The Everyday Concept Paper

Psychologists state diffusion of responsibility is one of the main blames for the bystander effect being

While walking down a city street, alarming cries for help ring out through the air, and it is observed that an individual that appears to be living well has a helpless, poor victim held down, relentlessly beating them to the ground and taking what little they have left for their own advantage and benefit. What would be the right thing to do; run away or try to help, either by stepping in or calling the proper authorities? The morally ethical thing to do would be to help and do what has to be done to stand up for what is right. This same general scenario is happening not too far from this country, where organ brokers are victimizing innocent and poverty-stricken mothers and fathers trying to find a way to provide and get

In the short story called “Everyday Use,” by Alice Walker, the mother daughter conflict theme is portrayed throughout the whole story. The oldest daughter Dee constantly believes that she is better than the rest of the family causing a family feud about who gets the cherished quilt. Dee has always been on a pedestal over her family and she soon finds out that it is no longer the case. Once she finds this out conflict arises. The biggest conflict lies between Mama and Dee. This is clearly illustrated by Dee’s high standards, selfish behavior, and lack of knowledge about her family’s heritage.

This short story "Everyday use" speaks about the life of two young ladies and their mother. They are a poor family that lived in old-fashioned life but Dee the bigger sister don'y like that life.

Mama understands the past and the significance of a family heritage. Her heritage including her memories of her mother and grandma making quilts together by hands.

The bystander effect also arises from a diffusion of responsibility as each bystander can better rationalize his or her lack of action. In some cases, people assume that in a large group, there will be someone else that is more qualified to help and therefore, each person feels less obligated to act. For example, a doctor is far more qualified to provide medical assistance to a victim and likewise, a police officer or stronger-bodied man can better subdue a perpetrator. If the crowd of bystanders is large,

If you saw someone being attacked on the street, would you help? Many of us would quickly say yes we would help because to state the opposite would say that we are evil human beings. Much research has been done on why people choose to help and why others choose not to. The bystander effect states that the more bystanders present, the less likely it is for someone to help. Sometimes a bystander will assume that because no one else seems concerned, they shouldn't be (Senghas, 2007). Much of the research that has been done supports this definition of the bystander effect. There have also been recent situations where this

So what exactly is a bystander? What goes on in a bystander’s mind? How does a bystander affect their surroundings? The Oxford English Dictionary defines a bystander to be “A person who sees something that is happening but is not involved.”(Bystander) Under this definition, I can say that everybody has been a bystander at one point in their life, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. This definition considers you to be a bystander if you

The way society is today, it’s challenging to tell what kind of responsibilities people have. Everyone gets so focused on their jobs, their cellphones, or other attributes that people lose the meaning of responsibility; like when a parent goes out to the park and takes their child out so they can let some energy out, I get it, they can be a pain, but if a parent is on their cellphone for too long and don’t even acknowledge their child, something could essentially happen; if something were to happen, imagine if they were not able to prevent a corrupt situation from occurring because they were distracted with an electronic device or any other activity. Circumstances like these happen more often than you may think the idea of responsibility could

In the short story Everyday Use, by Alice Walker, the short story is narrated by a black woman in the South who is faced with the decision to give away two quilts to one of her two daughters. Dee, her oldest daughter who is visiting from college, perceives the quilts as popular fashion and believes they should undoubtedly be given to her. Maggie, her youngest daughter, who still lives at home and understands the family heritage, has been promised the quilts. Dee is insistent to possess these heirlooms of family heritage, while Maggie is forbearing in allowing Mama to make her own decision as to who should receive the quilts. Dee shows a lack of appreciation, disrespect, and a distancing behavior towards her mother and sister. Mama

People don’t want to be liable for their inactions. “Under American Law, liability generally exists for action, not inaction,”(Allred and Bloom). In situations where people are required to help; what happens if they somehow make the situation worse? Some people may even know that they cannot help. If you are that person, you have a decision to make; if you do help knowing that you make the situation worse, you are liable for your actions; if you do not help, you are liable for your inactions. Whichever route you pick, you go to court. Pick your

Often siblings are brought up in the same environment and turn out completely different. This is the case in Alice Walkers, “Everyday Use”. Although two sisters, Maggie and Dee, are raised by the same woman and in the same home, their similarities end here. Both are different in their appearance, personalities, and ideas about family heritage. Each having opposing views on value and worth of the various items in their lives. Walker uses this conflict to make the point that the use of an object and of people, is more important than style.

In the world, it is so easy to walk past an individual that is in distress without even knowing that there is something wrong. People notice something and expect the individual in front of or behind them to assist the distressed, and it happens more than often. For example, driving past an individual that is stranded on the side of the road is so simple. It is much easier to drive past than assist, especially when driving on a city street. Many people think about helping, and want to help, but they just do not.

“Everyday Use” is a short story written by a 1940’s black writer, Alice Walker. She did a fantastic job illustrating her characters. There are different types of character in her story from round to static. Her use of clear-cut symbolism prompts the reader to be able to take a deeper look into the characters of the story. When reading this story I felt anger for Dee, while for the narrator and Maggie I felt sympathy.

Social and cultural pressures, as well as beliefs about the self will influence helping behaviors. In an emergency, both informational and normative social influences are impacting whether an individual helps another. People look for queues from others in order to determine if the current situation requires action to be taken. Also, people will do things simply to be accepted by the group (Aronson et al., 2013). In any