Rituals And Festivals Dbq

The fire ant gets its name from both its bright red color and its sting which can be described as a “burning” sensation. Originally found in the tropics of South America, these ants have now spread worldwide and are found ear moist areas. In times of trouble, these ants cluster together and are able to form rafts capable of floating on water. Without joint efforts by each ant in the colony this wouldn’t be possible. The same can be said about human beings specifically in traditional European lives. Rituals and festivals provide an escape from the realities of life and allow the community to come together as a collective unit to complete a common goal.

One purpose for festivals could be they were used as a way for people to relax and forget about the troubles and worries of their daily lives. “It was truly lovely for citizens who had convened at the public buildings to look on their very selves …” (Doc 1). In this document, the sons of the leaders dressed as their fathers and imitated them for the enjoyment of their community. Document 2 states, “Around the bonfire people danced, sang and leapt with great pleasure, and did not spare the bagpipes.” The people of Estonia are ecstatic about the festival and could not hold it in. From

these two documents we can see that some people celebrated festivals with great joy and delight most likely because it was different from their dull and draining normal lives.
Similar to the fire ants, rituals could have been viewed as a way for regions to uphold their ideologies.

In document 8 they discuss what happened when a wife was found to be abusive to her husband. They would tie her to a horse with her “… face to the tail…” and then parade her throughout the village while spectators yelled at her and made noise with frying pans. Document 10 has a similar portrayal of events but instead, a woman picked berries in the community berry patch and the community “… hung on her neck the basket of berries she had gathered…” Although they are not pleasant events, they do show how the public would cooperate to publicly shame individuals accused of wrong doings in order to prevent a recurrence of those

actions.
All in all, based off of the provided documentations, it can be seen that the purpose that rituals and festivals served in traditional European life was to invoke a feeling of consensus amongst the inhabitants of different areas. Whether that harmony was achieved by festivity or by the humiliation of another, it still accomplished the goal of unanimity. As Henry Ford once said, “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.”