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Literature as a reflection of society
Literature as a reflection of society
Literature as a reflection of society
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Collectivism in Never Let Me Go In Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro presents a dystopian society which harvests organs from clones. The clones are presented as nearly identical to humans throughout the course of the novel. They also know the fate that awaits them in the future yet they do not rebel against this system in favor of leading their own lives. Ishiguro, in creating this dystopian society, sets up a distinct foundation of environmental factors, social structures, and complex relationships as a way of developing the main character’s complacency within their place in society. Environment is the first foundation established in the novel, with the introduction of Hailsham and its unique standing in the clone’s society. Kathy H. (the …show more content…
The exposure to the other clones from different institutions is largely downplayed in the novel, but holds some significance. The other clones exhibit more rebellious tendencies and veering away from the norm that society set for them. The Cottages propagated this thought to some degree through its lack of rules and regulation. However, that is not to say the Cottages were not without rules, there was a curfew and, “Television [like] at Hailsham had been pretty restricted…” (121) However, the students did not have any other restrictions past that they mainly sat around and read books ranging from fiction to philosophy and talked about them and ideas. This brings up the second factor, free thought. The students could engage each other and form their own ideas and opinions and, like what one would see at a modern university, it was not rebellious or revolutionary, but rather tame. Despite this, the clones hardly spoke about anything pertaining to their position in society, and what was awaiting them. However, they did talk about one thing, which came up rather often, and was perpetrated by the veterans, deferrals. Perhaps the only talk of rebellion or rather resistance against the system in the novel, the concept of the deferral is very tame and subtle. The veterans claimed, “…sometimes they’d
Destruction of individuality is an idea both authors explore to expose the broad social wrong of an oppressive society. Both Orwell and Niccol use their protagonists to demonstrate how dictatorial governments that destroy any semblance of individuality are inherently wrong. Orwell uses third person narration, which directly follows his protagonist as he fights to maintain his individuality in a society driven to eliminate the capability of “love, or friendship, or joy of living” by making him “hollow”. By employing the use third person narration Orwell portrays to the reader that even an individual with powerful intent to remain different can be broken down and made to believe that “2+2 = 5”. Similarly, Niccol uses extreme close up shots focusing on Vincent’s cleaning process and the motif of constant DNA checks to reinforce how authoritarian societies can demolish all sense of individuality. Vincent, an “in-valid” must take extreme measures to overcome the prejudices of soc...
Ayn Rand’s Anthem is a politically satirical novel is set in a future society that is so highly collectivized that the word “I” has been banned. The world is governed by various councils who believe that man’s sole reason for existence is to enforce the Great Truth “that all men are one and that there is no will save the will of all men together” (Rand, 20). Any indication of an individual’s independent spirit is swiftly and brutally put down, with the transgressors being punished with severe prison sentences or even death.
Often in life, people take their freedoms, a gift that allows them to express their individuality, for granted. However, in the dystopian societies of The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, people are reminded of just how easily their freedoms and humanity can be stripped away. Attwood and Ishiguro urge people to never lose sight of the core values that define who they are. The compelling novels chronicle the life journey of two protagonists as they fight to define their own existence and worth in life. Offred, the central character in The Handmaid’s Tale is exploited as a baby making machine, while Kathy, the leading role in Never Let Me Go, is degraded as a lifeless android in a sea of clones. From Atwood and Ishiguro’s provocative coming-of-age novels emerge two beautiful and inspiring heroines. Whether it is through their remembrance of the past, their loss of innocence, their capability to hope, or their ability to establish relationships, Offred and Kathy prove that they are every bit as human as the rest of society. Ultimately, despite the many differences in their distinct masterpieces, Atwood and Ishiguro share the same intent in their haunting portrayal of the protagonists’ dehumanizabtion—to shed light on the true essence of what it is to be human.
In “A Hunger”, “The Penal Colony”, and Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, Kafka succeeded in showing his individuals as obsessed with their profession; however their obsession caused their doom because society asks so much from an individual, only so much can be done. However, regardless of that, these individuals choose their work over themselves, and not even bad health or death can stop them. Because society places immures pressure on Kafka’s work obsessed character, they neglect their well-being and cause their own downfall.
An author’s way of writing and portraying a character are one of the important things to note when reading a novel. Whether they use third or first person as their view point, have their main character have an underlying dark secret that is not revealed until the end of the novel. However an author wishes to write their novel, there is always a drawback to it. Kazuo Ishiguro’s way of writing his novel Never Let Me Go is in a first person perspective where the narrator, Kathy H., reassess her life of being a clone but the way Kathy remembers and discusses her memories of living in Hailsham is hindered by the fact she inputs her own feelings and thoughts into what happened in the past.
Collectivism, the rejection of personal desires for the communal good of a whole, is a contradictory philosophy, for it punishes those who adhere to its doctrine, while simultaneously rewarding those who exploit it. In Ayn Rand’s We the Living, collectivism, as with any other political ideology, has positive and negative applications, and, whether wielded as a mechanism of justice, or terror, the pendulum of its consequence swings in both directions. In its purest form, collectivism would theoretically rise from the mass cooperation of a group for that group’s benefit; resting in the altruistic hands of the group members and running on honesty, integrity, and moral uprightness. In actuality, as portrayed through Ayn Rand’s novel, collectivism is the suppression of independent thought in the name of an assembly to whom one is forced to swear loyalty and, furthermore, results in the rationalization of tyranny for the ‘common good.’ The enticement of supremacy overwhelms any philanthropy that those in power would potentially have, spelling despair for those at their mercy.
Juliana Altman Paper #3 Dr. Cook Communities throughout Time Communities throughout time have been shaped by the change of human rights, religion, and abstruse improvements—and in this case, the status on freedom actuates a communities values, morals, and ethics. The quality of a communities could be joined to its reliance from its physical and social aspects, therefore, when parts of a community are differentiated from those qualities, they end up in danger. In the Return of Martin Guerre, Guerre himself was a prime example of the lack of individualism in the community. Clearly, there is a dilemma between collectivism and individualism within this French 16th century society.
It is human nature to see those who are different and group them into distinct categories. The distinction of Individualism versus Collectivism is one that is currently being studied extensively. On one side, individualism sees individuals as the fundamental unit of a society. Individuals are supposed to be unique, independent, and most importantly, willing to put their own interests above all others. On the other hand, collectivism views the basic building block of society as social groups, stressing the interpersonal bonds between people. Collectivist values dictate that group goals and values have higher precedence than an individual’s. Due to the seemingly polar opposite nature of these ideologies, it is inevitable that they will be compared to see which is more beneficial to the country and its people. Some might point to the success of the US, an extremely individualistic country, in support of individualistic values. They will point to the freedom of choice and diversity that individualism boasts of. Others stress the flaws of the US in response, and while both sides do have their truths, the costs that come with individualistic values are too great to be ignored. Highly individualistic attitudes have caused many large scale problems which have long been identified as difficult to resolve issues. These problems include, but are not limited to, promoting aggressive acts, creating an obsession with social power, and allowing a system of injustice to be born.
The first basic issue confronting all societies is to define the nature of the relation between the individual and the group. This dimension is frequently labeled as individualism versus collectivism (Hofstede, 1980, 1991). In cultures at the Conservatism pole of the dimension, Schwartz (1994) noted that the person is viewed as embedded in a collectivity, finding meaning in life largely through social relationships, through identifying with the group and participating in its shared way of life. Schwartz (1999) noted that this value type emphasizes maintenance of the status quo, propriety, and restraint of actions or inclinations that might disrupt the solitary group or the traditional order. Exemplary specific values are social order, respect
‘Society makes and remakes people, but society is also made and remade by the multiple connections and disconnections between people, and between people, places and things’ (Havard, 2014, p.67).
In the recent weeks, I have noticed a trend in our cultural beliefs regarding groups outside of our own. As a nation, while the United States has a strongly individualistic nature from a personal perspective, there is also a strong collectivist belief regarding everyone outside of themselves and their groups. Rather than believing that each member of an external group is responsible for their decisions alone (myth of individualism), separating them from a collective (one bad apple), the consensus is generally geared opposite. For example, the belief that all immigrants want to steal American jobs, when one is not an immigrant, or that feminists are actually misandrists, when one is not a feminist. What I believe we have
When denied by his creator he seeks revenge and kills everyone Frankenstein cares about. In Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go people are cloned and the clones are sent to live at Hailsham, a boarding school for clones. When the clones reach the age of about twenty-five they are taken to donate their organs. When all of their organs have been removed or they die they have completed. Two of the children at Hailsham-tommy and Katie- fall in love; they final realize that they are meant to be when tommy is almost completed. They both end up completing and later on the program is shut down. Ishiguro and Shelley force the reader to contemplate the negatives of scientific progressions. Although Shelley and Ishiguro present some similar ideas, their stories are too different to be considered the same. Most in literary culture view Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go as a contemporary interpretation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, although both authors’ works deal with similar concepts the differences between the creators and
Throughout Kazu Ishiguro’s novel Never Let Me Go, he choices to depict children as outsiders to the world which can be furthered by the setting in Britain’s countryside because it helps give a sense distance from true reality. In the framework throughout his novel Ishiguro focuses on three main characters Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy. These three students are seen by others to have an advantage because they were lucky enough to be raised at Hailsham by the guardians. Over the watchful eye of the Guardians the children were able to grow accustom to being different than others. This can be seen when the characters all mature and grow after they leave Hailsham and become accustomed to life at the cottages. There newly found freedoms at the cottages lead them to question many of their previous schooling standards and beliefs. These freedoms can be seen by every student trying to hold on to their sense of individuality through small and random collections. This suggests that humans attempt to create an appearance through their own belongings and incorporate into their own lives. The students at Hailsham are encouraged to seek creativity and individuality in the things they create which could include sculptures, paintings or poems. These many collections that each student holds close to themselves offers them a small chance for control in their life because they can pick and choose the pieces they would like to incorporate into their individual collections.
Culture forms the framework for our thoughts and behavior and is defined as sets of values and principles individuals have about how nature and society work, as well as the norms of behavior, derived from that set of values (Gorodnichenko & Roland, 2014). According to Heine (2012), cultures that are individualistic include a variety of customs that encourage individuals to place their own personal goals ahead of those of the collective. In contrast, cultures that are collectivistic include many cultural practices, institutions, and customs that encourage individuals to place more emphasis on collective goals. Furthermore, the dimensions of collectivism and individualism help us to understand cultural differences in a wide variety of psychological
“Altruism — the sacrifice of self to others. This tied man irrevocably to other men and left him nothing but a choice of pain: his own pain borne for the sake of others or pain inflicted upon others for the sake of self.” This dramatic definition of altruism, from The Soul of an Individualist by Ayn Rand, provides a backdrop for similar ideologies. Along the same philosophical vein, one can examine the principles of collectivism, a way of life that puts priority on a group instead of a single member. Individualism, on the other hand, is the complete rejection of these two ideas and a way of thinking that stresses living on one’s own terms instead of being dictated to by a group. As shown