Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs is about socialization and resocialization of the second John Clayton, Lord of Greystoke. Having lost his parents while still a baby, he was adopted by a female ape and accepted partially by her tribe. Not all members of the tribe of apes gave him full membership into their group, which caused Tarzan grief and pain, but also equipped him with the necessary tools for survival. Beyond the immediate story of Tarzan there is an underlying story of the socioeconomic progress of man in an encapsulated span of time, as it must have actually occurred over the eons since man first appeared. Within the text of the story are numerous examples of sociological occurrences dealing with different races and indeed species of animals. Some examples are: 1. Achieved Status… A social position that a person assumes voluntarily as a result of personal choice, merit, or direct effort. Example: Tarzan achieved the status of King of the Apes by choice and direct effort when he challenged Kerchak for leadership of the group. 2. Activity Theory… The propositions that people tend to shift gears in late middle age, and find substitutes for previous statuses, roles, and activities. Example: In the 1800s human life expectancy was not much beyond 40 or 50 years of age, therefore a young man by today's standards in his mid to late 20s would have been considered middle aged. Tarzan was in this age period when he became irritated with life as the King of the Apes and decided to abdicate his position and return to the cabin his father had built. 3. Agents of Socialization… Those persons, groups, or institutions that teach people what they need to know in order to participate in society. Example... ... middle of paper ... ...ound and experiences. Example: D'Arnot took Tarzan to Paris in order to resocialize him into his own culture. 47. Rituals… Regularly repeated and carefully prescribed forms of behaviors that symbolize a cherished value or belief. Example: The rites of the Dum-Dum marked important events in the life of the tribe --a victory, the capture of a prisoner, the killing of some large fierce denizen of the jungle, the death or accession of a king, and were conducted with set ceremonialism. 48. Role Exit… A situation in which people disengage from social roles that have been central to their self-identity. Example: The abdication of the position of king on the part of Tarzan was a role exit. 49. Role Performance… How a person actually plays a role. Example: Tarzan was not performing his role as king and the tribe was constantly squabbling amongst themselves.
Again, this theory of nature and nurture is coming into play. Tarzan being orphaned at a young age due to his parents death, left him vulnerable in the jungle of Africa, until a female ape adopts him as her own. He is then socialized as an ape and brought up in all the manly customs of an ape. Alternatively, Tarzan is the product of two white parents and has superior blood running through his veins as displayed by his cousin Mr. William C. Clayton (226). Tarzan fantasizes the balance of Tarzans nature and nurture. His manly control over the primal sexual desires captivated American culture (233). The harmony between Tarzans two components of identity was the epitome of ideological masculinity and became a model for men in the following century.
These beliefs help us make analyses about this ritual, interpretations not strictly bound to earthly or worldly things.
Rollin, Bernard E.. “The Ascent of Apes — Broadening the Moral Community”. In The Great Ape Project. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 1993. pp.206-219.
The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were a time of great social and political change. With an influx of immigrants rushing to work in factories, the dynamics of culture were swiftly changing. The naïve, new Americans were easily persuaded into making decisions in voting that were greatly influenced by the corrupt individuals guiding them (Sinclair, 1906, pp. 97-98). Unknowingly, these immigrants were working very hard to prevent themselves from achieving the heavily desired “American Dream.” Upton Sinclair’s own political beliefs are reflected in his startling novel, The Jungle, which details a believable account of such an immigrant’s experience. Though it is often thought of as an exposure of the unsanitary meat packing industry,
Civilization struggling for power against savagery was shown throughout Lord of the Flies. These opposite mindsets are shown battling while determining who had the right to speak during assemblies, when the group hunted pigs, throughout the struggle over Piggy’s glasses, and finally with Simon’s death. These polar opposites are shown throughout these examples and reveal the desperation of clinging to civilization while savagery took over the actions of the some of the boys in Lord of the Flies.
William Apess broke the mold by writing this autobiography titled A Son of the Forest in 1829, considering it was not a common literary form for his time. Apess also set the bar as the earliest autobiography written and published by a Native American. Throughout the piece we learn his highs and lows, the prejudices he encountered, his different jobs, and his ordainment as a minister.
It has been believed that culture is unique to humans and no other groups of animals have culture, but recent evidence refutes this ideology. Before getting into the meat of the argument, it is important to first address the issues regarding the ambiguity of the term, “culture.” What is culture? Many scientists may argue that culture is the way of life for a group of individuals, this definition includes the values, beliefs and traditions of the group (Sapolsky, 2006). Other scientists may argue that culture is the transmission of habits and information by social means (Sapolsky, 2006). Despite the different specifics of what culture is, almost all scientists would agree that culture is transmitted socially through social learning that promotes the transfer of information between members in a group (Boesch and Tomasello, 1998). Based on these notions of culture, it can be justifiably stated that primates have culture. Primates exhibit food preparation techniques, use of tools, communication skills, and most importantly, behaviors of social learning. An exemplar of primates’ capabilities for culture is Koko, the lowland gorilla. Koko, in captivity, was able to learn American sign language, demonstrate self-awareness and the ability to deceive.
Adults entering the midlife years (middle adulthood) are experiencing an overabundance of life changes. Hall, Hernandez, Wong, and Justice (2015) stated that, during middle adulthood important changes occur across the physical, cognitive, and social domains of development. There is a mounting amount of research on the changes that middle-aged adults experience. One of the most unexplored factor that middle-aged adults experience is Ageism. Ageism can be defined as the act of being prejudice or discriminative towards a specific age group. Although, Ageism can occur at any given place and in any age group. Research shows that it is more prevalent in older adults,
Socialization is a lifelong process of acquiring one’s personal identity; when we interact within the four agents of socialization—family, school, media, and peer groups—we internalize norms, values, behavior, and social skills. Since our values, norms, and beliefs about society are first learned with family, family is the most important and influential agent of socialization.
Some critics have argued that disengagement theory may have accurately characterized the behavior of the older population in the 1950s, but that it was a mistake to infer that this pattern was universal. According to these critics, activity theory or continuity theory might well be a better description of how older people actually live today. If the critics’ view is correct, does it mean that any theories of aging simply express the way aging appears at a certain time in history? If so, how would it be possible to develop an account that is more general and not limited to a certain time and place?
In his ancestor’s world, communal and mythical values prevail over individualism and materialism. When he is in Danville, Milkman learns that place is significant because it “makes the past real”(231). When he arrives in the South he wears a “beige three – piece suit, button down light–blue shirt and black string tie (and) beautiful Florsheim shoes”(227). But stripped of his three piece suit and dressed in worn hunting clothes he enters the woods outside Shalimar and immediately stumbles upon his uncharted self. For the first time he considers his behaviour in relation to the others: “Under the moon, on ground alone… the cocoon that was ‘personality’ – gave way…..there was nothing here to help him - not his money, his car, his father’s reputation, his suit or his shoes… His watch and his two hundred dollars would be of no help out here, where all a man had was what he was born with, or had learned to use. An endurance”(276-277). Reduced to the essentials for the first time in his life, Milkman begins to question his surroundings and as he listens, noise becomes language or “what there was before language”(278). Milkman here comprehends a mythic dimension as he reaches back toward a time when humans and animals shared
Socialization is defined as the process by which an individual internalizes the norms, values and beliefs of their social world. The socialization process occurs throughout the life course of the individual and is influenced by agents of socialization, which include a variety of social institutions and daily social interactions. Some examples of such agents are peers,family, neighborhood,sports, schools, religion, the workplace, and especially the mass media. Socialization agents in your life shapes, develops, and help highlight who you are as a person. The agents of socialization that have molded and shaped my life through high school and college are family,school,neighborhood..These agents have have helped me become who I am today and has
The whole person, body, and soul are involved in worship. There are many rites of purification for individuals and communities. Religious sacredness is preserved in ritual, in dress and in the arrangements of the places of worship. The sick are healed in rites, which involve their families and the community. Some of the traditional blessings are rich and very meaningful.
A sociologist will also find this topic interesting because of how the individual believes he is of a higher status than others. Status is defined as a prestige a person or group feels that could be formed through education, money, background, popularity etc. When someone who feels that their better background ...
What is socialization? Socialization is the process in which we as people become members of society. As individuals our sense of belonging is shaped through the agents of socialization. The agents of socialization that contribute to the shaping of an individual’s sense of belonging to a group consist of educational institutes, peers, Mass media, family, and religious institutes. The five agents of socialization play a large roles in an individual’s perspective on the way of life, behavior, social interaction and how the communicate with other members of the group. Socialization not only makes us aware of ourselves as being part of a group but also deeply affects ones understanding of norms, beliefs, desires