Themes of Conformity in Society

“Etiquette is all human social behavior. If you’re a hermit on a mountain, you don’t have to worry about etiquette; if somebody comes up the mountain, then you’ve got a problem…” This quote from American journalist, Judith Martin, illustrates the concept that the presence of others creates or inspires expectations. Social norms, or specific cultural expectations for how to behave in a given situation, are practiced throughout various societies and cultures across the planet. People relay on social norms to provide order and predictability in social situations. Social roles are the part people play as members of a social group. With each social role one plays, the behavior changes to fit the expectations both you and others have of that role. It is most common for people to conform to the guidelines provided by the roles we perform. When one does not conform to the social norms, it is considered abnormal behavior. For this assignment, I faced the challenge to disregard expectations of social roles and norms in society.

How do the composers of classical texts convey themes that are still relevant in today’s society?

In Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave New World, Huxley creates a futuristic world governed by conformity and submission to society. Citizens of this World State are conditioned to follow a set lifestyle determined at birth in order to create a stable civilization. However, there is still some form of individuality in each person, specifically in the characters Bernard, Lenina, and Linda. Within each of these characters, their difference in personality does not fit the norms of society, and they therefore try to suppress their own traits with unique methods such as soma. In times of sadness and despair, Bernard, Lenina, and Linda each give up a part of their own individuality and ideology, sticking to the

Many individuals is faced with the decision of conforming or choosing personal desire, and it is not an easy decision. It is hard because being shunned by others for being different is not a good feeling. Choosing to conform over personal desire, often leads to loss. On the other hand, personal desire is what sets others apart and gives them joy. In the poem, “The Jackhammer Syndrome”, Al Purdy discusses the good and bad memories he has experienced. He goes through his memories of when he had fun and made mistakes, but he reflects on what he could have done better. The author of “The Jackhammer Syndrome informs against choosing the welcoming joy of conformity over the long-term gains of personal desire. Making the decision to pursue conformity over personal desire may seem easy at first, but if the choice is to conform, the joy it gives will not last. Making the decision to pursue conformity over personal desire Conformity may seem to give joy at first, but it does not last. When Al is playing pool with his brother, he wants to win badly, but losses. However when he did not care to win, Al wins! Conforming can lead to loss but personal desire has much to gain. If the choice is to conform, personal identity may be lost. In my life, I recognize several instances in which I found several similarities between Al and myself. I have made decisions that were not always good ones such as swimming across long distances with friends.

Conformity is a concept that has been heavily researched in the field of social psychology. Conformity is defined as a change in behavior, beliefs, and attitudes due to group pressure perceived as real (encompassing the presence of others) or imagined (encompassing the pressure of social standards) (Myers, 2010, p. 192). The concept of conformity is a powerful influence on the tendency for people to arrange their thoughts, perspectives, and ideas with others, especially when in a group. This takes away from a person’s individuality because they want to feel accepted by others and therefore, a person will accomplish this basic need of approval through conforming.

In today’s social norms or Conformity to fit in with a certain group of individuals you see a lot of “I need to change this or have that” to be accepted. Eating disorder, it’s one of those on the top of the list. You could be in other words Fat or over weight, might be a health condition like a Thyroid. In the other cases, you have someone eating too much. That individual will start eating less or will throw up after each meal to fit in with the society. You could say it for Anorexic individuals also, just the steps would be flipped.

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.

In this dystopian world the people are dependant upon soma at anytime when unpleasant thoughts, feelings or emotions are shown. Soma can drive any bad thoughts out of mind. Doctors declare that one cubic centimeter of soma cures ten gloomy sentiments. Like soma drug in Brave New World, in The Giver, there is a relief-of-pain medication that is provided to community members to relieve their pains so that no one can suffer. Whenever there is any kind of unpleasant thought or pain or disease, people are immediately given this unnamed medication.

When anyone faces a new environment were their society does not align with one’s own, the initial reaction is to not conform to their ideals. In Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, his protagonist, John, is stuck in the Brave New World. He lives his everyday life by challenging the customs and morals of the brave new world society. This eventually spirals out of control and only shows that conformity is inevitable no matter how hard to try to be the odd man out. John is considered a savage in this novel because he is not from the brave new world society.

“Group conformity scares the pants off me because it’s so often a prelude to cruelty towards anyone who doesn’t want to-or can’t-join the Big Parade.” The style of text I have chosen to focus on is individuality, as I believe that uniqueness of an individual is essential for freedom. Through analysing the texts Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Equilibrium by Kurt Wimmer, Blind Faith by Ben Elton, The Machine Stops by E.M. Foster and I Always do what Teddy Says by Harry Harrison. I have noticed that societies are being controlled through the idea of conflicts and religious symbolism and conformity, which are prominent in all the societies. The intent to trigger us of the dystopias that could arise in our world today is prominent. I have also

Why do we conform? Two basic sources of influence: normative social influence, the need to be liked, accepted by others and Informational influence: need to be correct and to behave in accordance with reality.

Conformity and Its Meaning This assignment focuses upon conformity and what it means to us. Conformity is defined by Zimbardo (1992) as "A tendency for people to adopt behaviour, values and attitudes of other members of a reference group". Why people conform is a topic of much debate.

Since the modern era, a major limitation of society remains: the obsession of one’s appearances, and the subsequent alienation of those perceived to not fit the ideal. The general media unceasingly promotes the thin ideal, spawns a multi-billion dollar diet industry, and permeates major aspects of society, such as the medical community. The hatred for one’s appearance is entirely a social construct perpetuated by the media. More importantly, the ideal has alienated those perceived to be outside of it, which is the majority of the U.S. population. The conformity stifles individualism on various levels. America was made great because of its diversity, which is now threatened by pressures to conform. It encompasses all aspects of life, even

According to bell, “Social conformity means that we look to our neighbors in order to come to a conclusion ourselves about a certain decision that we have to make.” I was aghast (Feeling great dismay or honor) to hear that 9 out of 12 people would shock someone at a life threatening voltage if told to. If I were in a situation like this, I wouldn't be able to shock someone like that, even if they were a stranger. I don't think I would be able to handle the guilt of knowing I could have killed someone. Believe it or not I have actually been in a situation similar to this. I was hanging out with a group of friends who wouldn’t stop making fun of another one of my friends in the group. I defended my friend. But after he left I start to talk badly

In the three literary works that were chosen, “The Known Citizen” by W. H. Auden, “A & P” by John Updike, and “Antigone” by Sophocles has a theme that is known to be conformity and rebellious. The poem “The Unknown Citizen” is mainly about the unknown man who is a conformist because he listens to all the rules that are made for the society. On the other hand, the short story “A & P” has a conformist character who enforces the rules for the supermarket and a rebellious character who goes against the rules for the supermarket. Similar to “A & P” the play “Antigone” also has a conformist character who likes to go by the rules that the society has made; however, a rebellious character who is always goes against the rules made for the society. The three different writings that represent a character who conforms within these writings. A conformist is someone who follows the rules that are given to them without any complaints. On the other hand, the three literary writings also have characters that are rebellious within these writings. A rebellious person is someone who does not follow the rules that are given to them; therefore, the rebellions go against the rules.