CONFORMITY As Defined in Merriam-Webster dictionary; "Conformity is fact or state of agreeing to similar behaviors of most other people in a society, or a group.” In the following articles: " My First Goose" by Isaac Babel, " The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me" by Sherman Alexie and, "They Call Him Miracle Worker" by Michael Ryan, the authors illustrate how the characters of these essays felt pressured to conform to the expectations of others without wanting to do so, cause them to regret the mistakes they made to their lives. People, who feel pressured to conform to certain behaviors, beliefs, and expectations of group norms against their better judgment, live a life to please others without their decision. The short story, "My …show more content…
First Goose" by Isaac Babel, the narrator tells his experience’s working with a group of fighters called Cossacks in the Communist war. The story began with the narrator joining the Cossacks Army. He met a handsome looking guy with "gigantic body" named Savitsky, the "sixth divisional commander" in charge of the war business. The commander sees the narrator, "smack the table with his whip, questions his education and calls him “powder puff” ". The narrator lust at his beauty and he's introduced to these fighters, who treated him badly. One of them snatches his suitcase, throws it on the street and immaturely farts at him. With anger and "intense loneliness", the narrator approaches the Mistress aggressively for food, brutally kills her goose and orders her to cook it for him. The Cossacks see his behavior and invite him to eat with them, read to them and sleep together in the same room. At the end of the story, the narrator feels guilty about his actions. The narrator began to conform to the culture of the Cossacks because the Cossacks viewed him as worthless and powerless. For example. When Savitsky questioned the narrator’s education and calls him a “powder puff”, the narrator felt his intelligence was insulted and wanted to prove to the commander his importance. Also what the Cossacks did to him on his day of introduction, made him felt frustrated and anguished toward them for looking down on him. The narrator state, "The moon hung over the yard like a cheap earring" (233). This quote important because the Cossacks behavior toward the narrator made him feel cheap among them. The narrator conformed to the culture of the Cossacks because he was insecure and wanted to create a new identity for himself. He sees the Cossacks as masculine, exciting and handsome looking men: on the other hand, they see him as powerless and uncivilized. For the narrator to feel less civilized and keep his new identity, he had to act violently toward the Mistress to gain the Cossacks attention. Although the narrator got accepted by the Cossacks, a sense of guilt had overtaken him.
He realizes his action toward the Mistress was wrong, but acted in frustration for the Cossack to accept him. Also, the narrator felt less lonely and his hunger problem was solved with a cooked goose he killed. The narrator stated, "I [dreamt] and saw women in my dreams, and only my heart, crimson with murder, screeched and bled" (230). This quote shows how the narrator's guiltiness had entrapped him, making him regret his decision for conforming to the behaviors of the Cossacks. The narrator describes the moon as a "cheap earring" because he feels that the moon is him and what the Cossacks did to him had made him feel worthless, making him see himself as …show more content…
cheap. The short story "The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me" by Alexie Sherman, explains how his father's reading had motivated him to love literature at age 3. Sherman Alexie begins his novel by making a connection between his family backgrounds to that of other Indians living on the reservation. He recalls the time he was reading his dad's book and how the concept of paragraph had influenced his perspective view, saying "a paragraph was a fence that held the words" (64). To Sherman, a paragraph was a separation between two groups of people; the Indians in American society. As he continues, Sherman talks about his expectations of being a failure as an Indian boy "we were Indian children who were expected to be stupid, most lived up to this expectation". Although it was expected of him like others to fail, Alex Sherman refused to conform to such ideology saying" I refused to fail. I was smart. I was arrogant, I was lucky" (65). This quote is important because Sherman wanted to make his fellow Indians understand how his desperation and love for knowledge had helped him break through the idea of being a failure due to his nationality. Now Sherman teaches creative writing to Indian children on the reservation as a way of releasing them from their cultural limitations and allowing his people to develop the interest of gaining knowledge through books. Native-American students had been stereotyped as failures in the non-Indian world. Many of Sherman's friends "lived up to such [stereotype] inside the classroom, but subverted when they're outside of classrooms". Sherman Alexie did not conform to the behaviors of his friends because "[He] refused to fail". He didn't want such stereotype to prevent him from educating himself to meet his goals in life and tried to motivate his friends to follow his footsteps by educating them. Upon all the books he reed, His fellow Indians never accepted him. Especially, when Sherman visited the reservation to teach creative writing to his fellow Indians students; to release them from their cultural limitations, not all of them took him seriously. He noticed some of the students had already lost hope and resisted when he tried to pass on the idea of books to them. Sherman said, "I throw my weight against their locked doors, the door holds. I am trying to save our lives" (65). "They Call Him a Miracle Worker" by Michael Ryan, the author talks about a famous neurosurgeon named Benjamin Carlson, who "performed a rare operation that saved the life of a hydrocephalus baby in the womb" and was part of a team that separated Siamese twins. Benjamin Carlson was once a poor black kid in the Inner city of Detroit who graduated from Yale and won two prestigious awards in surgery. As a teenager, he had anger issues that nearly caused him to stab a person with a camping knife. His mother had worked in multiple jobs to keep the family together and convinced her sons about doing something in their lives. Carlson states, "She brainwashed [my brother and me] into believing we could do anything.” During his early life, Benjamin Carlson attended a Junior high school with White students and won a prize as the best student in a class; that "infuriated his teacher.” Back in the inner city high school, Carlson felt influenced by his friend's behavior of indulging in "all kinds of drugs and alcohol.’ His mother constantly worked on him, trying to convince him to change his behavior. Carlson agrees her and begins to study. Carlson said, "[He] never, under any circumstances thought of giving up on anything [he does].” Also, he stated, "Everybody has barriers and obstacles. If you look at them as hurdles, then you are going to [succeed]. " Ben Carlson began to conform to the behavior of his peers during his high school days. At that time, Carlson had just met friends of his race, he had not seen in middle school. He wanted them to accept him as one of them by listening to whatever they told him. Ben states, "I started listening to my peers, they were into all kinds of alcohol and drugs. I wanted to be part of [the crowd]" (Carlson). Ben Carlson conforms to the behavior of his peers because He "wanted to be part of the crowd". He knew "they were into all kinds of alcohol and drugs" and did not want to feel isolated from them. His mother "worked on him constantly" into believing he was "heading nowhere" with his behavior and should follow his dreams. After about a year, Carlson agrees and begins to study again. Benjamin Carlson became a non-conformist when his mother convinced him to change his behavior by informing him that, he was heading nowhere with that behavior of his and should follow his dreams.
He realized he was destroying his future and needed to do something to fix it. Carlson no longer conform to the behavior of his peers because his grades had dropped and his life was at stake. His mother "worked on him constantly" to help his future become a reality by pressuring him to conform to her values. Sherman Alexie continued as non-conformist in the reservation schools because he knew the stereotype had entrapped his fellow Indians from achieving their goals and the only way to escape such idea was through education. The narrator from Babel's "My First Goose" would have been Non-Conformist to the behavior of the Cossacks if they accepted him without making him feel worthless on the day he joined the Cossack Army. He joined the Army as a university graduate and didn't know what goes on in the war. He wanted to improve his writing by joining the war, after his editor, Gorky advised him to see the world in a different
view. Overall, people forced to conform to certain behaviors, beliefs, and expectations of group norms without wanting to do so? It depends on their decision to conform and the consequences to deal with. In the following reading selections: "My First Goose" by Isaac Babel, "The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me" by Sherman Alexie and "They Call Him a Miracle Worker" by Michael Ryan, illustrates; situations Sherman Alexie, Ben Carson, and the narrator from "My First Goose" felt pressured to conform to the expectations of others without wanting to do so? Causing them to regret the mistakes they had done to their lives. Everybody could prevent himself or herself to conform to the norms and rules of others by making a good decision.
The purpose of this story was to help other Indian children that are in the same position he is at to save their lives with reading. Why with reading though? Because reading is a basic skill of knowledge that will lead your to more and more intelligence. He shares in the last paragraph of his short story that there are two different students. The ones that are already saving their lives by reading his stories and fleeing to him when he comes to the reservations and those that have already given up and are defeated in the last row in the back of the class room. Sherman Alexie effectively states clearly “I am trying to save our lives.” He uses pathos, logos, and ethos effectively to describe his difficult life in the Indian reservations and how he persevered and strikes the world as an intelligent boy. Alexie says. “A smart Indian is a dangerous person, widely feared and ridiculed by Indians and non-Indians alike. We were indian children who were expected to be stupid.” Even though Alexie became and incredibly smart, he never became an of those things. He was known as an idol, trying to save the lives of young Indian children in the
Sherman Alexie is an author that uses his experiences in life living on the reservation as tool to create his stories. Alexie describes the misery, alcoholism and poverty that shaped the lives of Native Americans living on reservations. Alexie writing emulates hatred and sadness but leaves readers with a sense of understanding, and compassion for characters who are portrayed in apparently hopeless circumstances. Alexie’s creations incorporate characters who struggle to survive a constant battle of their spirit, mind and body by White American society that they live in and their own sense of powerlessness and self-hatred of themselves. Through Alexie’s life he strives to be the
Sherman Alexie was a man who is telling us about his life. As an author he uses a lot of repetition, understatement, analogy, and antithesis. Alexie was a man of greater words and was a little Indian boy at the beginning of the story and later became a role model for other boys like him who were shy and alone. Alexie was someone who used his writing to inspire others such as other Indian kids like himself to keep learning and become the best that they can be.
Picture yourself in a town where you are underprivileged and sometimes miss a meal. In the novel, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” Sherman Alexie wrote the book to show hardships that Native Americans face today. Alexie shows us hardships such as poverty, alcoholism and education. In the novel, Junior goes against the odds to go to an all white school to get a better education to have a better life
Sherman Alexie’s character’s often struggle to release themselves from the stereotypes that have been forced upon them. The narrators of these stories all become the Indian that the white man wants them to be in order to tell their stories. This can leave the readers with a sense of discomfort, which is exactly what Alexie wants to do. He wants the reader to feel uncomfortable with these stereotypes so that they know there is something wrong with attaching a group of people to certain standards like that their all alcoholics, live on reservations, and spiritual. He pushes this feeling of discomfort onto his readers to make them aware of social injustice and immorality towards Native Americans and much of this discomfort is projected through the use of dark humor, cultural assimilation, and ceremony.
...hough there were a lot of odds against him, Sherman Alexie pushed towards what he really wanted. Life can have a lot of obstacles, but you have to find ways to overcome them. You also have keep on fighting. It doesn’t matter what people tell you, if you believe in something it will happen. This story is truly inspirational. Unlike many of the other Indian children, Alexie refused to fail in school. No child anywhere should give up at all and always have this kind of a attitude. The kids were expected to fail, but Alexie was one of the few to not live up to those expectations. Alexie read everything and everywhere he went. This is probably one of the reasons Alexie never failed in school, because he loved to learn, he wanted to be smart. A lot of people can learn from him. Life is whatever you make it, so make wise choices, and don’t let any obstacles hold you back.
The definition of conformity is the compliance with social standards and laws in a particular culture, environment, society and time. If this occurs the individual changes their attitudes, beliefs or actions to align more holistically with those in the surrounding groups and environment, as a result of real or perceived group pressure. This is ultimately a direct result of the power which a group has over the individual. There are two types of conformity, normative conformity, and informational conformity. The motivation behind normative conformity is the desire to be liked and accepted in society. This is most widely known as peer pressure. For example, a student begins smoking because their peers
Conformity can be useful when in unfamiliar surroundings or activities. Several examples make their appearance everyday like dancing. Dancing is a fun activity, but when it’s unclear what kind of dancing to do. What happens then? It’s in everyone’s best interest to mimic the people who know what they’re doing to avoid embarrassment. In some way or another, everyone has done it throughout their life but it is really handy in the right
Conformity is behavior following socially accepted standards, this story conveys this to an extreme. “THE YEAR WAS 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren't only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else (195 Kennedy).“ Everyone in this dystopian future is average in every aspect. If not, the government gives the person a series of handicaps to hinder them. It is a law that everyone must be the same in aptitude. This shows that the government has an average standard for their people. Later it is revealed that they even in prison those that aren’t fully
Elliot Aronson (2012) provides a definition of conformity, two social psychological processes that underlie a conformity and cited examples of reasons why people conform in the book, The Social Animal. Aronson (2012) defines a conformity as “a change in a person’s behavior or opinion as a result of real or imagined pressure from a person or group of people” (p.19). In accordance with Aronson’s (2012) definition of conformity, people do conform owing to the social influence, which are two main social psychological processes: belonging and getting information.
In every society, there is conformity and nonconformity, although we may not notice it. Conformity is when someone is doing the same thing as others because they do not want to be the only one doing differently. Example, if there was a whole class raising their hands would you want to be the only one with your hand down, no so you would raise it with the rest of the class to not look like you don't know anything. This is called social pressures it when a large group is doing something and you're the only one not then you want to be doing whatever that large group is doing.
Conformity is defined as behavior in accordance with socially accepted conventions or standards. This is not a good or bad thing, this just is. It exists as a compliment to earlier humans congregating into larger groups, using agriculture and domestication to create sustenance. Also, conformity is essential for life. We need people to share the same ideas, ideologies and a way of thinking in order to work efficiently and effectively. There many examples that exist like, at work or in your house and even within yourself. Sigmund Freud has explained the phenomena of group psychology in a piece titled, Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego. Using Freud’s theory of conformity I will explain the self, what we call “me”,and its different constituents using The Principles of Psychology by
Conformity is defined as a change in behavior or belief to accord with others. (Meyers 170) What other people do and say can gradually influence others to deviate from ones beliefs and conform to others. One of the most famous documented studies to better illustrate this was a procedure performed by social psychologist, Solomon Asch.
Sherman Alexie based the novel off of his own childhood and experiences he went through. He has personal experience when trying to fit in as a “strange” Indian boy fitting into a new society. The guided notes for our diversity section states that “ as with all literature, multicultural literature can spark imagination,” (Thursday 5th) allowing adolescents and adult readers they are able to put themselves in the shoes of other cultures, understanding what is important and meaningful. Despite the fact that the novel was written from a Native American point of view, it still follows the same general feelings of most adolescent novels. Friendship between Rowdy and Junior was restored at the end of the novel, and they are happy.
The definition of conformity is the compliance with social standards and laws in a particular culture, environment, society and time. If this occurs the individual changes their attitudes, beliefs or actions to align more holistically with those in the surrounding groups and environment, as a result of real or perceived group pressure. This is ultimately a direct result of the power which a group has over the individual. There are two types of conformity, normative conformity, and informational conformity. The motivation behind normative conformity is the desire to be liked and accepted in society. This is most widely known as peer pressure. For example, a student