It is very common to see conformity among young people, especially when large groups of young people are constantly around each other. School is one example where conformity is rampant. For some reason people tend to gravitate towards what others are doing. In Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel, Never Let Me Go, the characters are no different from any other young person in that they tend to conform. Ishiguro shows this conformity to prove that conformity stems from the want to fit in and pure ignorance. At Hailsham, the students conform just to fit in with the rest of the students, but they also conform because they do not know any better.
One of the first example of conformity that is in the book, is a scene when Kathy, the narrator, is recalling a time when Tommy was constantly being pranked and bullied by other students just to see his reactions. “ I thought sooner or later someone would start saying it had gone too far, but it just kept on, and no one said anything”( Ishiguro 15). This statement by Kathy is ironic and out of place because she is the only person who feels
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that something needs to be said. However, the other students, like Ruth, feel that Tommy is only asking for the pranks to continue due to his behavior. “…if he wants it to stop, he’s got to change his own attitude”(Ishiguro 15). Ruth’s wanting Tommy to change his attitude perfectly exemplifies the notion of conformity at Hailsham. Tommy has a different attitude than the other students, he does not react the way other students react to pranks, Tommy doesn’t conform. Additionally, Ishiguro choice to use the word attitude only lends to the idea of conformity. Conformity is an attitude; people need to have a certain attitude in order to be willing to conform. The students at Hailsham who did conform avoided the harassment. …… The students at Hailsham also tended to conform because it was what everyone else was doing. This theme appears twice in the novel. The first is when the students are at Hailsham and they start having sex. The second is when the students transfer to the Cottages, the focus shifts away from sex, and reading becomes the new sign of popularity. When the students start having sex, they do not really know why they are having sex. Eventually Kathy, the one who has been able to stay away from conforming, starts to feel the need to have sex just because her friends have. “It felt like if you haven’t done it yet, you ought to, and quickly. And in my case, the whole thing was more complicated by the fact that the two girls I was closest with definitely had done it. Laura with Rob D., even though they’d never been a proper couple. And Ruth with Tommy” 98 This confession by Kathy shows just how hard it is for the students at Hailsham to try and be individuals. Kathy feels that she needs to have sex “and quickly” Ishiguro describes the way Kathy is feeling in such a way that it shows the need to conform. There is such an emphasis on sex that Kathy feels she will be left out of her friend group if she does not start having sex. Additionally, Kathy is positive that her friends “had done it”. In the novel Ishiguro never explicitly states that Ruth and Laura were having sex, but the reader feels Kathy’s want to have sex to be like her friends. Ishiguro writes the narrative spoken by Kathy with a sense of urgency that exemplifies the role social influence has on conformity. Along with showing the role of social influence, Ishiguro also subtle shows the ignorance that can be involved with conformity. He shows this by mentioning that Laura and Rob D. were not a “proper couple”. The students were not in committed relationships, they were not having sex out of love, they were having sex because all the other students were having sex. As the setting of the novel transitions from Hailsham to the cottages, the characters desire to conform is still evident. However, now instead sex all the students are reading or at least pretending to be reading. Kathy explains that reading at the cottages was treated similarly to sex at Hailsham, “… how well you were coping- was somehow reflected by how many books you read…The whole notion was kept deliberately hazy- in fact, it was pretty reminiscent of the way we dealt with sex at Hailsham”(Ishiguro 123). The way Kathy chooses to explain reading books is similar to how she chooses to explain sex. Kathy is very up front about reading indicating if a student is fitting in. Ishiguro chooses to present reading this way to show the desire of the students to conform. Ishiguro even choose to italicizes the word coping, similarly to how he italicized had when Kathy was talking about sex. Ishiguro’s emphasis on coping further shows the notion of conformity in the novel. If they students were not reading numerous books, they were not coping well. In other words, if the students were not reading they were having a hard time fitting in. Another example of the characters trying to fit in is when the students start copying the gestures and phrases the veterans use. However, the veterans are only copying the way actors in the movies they watch act. Kathy noticed the copying after awhile and started to notice “… all kinds of other things the veteran couples had taken from TV programmes…” (Ishiguro 121). The way the veterans blindly conform to what they see on the television shows how uniformed all the people at the cottages are. The veterans and now the Hailsham students adopt certain language and personality styles based solely of what they perceive as real life. The members of the cottages…. Ishiguro’s theme of blind conformity resonates throughout the novel and is truly epitomized at the end of the novel when Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth all become donors.
Half way through the novel the reader finds out that Kathy, and the other Hailsham students, sole purpose in life is to grow up and donate the his or her vital organs. To the reader, it is confusing why the students do not just run away. However, the way Ishiguro wrote Never Let Me Go it makes sense that they do not. Throughout Kathy and the other student’s lives, they have constantly done what the majority of the students did. Ignorance is why Kathy and the others do not run away from their inevitable deaths. The students simply did not know anything other than growing up to become a donor. All of their lives they have been molded to follow the popular idea, so to the students become a donor is exactly what they want to do with their
lives.
: In reading How to Be an Undividual, it is clear that the author David Koloff is a full-fledged nonconformist, although, believes in the natural order of finding yourself; even if it involves being an intentional conformist in the beginning. He quickly lets the reader know his stance on conformity in the first paragraph, that illustrates the isolated feeling that children feel as they’re thrown from institution to institution as they grow up. However, how is Koloff himself a conformist? Well, Koloff is obviously a very successful writer. He seems to follow a trend in one of the aspects of his writing. Koloff uses satire, wit and irony as devises. Although, considering he was inspired to write this piece because of the conformity he sees in
Conformist is defined by an individual that follows the rules of society. They maintain the “right” way to succeed and work hard to reach those goals. Albert is the greatest example of a conformist from the book. Albert is dedicated to researching the condom usage among prostitutes but does so in the right manner. After being turned down a time or two, she finally got the opportunity to advance her knowledge. Instead of choosing deviant acts in order to obtain the information she was looking for, her patience, motivation, and hard work paid off in the end.
Living in a world where they have successfully created human clones for organ donations, is not a great achievement to mankind in any way, shape, or form. It makes you wonder, where exactly do you draw the line between the advancement of technology and the dehumanization that occurs because of it?" Never Let Me Go is a Novel based in the main character Kathy’s memories of her experience in Hailsham and after she left. Hailsham is a boarding school for children who have been cloned from people considered as low life’s or unsuccessful, the only purpose given too these children are for them to develop into adults and donate as many of their mature organs as they can till they die, or as the students and guardians refer to it “complete”. The author focuses on the sick ways of our current society and warns us about the possible future that may be introduced and excepted, Kazuo Ishiguro writes with the intent of teaching and affecting the reader on an emotional level at the same time.
Conformity means a change in one’s behavior due to the real or imagined influence of other people. As a teenager, the pressure to conform to the societal “norm” plays a major role in shaping one’s character. Whether this means doing what social groups want or expect you to do or changing who you are to fit in. During class, we watched films such as Mean Girls, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and The Breakfast Club which demonstrate how the pressure to conform into society can change who you are. In the movies we have seen, conformity was most common during high school.
If conformity means to “conform to a social role… brought about by a desire to ‘fit in’ or be liked,” then the characters of Never Let Me Go are a wonderful example (McLeod). In Hailsham, the school where the Ruth, Tommy, and Kathy grow up, the Guardians expect all of the students to be extremely creative;
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
The Conformist directed by Bernardo Bertolucci follows the rise and fall of Italian Fascism, but tells it through the perspective of one man, Marcello Clerici. The narrative of the film is told through several non-sequential flashbacks that take place while Clerici and his chauffeur are driving to assassinate Professor Luca Quadri, a former professor of Clerici who is an exiled fascist. Clerici is a man of a troubled past and an uncertain future. He joined the Fascist secret police even though he doesn’t seem to really believe in Fascism and he’s marrying a woman that he doesn’t necessarily seem to love. All to have a life that appears normal. Marcello Clerici is a man imprisoned by his need to fit in, to appear socially and politically normal.
As we grow up we are told to be individuals, but once we grow up we obey authority figures and change our beliefs to fit in with others. No matter what age we are we will always comply to a behavior or belief to fit in with a group different than ours or to be liked. We do not like to be judged or looked at as an outsider; this will remain the same in which ever situation we find ourselves in. Whether it be in a professional setting such as work or a social setting with friends. When thinking of conformity and obedience we mostly think of cults and prisons but it is not always the case.
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.
1. How is the theme of conformity important to the novel? How may this affect the characters?
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, compliance and obedience are behavioural consequences of social influence (real or imagined social pressure) that occur in the presence of a group or other individuals (Elsenbroich & Xenitidou, 2012). Often these concepts are misinterpreted as being the same or even synonymous and while they do have similarities they are also very dissimilar. In social psychology conformity, compliance and obedience are distinct concepts that coincide due to their effect on behaviour in the presence of others. Pascual, Line Felonneau, Guéguen & Lafaille (2013) define conformity as an altering of behaviour and beliefs in an individual in order to reflect the behaviour and beliefs of the group that holds influence, though Myers (2014) emphasises that
Conformity is defined as 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. Normative conformity is motivated by 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 are smoking,
Conformity is bad because it often does not allow for individual creativity and uniqueness. In this essay, I will discuss conformity. Conformity is action in accord with prevailing social standards, attitudes, practices, etc. Conformity is a bad thing. Conformity should be stopped because it does not allow individual creativity nor uniqueness.
On a daily basis, people are being influenced by the people around them, whether it is directly or indirectly. A person’s thoughts, feelings and actions can influence and be influenced by society. These social interactions provide enough opportunity for the presence of people to influence and change behavior, views, and attitudes of an individual. There are several forms of social influences, such as conformity, which I will be discussing. Why we conform has been a topic of considerable interest to social psychologists in particular such as he classic and well-known studies of Muzafer Sherif and Solomon Asch. In addition to researching why we conform, there’s also the question of whether conformity is good or bad.