. Most do assume that everyone in a society will follow and respect such norms. However, some tend to deviate from the adequate norms and demonstrate deviant behavior. Nevertheless, we are inclined to ask ourselves, why do people decide to violate such important standards of living?

The video I have decided to evaluate is “The beauty of being a misfit” by Lidia Yuknavitch. With Lidias speech, she was able to get her point across clearly, I was able to follow and not lose interest or track of the message she was trying to perceive to her audience. Lidia was able to get her main idea and point across by reaching out to her audience with her own personal life story of being a misfit in almost everything she did, but still being a misfit and accomplishing her dream was clear and understanding. So, clear that while she was speaking, my life and my misfits were running through my head. Her purpose of her speech was effective because it made me realize that you can only live out your story and make it what you want to do with

In William Faulkner’s "A Rose for Emily" and Sherwood Anderson’s “Hands,” both authors present main characters who is isolated in their respective societies. In Faulkner’s work, Emily is an outsider because she chooses to remove herself from mainstream society by not interacting with other people. Similarly, in Anderson’s work, Wing Biddlebaum chooses to remove himself from society since he has been falsely accused of being a child molester. In this way, both characters are outsiders in their communities by choosing to remove themselves of their own free will.