The Problem of Social Construction, Social Convention vs. The Real Human Life Social convention and social construction are both constructed by people, in a way for them to describe their behaviors and opinions. Everyone is created and loved by God, for they are unique in their own ways, with a mind and heart, and with dreams and hopes. The Chrysalids is a story that shows how imperfect society truly is. With different opinions and people who do not fit in with society, rules get broken. When social convention and social construction go against reality, nobody knows what to believe in. Discrimination is a huge theme throughout the story, and it is not a coincidence that this is real world problem. In The Chrysalids, …show more content…
10-11) “ and each leg shall be jointed twice and have one foot, and each foot five toes, and each toe shall end with a flat nail” (Ch.1: pg.13) People differently coloured, differently gender, or generally different from what society would consider normal, would be treated unfairly. These people are considered real life deviations, and are unable to complete certain tasks due to how they are born. “ The eldest son. The heir. Waknuk should be mine.” (Ch.14: pg.160) In this quote Gordon Strorm explains that he would have been in charge of Waknuk if he was not a deviation. This can be related to bullying. A bully mistreats a person when they are jealous or afraid. It could be with happiness, or …show more content…
When someone votes for you, this means that they agree with you and believe that you are right. When someone does not vote for you, this means that they have an opposite opinion and believe that you are wrong. 'You must get rid of that cross. Hers, as well,It marks you. We women in the Fringes do not feel that it has served us very well. The men resent it too.’ (Ch.16: pg.176) In this quote, Sophie Wender is telling Rosalind and Petra to cut off their crosses because it symbolizes their belonging to Waknuk. Since Rosalind and Petra were in the community of the Fringes now, they are obliged to dress the same way as the Fringe people do. In the Waknuk society, almost all of people live by the creed of the old people. “My father must have been well aware and no doubt the inspector was aware of it, too that there was plenty of silent speculation whether my father would, as the law allowed, send my mother away if this occasion should turn out to be similarly unfortunate.” (Ch.7: pg.67) In this quote David explains that according to Waknuk law, a husband could send his wife away if she gave birth to three deviations. Not everyone agrees with this creed, but due to the few disagreers, people conform to the more popular opinion. “I don't know where my mother was, perhaps she was afraid of my father.” (Ch.5: pg. 52) In this quote David questions
The second character who is discriminated against is Walter Cunningham because of his low socioeconomic status. Scout makes a rude remark when Walter is over for dinner because he put a lot of syrup on his vegetables and meat with a “generous hand.” Calpurnia explains to Scout that Walter is their company and that not everyone eats like them.
Despair is evident throughout the book, more so from Waknuk citizens oppressing those who are different. “Katherine, a girl from a neighboring farm who could produce thought shapes similar to David’s was found out and taken to the inspector, where, she was ”broken”. Sally, who was also taken with Katherine to the inspector, said to the rest of the thought shapers, “They’ve broken Katherine…Oh Katherine darling… [t]hey’re torturing her…She’s all clouded now. She can’t hear us.” Her thoughts dissolved into shapeless distress.” (Wyndham 130). Clearly Katherine had been severely hurt enough to reveal her ability of producing thought shapes which would put all the thought shapers in danger and tortured enough that Sally sends distress showing how hopeless they indeed are. Furthermore when David found out his father was apart of the party coming to battle the Fringe people he is in sheer distress. He states, “ ‘Purity…’I said. ‘The will of the Lord. Honor thy father…Am I supposed to forgive him! Or try to kill him?’” (182). David is conflicted and rather flustered between his respect and love for his father yet as a deviant they are fighting for different sides and he knows either he or his father will die in the end. Additionally, during the battle itself, one of David’s most loyal friends parishes before his eyes. D...
For many year humans have been trying to fight against discrimination in their communities, but it's an uphill battle that doesn’t seem like it’s been fully wiped out yet in our society. Discrimination and Prejudice has been a key issue that has affected many people around the world. In the movie that we saw in class, “My Cousin Vinny” (1992) it focused on these key issues of prejudice, discrimination, stereotypes and even eye witness testimonies. In the movie it focuses on these key issues while bringing a little humor to the viewers. In this paper I will be going into more detail of how this movie really brought to light these key issues.
“Every situation in life give some important lesson”. The Chrysalids is a science fiction novel by John Wyndham. It's about conformity in a post-nuclear world. The novel revolves around the superstitions which existed in the society at that time. Genetic invariance has been elevated to the highest religious principle, and humans with even minor mutations were considered "Blasphemies" and the handiwork of the Devil. As the story proceeds it teaches different lessons at different stages. The three lessons in the are story characters in the Chrysalids teach us Stand us that one can stand up for what one believe in, acceptance and making Sacrifices.
Racial discrimination is the one thing that is in the novel the most. For example, when the Spaniards first came to Tenochtitlan, the first thing that was taken from the Aztecs was their religion. This would include their customs, traditions, sacrifices, ceremonies, and belief of their gods. Every Aztec was then baptized as a Christian and were then given a Christian name. “Have I upset you?” “Yes!” “It’s my obligation to know these things about you.” “What things?” “That you have a Christian name.” “You mean you have to make sure that I have been robbed of everything, even my name” (62). Here Huitzitzilin tells Father Benito that since everything was take away from her, there is nothing left from her past she shows her Aztec roots. This shows how the Spanish thought that they had more power over others because of their race. In my opinion, everyone is the same, everyone deserves equality. No one should be given a title because of his or her race, ethnicity, culture, or
People are discriminated against because of their race and social position every day. This has been going on for hundreds of years. In Mexican White Boy, Danny and Uno were discriminated against by people around them for being different, but along the way of discovering themselves, they form an unbreakable friendship.
The women in Waknuk are also protective of their loved ones. While there are people like Mary Strorm who will follow everything her husband says and not question him or his religion at all, there are...
What defines an individual’s racial characteristics? Does an individual have the right to discriminate against those that are “different” in a specific way? In Octavia Butler’s works, which are mostly based on themes that correlate to one another, she influences the genre and fiction in ways that bring light to the problems of societies history. Through Kindred and the Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler examines themes of community, racial identification, and racial oppression through the perspective of a black feminist. In each novel, values and historical perspective show the hardships that individuals unique to an alien world have to face. Through the use of fictional works, Butler is able to delve into historical themes and human conditions, and with majority of works under the category of science fiction, Butler is able to explore these themes through a variety of settings. This essay will discuss two of Butler’s popular works, Kindred and the Parable of Sower, and will interpret the themes of women, race, independence, and power throughout the two novels.
Although bigotry and segregation were pointed in majority towards blacks, other accounts towards whites were also heard of, though not as commonly. There are acts that are so discreet that you almost don't catch them, but along with those, there are blatant acts of bigotry that would never occur in our time. Lee addresses many of these feelings in her novel. One subtle example of discrimination the reader sees is the treatment of Calpurnia, a black woman, the housekeeper/nanny for the Finch family. Although she is treated fairly, it is obvious that she is considered to be on a lower social level than the Finches.
Because of the laws against colored people, Rosaleen, as a black woman, lives with constraints in her life. For example, she cannot live in a house with white people (Kidd, p.8), she cannot represent Lily at the charm school (Kidd, p.19), or even travel in a car with white people (Kidd, p.76). The media is also influenced by racism, and constantly shows news about segregation such as the case of Martin Luther King, who is arrested because he wants to eat in a restaurant (Kidd, p.35), the “man in Mississippi was killed for registering to vote” (Kidd, p.44), and the motel in Jackson, that closes, because the owners don’t want to rent rooms to black people (Kidd, p.99).... ... middle of paper ...
This book addresses the issue of race all throughout the story, which is while it is probably the most discussed aspects of it. The books presentation is very complex in many ways. There is no clear-cut stance on race but the book uses racist language. The racist language durin...
First of all, the story was written during the time when slaves were emancipated and all of the blacks fought for their own rights and freedom. So the social flow and especially the rights of both races turned out to be "Normal"and "Equal" now. However, the author shows that the reaction to discrimination still exists inside the white people and through the actions of Julian's mother. Julian's mother keeps talking about Julian's grandfather, who had a lot of slaves and a humongous fortune. However, this was a very dangerous thought at that time of the story, because the black had achieved equality and they were all thinking about equality.
To say something is socially constructed is to emphasize our dependence of it in our everyday lives .Basically what it means is that this idea, thing or institution would not exist if we had not made it .If the society was different with different norms and values then probably it is likely that we would have built a different kind of thing. The contrast is with something with an independent existence.
Coming into this course, I had little to no familiarity with the social construction theory and its relation to race, gender, and sexuality. Over the past eight weeks, my mind has opened up in many different ways. Now looking at race, gender, and sexuality as social constructions I have a great understanding as to how much society plays a role in shaping the lives of countless individuals. Looking back, I believe that my life has been heavily impacted by social construction, both within my family and also my peers. However, looking at things from a new perspective, I am confident that I now have more control over what societal factors I choose to let influence my life. If there is one thing that I have learned throughout this course, it is to be skeptical; don’t always “go with the flow”, it’s natural to question things. In the end, society always influences people as much as they allow it
In what ways can childhood and youth be understood as social constructions? Illustrate your answer with relevant examples.