Identity is important, even more so when it is a group identity. A family, a culture or a nation – a shared and social identity is important. However, sometimes society can force individuals into an identity not through choice but through pressure. The 400 Blows, directed by François Truffaut, and Hannah Arendt, directed by Margarethe von Trotta, both reflect this aspect of society where it pressures individuals to conform in order for them to fit in with society. These aspects are displayed through the desire to not want to conform, being forced to conform and being outcast or misunderstood by an inflexible society. Both Truffaut and von Trotta challenge the idea of a social identity and what it can mean for those who either lack one through …show more content…
In Hannah Arendt, Hannah is approached and told not to publish her book as it could be viewed as anti-Jewish. However, she refuses to not publish the book as Hannah desires not to be simply labelled as a Jewish writer and expected to write from a Jewish point of view, particularly as her book was regarding World War 2. On the other hand, in The 400 Blows, it deals with the aspect of social reclusiveness through Antoine being suspended from school, therefore taking him out of a social identity – even one than he did not want to be a part of – and separating him from his peers. The classroom could be considered a microcosm for the rest of society and Antoine’s suspension from this is society rejecting him and his ideals. Naomi Ellemers states: “Whether or not people are willing to be categorised in terms of a particular group membership is likely to depend on their level of identification with or commitment to that particular group . . .” Ellemers statement connects to both Antoine and Hannah’s situations as they do not feel an attachment to any particular group of people and as a result get socially rejected due to those feelings. Both films deal with social reclusiveness and being outcast by society in a similar way, by refusing to be placed into a societal structure and rejecting the ideas of others. Antoine’s rejection of the …show more content…
In The 400 Blows Antoine is not allowed outside with the rest of his class for break, instead having to stay inside as punishment and as such cut him off from the rest of the class and his friends because he did something wrong. Meanwhile, in Hannah Arendt, after the publishing of her article her workmates and friends view it as possibly anti-Semitic and even apologetic towards Adolf Eichmann and as a result Hannah is shunned by the people around her, therefore punishing her for her viewpoint. Both films punish their main characters for actions that were not warranting punishment. Antoine was caught looking at a pinup model page from a calendar – something that had been passed around the classroom beforehand and Antoine happened to be the one who was caught. Hannah, on the other hand, was doing her job and people chose to interpret her words a certain way. Stephen Worchel states: “Groups offer us support, safety, protection and a reason for existence. While groups are a safe harbour in many ways, they also exact their price. They demand obedience and conformity, they require use to place group needs above personal needs, they coerce us to give up some of our personal identity.” This statement directly connects to the issues faced by Antoine and Hannah, by conforming to society they would be giving up part of their own identities and yet would find security within a
In the Lilies of the Field by William E. Barrett, Homer and Mother Maria both display straightforward, hardworking, and stubborn character traits. Firstly, Homer and Mother Maria both display a straightforward personality by being brutally honest about their opinions. For example, when Mother Maria asks Homer to build a chapel, Homer speaks his mind by telling her he does not want to build it. Mother Maria shows her straightforward behavior during Homer’s stay at the convent. One morning, when Homer sleeps in late, Mother to becomes extremely upset and is not afraid to show how she feels about him. Secondly, both Homer and Mother Maria display a hardworking spirit. Homer is a hardworking man because after finally agreeing to build the chapel,
Hope and joy can be hard to find especially when times are tough. This is a situation in Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse , the character Billy Jo and her family are living in the time of the Dust Bowl and are struggling financially . Her father is a farmer in a time where nothing grows and after an accident Billy Jo’s mother passes away. This is a big part of Billy Jo is effected emotionally and shows seems very sad. Billy Jo has to move and has to move on and find joy and hope even in tough times.
Christopher Johnson McCandless, the main character in the book “Into the Wild,” had made a lot of friends even though he did not like people. Wayne Westerberg was one of Chris’s friends who he met in a bar. Chris also befriended a girl named Jan Burre. Another person who befriended Chris was a guy named Ronald Franz,
Julius Caesar is mentioned throughout the book, A Long Way Gone, many times. In A Long Way Gone, Ishmael would be reading Julius Caesar or a soldier would be reciting some of the speeches in the play. In Chapter 12 of A Long Way Gone, Ishmael is called over to talk with Lieutenant Jabati. Then, Lieutenant Jabati showed Ishmael the book he was reading, which was Julius Caesar, and asked Ishmael if he had ever heard of the book. Ishmael had read the book in school, and began to recite a speech from the book. After this happened, Lieutenant Jabati and Corporal Gadafi used emotional arguments to motivate the people in the village to stay there and support the military. Also, Lieutenant showed all the people in the village dead bodies to help
In The Big Field, author Mike Lupica explores the theme, "Success uses motivation as fuel." Lupica portrays this theme through the main character, Hutch. Throughout the entire book, Hutch, a young boy that has just recently joined a highly talented baseball team, displays moments that exemplify this main theme. Hutch and his team have a chance to play in the stadium of the Miami Marlins, a Major League Baseball team, as long as they can keep winning games and advancing through a challenging tournament; however, Hutch's favorite position on the field, shortstop, the position located between 2nd and 3rd base, has already been filled on the team. Unfortunately, Hutch gets a demotion from shortstop, to second base, the position located between 1st base and 2nd base. Although Hutch was disappointed and melancholy about the switch in position, he was even more upset about the downgrading of leadership, since the
Although the concept of identity is recurrent in our daily lives, it has interpreted in various ways.
It is culturally expected that as a human being’s age increases, so does the amount of control they have over their own lives. However, when adolescents are allowed to have too little or too little great amount during their formative years, it can adversely affect their decision making process. In The Walls Around Us, Nova Ren Suma crafted young adult characters who, due to either having not enough or too much control over their own lives, react violently when placed in stressful situations.
Defining the American character is quite difficult because American identity is vaguely founded on shared values and ideologies, more so than a particular creed, race, or culture. In order to describe the American character, we will consider the dominate and distinctive qualities of Americans as interpreted by J. Hector St. Jon De Crèvecoeur and Thomas Paine. First, we will examine how Crèvecoeur illustrates Americans as industrious, prideful, and political in “Letters from an American Farmer.” Then, we will analyze from Thomas Paine's “Common Sense” how he depicts the prevalent qualities of Americans to be driven by justice, liberty, emotions, and individualism. Also, because both authors consider the American character and culture different
Piaget believed that a child’s development is neither intrinsic (learning based on interest) or extrinsic (learning from an outside force, such as a parent). He believed that a child develops based on his or hers interactions in the environment (Mooney 2000). Piaget created four stages of cognitive development, some of which can be seen in the film “Cheaper by the Dozen”. A few examples of characters that display Piaget’s theory are the twins, who are in the preoperational stage and lack the concept of conservatism, and the mastermind, who is in the concrete operational stage and show's the concept of decentralism. These characters will have Piaget’s theory applied to them in the following paragraphs.
The short stories the Veldt and All Summer in a Day both introduce the idea that letting hatred and desire take over can lead people to do terrible things. This theme is true to both stories but the way that the characters are affected varies in each. Not only are they affected in a different way, but they also play different roles in the stories. The Veldt puts more of a focus on the antagonists of the story. On the other hand, All summer in a Day targets the protagonist. But despite this difference, a familiar theme can be found all throughout the storis when looking deep enough.
Many philosophers and psychologist from Jean Piaget to William James have theorized what makes a person who they are, their identity. Jean Piaget believed that the identity is formed in the sensorimotor stage and the preoperational stage. This means that a child is forming his identity as late to the age of seven (Schellenberg, 29) However, identity is strongly impacted by society such as school, church, government,and other institutions. Through our interactions with different situations our personality develops (Schellenberg 34). "In most situations there is a more diversified opportunity for the development of social identities, reflecting what the individual wants to put forth to define the self as well as what others want to accept,"(Schellenberg 35). Therefore, humans, much like animals, adapt to different situations based on who they are with. Individuals are always changi...
The Search for an Identity Identities are rare digs, but ones essential to guiding us throughout life. They emerge anywhere, anytime, and one’s environment does not necessarily have to be ideal for that to happen. In the film Hugo, directed by Martin Scorsese, Scorsese develops the idea that individual identity can be found, even in opposing circumstances. There is never a wrong time to discover who you are and never any factors that should prevent that.
Conformity and Obedience in Society The desire to be accepted and belong to a group is an undeniable human need. But how does this need affect an individual? Social psychologists have conducted numerous experiments and concluded that, through various forms of social influence, groups can change their members’ thoughts, feelings, and behavior. In her essay “Group Minds,” Doris Lessing discusses our paradoxical ability to call ourselves individuals and our inability to realize that groups define and influence us.
Bradbury exemplifies this up whilst writing “All Summer in a Day”, a saddening story,about how the will of one can turn into the will of many, causing an “accident” that can not be repaired and is unforgivable. Margot, a small girl who had an opportunity to live on Earth unlike the other children, is often bullied and picked on for remembering the feel of the sunlight upon her skin. Eventually, on the one day that the sun is to shine on their small planet, they lock poor, defenseless against the mob of children, Margot within a closet so she cannot be a part of this septennial event. This is done by the entire class by the whim of one student, mob mentality boiled down to the very basics of its core and shown by mere
Noah is the one of the main characters of The Notebook. He is the hero of this novel. Noah represents true love and true loyalty. In a way, The Notebook is similar to every modern day romance movie, and Noah represents the “dream man” that all the girls always imagine of having. The characters in movies are used to symbolize ideas, and in this novel, Noah represents true, faithful, committed love. Noah remains loyal to Allie even in the situation where he is unsure whether they will ever meet again or not.