The Consequences of Breaking Standards

Prejudice and discrimination give people a way to judge others based on their race, gender, etc. before even meeting them. In the novel, Boo Radley is discriminated against because of what people say about him and what he supposedly did. Boo has not been seen for 15 years but people make things up about him making him sound like a horrible person. When Scout actually meets him she realizes, “Why he hadn’t done any of those things… Atticus…he was real nice” (Lee 376). Scout had never even met Boo but automatically assumed that he was evil because of all the things that she had heard. Without discrimination and prejudice, Boo would not be thought of as such a bad person because people would not be judging him based on what they think he did and Scout would’ve never had a bad opinion about him. Other cases of discrimination in the novel are due to race and beliefs. Dolphus Raymond is discriminated against because he is married to a black woman. White people treat him differently because he does not discriminate based on skin colour. Dolphus understands that people discriminate against him and says, “[he won’t] cry about the simple hell people give other people without even thinking. Cry about the hell white people give coloured folks, without even stopping to think that they’re people too” (Lee 269). Due to things that are said about certain types of folks, people just assume that they must be true and go along with them and treat those who don’t with less respect even though they are people too which is what Dolphus brings about. Tom Robinson is

In the country town of Maycomb, people were easily influenced so prejudice was shown by most. The citizens knew that the colour of your skin determined your place in life and that Negroes were to be treated differently. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, there was only one true character that portrayed the true essence of tolerance. Atticus Finch stood on his own two feet, and never formed an opinion unless he had prior knowledge on the particular person or situation. Throughout the entirety of this novel, it was Atticus alone who not only was tolerant, but set an exemplarily example to his children, and the town, of how knowing before judging is not only important, but vital to society. “First of all…if you can learn a simple trick Scout, you’ll get along better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person till you consider things from his point of view…until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (p.33). This is a perfect example of how Atticus passes on his knowledge to his children, and educates them on how respect

Humans have a natural tendency to conform to each other; they strive to fit in with their community and to blend in with the crowd, undoubtedly because modern society seems to have put everyone on a leash. Its harsh judgment and constant pressure forces everyone to follow each other around like sheep — compliant — staying in line in fear of the repercussions. Likewise, in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, and “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr., conformity is an ongoing theme that causes the entire community to isolate Hester in The Scarlet Letter, believe in witchcraft in The Crucible, and discriminate against African Americans in “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. Hawthorne, Miller, and King all show the effects of the pressure and corruptions in the community, as well as the punishments the individuals receive as a result of conformity. In all three pieces of writing, the authors describe the community as a powerful oppression that forces people to be obedient, simultaneously asserting that conformity ultimately leads to consequences in both the community and the individual.

Literature is the window to realizing the negatives of society and how destructive certain norms can be. Readers are brought into a completely different story than their own, but by using similar issues in today’s world, the readers can actually learn from the story and its overall message. All writers write for a purpose, whether it’s for a new meaning to life, to live a different life than our own, or to impact others on an emotional level by teaching them to see the importance of the little things. As a reader, you search for pieces of literature that interest you whether you find the story like your own, or wish you lived the life in the story. By using issues in today’s within their works, authors are able to grab the reader's attention long enough for them to get across what they wanted to get across. Often in many works of literature, writers use societal issues as their basis for the work’s themes and symbols. By doing so, this allows the reader to question the morality behind social norms and how impactful certain ideals can be in people’s lives.

     Ernest Hemmingway once described a novel by Mark Twain as, “…it is the ‘one book’ from which ‘all modern American literature’ came from” (Railton). This story of fiction, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is a remarkable story about a young boy growing up in a society that influences and pressures people into doing the so-called “right thing.” It is not very difficult to witness the parallels between the society Huck has grown up in and the society that influences the choices of people living today. However, what is it that gives society the power to draw guidelines to define the norms, trends, and what is morally right and wrong in life? Is it always the best choice to listen

When someone has views on something that contrast the views of the public, they are outcasted and viewed differently, so it is very easy to follow a bigoted society, in fear of the consequences of thinking differently. In the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird”, a moral dilemma is introduced when the people in Maycomb treat Atticus and his family differently for defending an african american,

The arousal and provocation of my thoughts and emotions have occurred in many instances, while discussing the literature provided this year. The pieces of literature that have aroused my thoughts, and expanded my sympathies after reading have been “The Crucible”, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “The Yellow Wallpaper. Each of these pieces have had the largest impact on me while provoking the idea of conformity on characters in each piece. These three literary works have conveyed a large stress on conformity during the time period when the novel or short story has taken place and shows how that era put pressure on those characters to conform to a certain situation, just as society today pressures us to conform to situations. They have each incited my thoughts differently and similarly in numerous ways after reading.

Human behavior is often based of the laws and expectations set by community surrounding them. Breaking these norms results in many arrays of emotions. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, and The Help by Kathryn Stockett all exemplify the consequences of breaking standards in societies with set norms to uphold. The various authors have crafted societies that behave in distinct manners, and classify people as either normal, or abnormal. These works show that breaking societal standards, familial standards, and ones own standards sprouts disaster, and in serious cases, leads to the demise of characters.

Racial prejudice behavior towards others has been exercised throughout history for a long time. The well known novel To Kill A Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, exemplifies the racism seen in the 1930’s. The racism seen in this time period refers to mainly African Americans. Racism seen then and racism seen in present day has changed greatly.

In to kill a mockingbird the main characters were kids who were growing up in a time where if you were another color other than white then you were treated harsh. Rumors, disapproval, different cultural groups does not make who you are as a person, in to kill a mockingbird that's what you see. In this book the two characters I empathize with the most is Calpurnia and Mayella Ewell not because they are girls and know how I feel most times but because they were in similar situations. Calpurnia was a very humble lady but her life was hard Because she had two side to her life and to add on she was black. When she was around her close friends and family that were the same color of skin,”calpurnia led a modest double life”{Lee 167.

As one begins to integrate into society, many roles and expectations are placed upon one. Such expectations often restrict one’s path towards happiness, in the end causing resentment and even unwillingness to live. In the novel The Handmaid's tale by Margaret Atwood, and Wreck-it Ralph written by Jennifer Lee and Phil Johnston, the characters are unhappy due to the roles forced upon them. At the beginning of both texts the protagonists are presented with society pushing them into strict roles which they must fulfill, which in turn causes them to be dissatisfied and even appalled with aspects of their lives. Eventually, they take action and work towards breaking society's expectations of them. Ultimately, both of them achieve self contentment. Thus, in order to achieve happiness with oneself, society’s expectations must be broken.

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird teaches the lesson of the importance of societal rules; this lesson is present in Scout and Jem’s experience going to First Purchase African M.E. Church with Cal. Every Sunday, Atticus brings Scout and Jem to church; however, at the start of summer, Atticus was called to an emergency session at the state legislature. Not trusting the children to be able to behave on their own at church, Cal decides to bring the Finch children to her “black” church First Purchase African M.E. Church. When Scout and Jem arrive at the church with Cal, almost everyone treats them with respect; for example, some people cleared a path while others took off their hats. However, when Lula comes up the pathway toward Scout, Jem, and

To the people of the time this was completely normal and was accepted by society. Today that would not be a good thing to say in public because it is not right to lower someone by their race. In Of Mice and Men people discriminated Lenny because he was mentally ill. People would discriminate and not care for the life of Lenny and they wanted to kill him. The lives of others did not mean as much to people in Of Mice and Men and in To Kill a Mockingbird. To Atticus in To Kill a Mockingbird everyone has a purpose and everyone is equal. He would always tell Jem and Scout to be nice to everyone no matter their race or their wealth. He would also tell them to walk a mile in their shoes because you won’t understand them and how their life is until you do. George in Of Mice and Men would always love Lenny and would always protect him no matter what anyone would say about him. Some people would be nice and others would be mean. People do not understand each other so they might not treat them the same way as they would to other people. Over some years people's’ view change towards things and people will accept people for who they

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.

In order to avoid problems in their communities and being called out for being different, people tend to fall to propriety. This is evident throughout history as people follow the social norms established by an authority, a religion, or traditional beliefs. These powerful entities continue to dominate our American society today as many people continue to fear change and social repercussions due to their unique ideology about the world and its issues. However, throughout history, non-conformist people have challenged the social norms and the entities that establish them and continue to do so to this day through counter-culture movements such as the Civil Rights, the Gay Rights, and the Black Lives Matter movements. In American Literature, many authors such as Hans Christian Anderson and Harper Lee have stated their perspective about a myriad of topics related to our world. Anderson and Lee both state their views about the world in their novels by employing children as main characters that hold the world’s wisdom since children are the hope for a bright future and they are careless about social norms and conformity.