Society suppresses and limits individual creativity and freedom by forming strict traditions and forcing conformity. When conformity begins to rule a human’s life, decisions, and thoughts, it creates a restriction of personal freedom, choices and beliefs. In The Chrysalids, by John Wyndham, Waknuk abuses authority by restricting individuality, creating cowards and a false sense of security. Conformity can result in a manipulative cult, which often forces people to blindly submit to a leader’s irrational traditions and beliefs. Members of an unstable group join because they seek a sense of belonging. These people are willingly dependent on authority figures out of laziness, in order to escape responsibilities and to cope with life’s difficulties. …show more content…
Abused power by leaders has the potential to influence human beings into persecuting and discriminating against others. A person who has control over others has the potential to guide them away from morality, resulting in oppression. Groups in society who demonstrate abusive power are called cults; they trap people in a feeling of artificial security. Those who seek a way to cope with life’s difficulties and escape responsibilities will turn to morally corrupt leaders in order to feel a sense of belonging and have others make decisions for them. In the novel, The Chrysalids, the community of Waknuk turns to Joseph Storm for approval and guidance, rather than acting on their own instinct and decisions. This society attempts to convince others that authority figures are the only ones who are “in a position to judge whether the next step was a rediscovery, and so, safe to take; or whether it deviated.” (Chrysalids, 40) Religious cults victimize those who are unlike or question their beliefs and force or deceive others into accepting their strict traditions. Cults turn to the weak and corrupt their minds, influencing them into degrading others for their own beliefs. Nevertheless, not all cults target people, there are several who treat people with a false sense of affection in order to brainwash them into persecuting others. Religious fanaticism and extremism has the potential to guide
Those who choose to reject the pressures society employs to keep people docile and impressionable are punished. Kesey’s novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a prime example of those perspectives. Nurse Ratched used rules and psychological abuse to chip away at the individualism of her patients and gain power over them. McMurphy showed these oppressed people how to combat their oppressor and think for themselves. He was punished by Ratched, but served as a martyr for freedom and inspired Bromden to reject his imprisonment and escape the institution. However, we are forced to question whether Bromden actually escaped and on top of that, whether or not escape is even possible. The open-endedness of the story leaves the reader to question their individual essence, how they are being affected by their society, and if human beings are able to completely reject society while maintaining their
In the short story “Initiation” author Sylvia Plath suggests that conformity, although the societal norm, is not always as grand as it is made out to be, while also suggesting that even though conformity typically hinders one’s self growth, there are times when the fear of conforming can make one’s sense of self stronger. These two ideas together show that Plath uses this short story to convey the message that even though conformity is not inherently a positive thing, it can drive a person to look in on themselves and develop a unique identity. Plath uses symbolism, and character introspection to assert this idea.
Change, the essential of life, it can be tranquility or turbulence, change has no set goal, it occurs all around us without us knowing. In the novel, The Chrysalids, by John Wyndham, change is the major problem in the society even though it is hidden in different aspects of life. To the society, change is their enemy, but it is themselves who are their enemies without knowing it. A society that fails to realize the inevitability of change will indubitably agonize.
...hniques in the book that lead to conformity, to make the people ultimately follow the way the government wants everyone to follow, to be an unintelligent and unquestionable people.
Obedience has always been a trait present in every aspect of society. Parents have practiced enforcing discipline in their homes where children learn obedience from age one. Instructors have found it difficult to teach a lesson unless their students submit to their authority. Even after the adolescent years, law enforcement officers and governmental officials have expected citizens to uphold the law and abide by the standards set in society. Few will understand, however, that although these requirements for obedience provide positive results for development, there are also dangers to enforcing this important trait. Obedience to authority can be either profitable or perilous depending on who the individual in command is. In the film, The Crucible,
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley both deal with enclosed cultures tightly controlled by an authority. Cuckoo’s Nest takes place in a psychiatric ward ruled by the ‘Big Nurse’ while Brave New World encompasses a wider society governed by the World State. Both societies function because dissent is prohibited. In each community an outsider appears who attempts to disrupt the control by exerting his free will. In both texts, free will must be eradicated because it is seen as a threat to the authority and stability of the society. By examining the manner in which control is exerted, the outsider as a subversive element and the necessity of the outsider’s death, one can determine the effectiveness of the protagonist’s sacrifice in these two novels.
One aspect of this control is intimidation and threats. Cults will threaten members and their families to make sure they remain in control and make their leaders seem larger than life. A new recruit to the Church of Wells met with her family, after she left to join the group without any warning, and throughout the meeting she would always look to the church leader before saying anything (Smith 86). Cults also use isolation to manipulate members. One family described their daughter’s behavior when she first join the Church of Wells, “She seemed to withdraw from the world, dropping out of choir and quitting her job” (Smith 85). Cults have more control when their new recruits and other members are isolated from the rest of the world. If the members’ only source of information is the cult, they are less likely to question it. One cult that uses these harmful methods is The Children of God. This religious sect grew out of the 60’s counter culture and was founded in 1968 by David Berg (Zuckerman 108). Zuckerman states that “the children were kept very separate from the parents” and used to control the parents (Zuckerman 106). There is also a constant social pressure that comes with being in a cult. An escapee from The Children of God described the pressure, stating “you weren’t allowed to have imperfection. I had a little wart on my thumb, and I remember walking down this hallway-- a
Society has always functioned on the premise that a person must adjust their behaviour in accordance with what is deemed socially acceptable at that time. If administrated to the fullest extent, the theme of conformity can be detrimental to the stability and growth of a community. Through analyzing the dystopian narrative elements of Sherri Jacksons’ works, readers are able to distinguish how the theme of conformity is still prevalent to humans today as it expresses the need for order and organization, eliminates fear of the unknown, and promotes society functioning as a whole with limited individuation. The author depicts this reoccurring normative event, to stress the notion that there is something fundamentally wrong with society.
Mark Twain writes this essay in order to shed light onto his belief that people’s thoughts and actions are influenced by those around them. His belief that people conform to the rest of society fuels his essay. This can be seen when Twain includes his idea that “It is our nature to conform; it is a force which not many can successfully resist” (718). Twain shows that people are beginning to conform without using their own minds to process their decision.
Social restriction robs individuals of their creative personalities by preventing freedom of thought, behavior, and expression; but is vital to the World State for maintaining complete control over the society. Social restriction’s purpose is to enforce obedience conformity and compliance out of people. The World State achieves this through two methods; hypnopaedia and shock therapy. Hypnopaedia is sleep-teaching where morals are taught on on repeat during the infant years of children while they are asleep, these messages become permanently embedded in their mind and become their permanent, new, artificial personality. This is proven in the quote “... drops of liquid sealing wax, drops that adhere, incrust and inc...
In 1984, George Orwell presents an overly controlled society that is run by Big Brother. The protagonist, Winston, attempts to “stay human” in the face of a dehumanizing, totalitarian regime. Big Brother possesses so much control over these people that even the most natural thoughts such as love and sex are considered taboo and are punishable. Big Brother has taken this society and turned each individual against one another. Parents distrust their own offspring, husband and wife turn on one another, and some people turn on their own selves entirely. The people of Oceania become brainwashed by Big Brother. Punishment for any uprising rebellions is punishable harshly.
As shown in literature, corruption and the abuse of power is an ongoing discussion. When it comes down to the point where people are being used and abused physically and psychologically, it creates a hostile environment for both the subjects and the abuser. As represented in the two similar texts Lord Of the Flies and “I Only Came to use the Phone”, corrupted authority and abuse of power usually end up leading to the collapse of a society or a world of chaos and violence.
How do the actions and words of a society affect the way people act? In Never Let Me Go, author Kazuo Ishiguro depicts a society in which individuality is threatened by the pressure to conform through methods such as peer pressure and social expectations. Without a doubt, peer pressure is most commonly found in schools today just as social expectations are suffocating the middle class’ desire to become their own unique person.
Throughout our history, cults have become a prevalent part of our society. More and more cults are forming every day. Although not all of them are dangerous, some can perform practices that are toxic to their members. Cults use fear and control to gain more and more members. Once members join a cult, they are forced to perform the practices that the cult leaders require. It is through these practices that cult leaders convince their members to stay in the cult. Through mind control and scare tactics, cults have become a very powerful and dangerous part of our society.
To come to understand why people act with deviant behavior, we must comprehend how society brings about the acceptance of basic norms. The “techniques and strategies for preventing deviant human behavior in a society” are called social control (Schaefer, 2009). As we respect and acknowledge these social norms we expect others to do so as well. Therefore, according to our behavior sanctions are carried out whether they are positive or negative. Conformity, which refers to “going along with peers, people of our own status who have no special right to direct our behavior” (Schaefer, 2009), is one way social control occurs in a group level which influence the way we act. On the other hand, obedience is the compliance with a higher authority, resulting in social control at a societal level. The sanctions used to promote these factors can be informal and formal social control. Informal social control can be very casual in enforcing social norms by using body language or other forms of discipline, however formal social control is carried out by authorized agents when desired behavior is not obtained by informal sancti...