Why is it a person’s natural reaction to fear and reject what they can’t understand? In Naomi Wolf’s “The Making of a Slut” and Rod Serling’s “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street” we consider the nature of humans and their need to alienate what they don’t understand. In “The Making of a Slut”, Dinah was constantly made out to be a “bad girl” due to her defying the socially acceptable way girls acted. The girls had to conform to society’s standards of women; wearing what was deemed ‘appropriate clothes’ and only hanging out with other girls. Dinah chose to wear revealing cloths and “show herself off” as well as having mostly male friends defying the social standard. Dinah was alienated and immediately labeled a “slut” and others who …show more content…
However, deep down Dinah was like any normal person; she aspired about wanting to be a dancer and she had the will to pursue that desired. Yet, people never saw that side of her due to their predisposed label of her. Despite this label however, Dinah still tried to be whom she believed she was. Naomi Wolf states that “in our group Dinah became the slut. She found that role-or rather, it found her, and she did not deign to fight it. She put it on with dignity” (317). Despite what everyone thought of her, Dinah didn’t care because she knew who she was. Dinah knew she wasn’t a slut and that she didn’t have to give up on being herself because of societies fears. So, despite the ridicule and the shame of others brought her through rumors and lies Dinah held her head high and let others live with their understanding about why she acts the way she does despite it being false. It was people's lack of understanding that lead them to label Dinah. It wasn’t that they necessarily feared her as a person, but rather the fact she refused to act like other girls which made people uneasy. When fear arises, everyone takes safety in forming groups to “point the finger” at another to make sense of their lack of understanding. This was just the case in Rod Serling’s “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street.” A lack of understanding leads to panic and its panic that begets fear, this was the cause of the chaos that occurred in Rod Serling’s “The
Everyone is in control of their actions. One must be held accountable for . Sometimes though, fear can infiltrate one’s mind and block their ability to make rational decisions. In John Connolly’s “The Book of Lost Things”, it is evident that fear plays a large role in how David, Beauty and Beast find love and how the King and wicked Queen in Snow-white rule their kingdoms. Some overcome their fears while others allow it to consume them and cloud their judgement.
It is the fear of control by unknown forces, the Combine as Bromden terms it, which gives the novel its tone. It is man's struggle for freedom against the machine of society that churns out the perfect product. "The ward is a factory for the Combine. It's for fixing up
In 1950, the British mathematician and philosopher Bertrand Russell once stated, “To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.”. During the same time, the world was gripped by the fear of communism and the possibility of nuclear attacks during the Cold War. Published in 1954, the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, expresses the ramifications of fear in a group of young English boys that have been stranded on an island. Golding explores both the physical and chemical reactions of fear, as well as the connection to communism and how it relates to the dynamic on the island.
In 1971, a psychologist Philip Zimbardo conducted an experiment to see the impact of fear. What did fear do to man? He was able to simulate an experiment with prisoners and guards and found out at the end of his experiment that the prisoner had severe stress and anxiety. The experiment demonstrated “the powerful role that the situation can play in human behavior”. This experiment showed what a particular situation can influence human behavior. In the book, The Lord of the Flies, the characters are on a stranded island where the environment is governing their human behavior and how they react to one another. The character are influenced by fear and behave in ways that they normally would not act in their everyday lives. Man is controlled by fear and it can cause him to do things that he would never imagine doing. Fear results in letting go of your natural instincts and goes to your survival instincts, and makes you become an animal.
In the beginning of the novel, a group of boys are stranded on an island resulting in the creation and decline of a civilization, and an uprising of savagery. Fear is an essential element of the story illustrated through foreshadowing, symbolism and diction. The young boys are terrified by a beast on the island. With fear rippling through the group, sheer chaos, savagery, a break in civilization, and a loss of innocence ensues.
“Underlying the quest for power is fear, and the desire for power is to eliminate fear. The more fearful a person is the more control over their environment they believe they need to feel safe” (Robert Evans Wilson Jr.). Throughout literature and modern history, fear is used as a scapegoat for the desire of power. The acquired power acts as a safety blanket for one’s deep, internal anxieties. Shakespeare demonstrates how fear becomes a driving factor in a person’s behavior. Macbeth’s nature is greatly altered after the death of King Duncan provokes his desire to become king. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies explains how the fear of the unknown is the source of survival instinct in everyone. The murders of Simon and Piggy bring
In this novel, one could say that the main character, Carrie, is ‘not like other girls’— she’s overweight, with greasy hair and uncontrolled acne. In fact, the novel notes that her excess weight resulted in part from the bullying when her description states that “she felt so miserable…the only way to fill that…hole was to eat” (King 39). She doesn’t have many friends and is the complete opposite of a ‘Cosmo Girl’. In the words of the school coach, “She [had always been] the group scapegoat” (King 21). From her description in the novel, a reader can see that in terms of gender and gender roles, she was not very “feminine”. In 1981, the Journal of Sex Research came out with a study that categorized the results of certain combinations of “low-feminine” preferences in a household could affect it. In the case of Carrie’s household, according to the study, one could characterize Carrie’s bible-thumping mother as having “low-feminine identification”, as she often took the masculine role of disciplining her child. Carrie also had “low-feminine identification”, seen by her carelessness of her appearance. The study falls parallel to the argument that women propelled their own anguish as it says that “A frustrating and rejecting mother, one who keeps her distance between herself and her daughter, may cause such weak
1) The huge chaotic fight between the invisible man evokes this observation. First, for assistance in recollection, the author focuses on more than one person. The descriptions and choppy dialogue conveys a sense of confusion because not one person had any idea what was going on. Despite this, the main character fights then goes on and wins an award even though , I suppose, this situation which can be classified as “madness” by Georges Polti should have ended in contemplation. However, he delivers a speech after the fight and the chapter ends in peace somehow. I felt I could see the situation unfold just by reading.
For centuries, psychologists and psychoanalysts have studied humans in hopes of discovering a common link, a pattern per say, in what provokes their certain thoughts and actions. Many question certain values, morals, religion, even their brain chemistry, but nobody knows for certain. Sigmund Freud’s theory suggests that human actions/personalities derive from three parts of the human psyche; the id, ego and superego. William Golding analyzes this further in his novel, Lord of the Flies, which is about a large group of boys that crash-land on a deserted Island after fleeing a dangerous England in the times of WWII. These young boys are used to entertain the idea of savagery vs. civilization and how evil lies deep within us all. After
In The Lord of the Flies by William Golding there are many symbols and themes present that influence the boy’s actions on the island. Fear and the fragility of civilization are two motifs that coerced the boy’s actions and behaviors, while also leading them into the destruction of themselves and their environment.
Order and chaos are two events that inhabit the world that surrounds us. Natural events, such as gravity, create order where our world has laws and principles. One the other hand, war, fighting, and disasters make up the chaotic aspect of our world. How both are found in this world we live in, the same two ideas of order and chaos, are found in Eamon Grennan’s “One Morning.”
This story shows that the evil around us can sometimes deceive us into wrongdoing if we do not trust our moral instincts or trust those in higher positions than us. William Golding, the author of Lord of the Flies, used his work to show the public that fear can lead people to destruction and evil ways if we do not attempt to control the beast within us. The way that Golding showed his audience this, was by carefully and thoughtfully placing symbolism throughout the novel and in each and every character.
Does turmoil in people promote chaos in the world, or does chaos in the world create turmoil in people? To uncover a single answer to such a question is impossible. Therefore, those who seek a solution find themselves at a stalemate, and the query posed becomes rhetorical. Nevertheless, it initiates another inquiry worth thought and reflection: since the chaotic world is already well established, whether or not a product of human havoc, how is one to escape it and live uninhibitedly? Fences, by August Wilson, The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, and Wuthering Heights, by Emily Brontë embody people who struggle against the chaos in the world to be rid of
Ralph, the protagonist of the story “Lord of the Flies,” asks the intelligent boy, Piggy, “What makes things break up like they do?” (Golding, 127). Many different critics have their own personal theories about what makes a civilization break apart, specifically the island. Golding seems to have the best theory, as it was thoroughly explained and proved through this close reading. Golding’s theory says that the cause of a civilization or island breaking up is simply because of man’s essential illness or the beast within all. Golding says that no matter how reasonable someone is, that they will never be able to control or contain the beast they are holding within. For example, most readers thought that Piggy, an intelligent, innocent boy would
Order in a society creates a structural environment for individuals to thrive. Lord of the Flies depicts how madness occurs once the decimation of order begins. Ralph reflects on how the civilization of the island degrades as savagery overwhelms the children: “the world, that understandable and lawful world, was slipping away” (Golding 91). Golding describes how without order, a group of individuals can fall into anarchy. He urges a world where leaders enforce reasonable laws and maintain control because it provides people with a structure to build their lives upon. Consequently, a world that lacks this organization can produce savagery among individuals.