More handpicked essays just for you.
Factors that lead to conformity and obedience
Factors that lead to conformity and obedience
Evidence of the issues of conformity vs individuality
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Conformity is shaped in a number of ways for a number of reasons. Utopian and dystopian societies, both display structures that promote different types of conformity. Within the community individuals and government is influenced. Establishing norms and laws lays out for the citizens what is expected of them. A society’s make-up consisting of the individuals and government is both positively and negatively affected by the formation of conformity. Utopian and Dystopian societies can gain from ensuring that all individuals are conforming to the governments beliefs and standards. The government secures their hierarchy by brainwashing their citizens. They are able to indoctrinate by making the citizens reliant on them. In the novel 1984, citizens …show more content…
By doing this they gain the security to be more economical responsible. In the book Looking Backward, the utopian society uses a very efficient system. They set up a distribution system that estimates how much of a product each citizen needs. “Now that every pin which is given out from a national warehouse is recorded, of course the figures of consumption for any week, month, or year, in the possession of the department of distribution at the end of that period, are precise.” (88). This utopian society allows the government to know exactly what is being manufactured and shipped. This then gives the government enough resources to create specific data to prevent over consumption of …show more content…
Conformity creates a groupthink mentality among individuals. No one thinks for themselves, they do what is considered normal and acceptable. In the movie Pleasantville, Betty Parker transforms from being black and white to fully colored. By being fully in color she was different than the majority of the others. She wanted to hide this and did so by putting makeup to cover up her color. (Kilik et al. 2011). She feared not being accepted and did not want to endure backlash. She only embraced her color after she realized that change and uniqueness can be a good thing. Individuals stuck in a group think mentality causes them to be trapped with fear. A missed opportunity for potential within the individual can greatly be affected by conformity. Individuals who conform have a much greater chance to miss out on possible strengths that they do not know they had. In the utopian society of Pleasantville, Mr. Johnson realizes what his true desires are after his refusal to conform. He takes on his love for art to a whole new level and talent. (Kilik et al. 2011). Mr. Johnson become a skillful painter and more importantly see his true potential. Individuals who choose to push beyond conformity have a strong will to do the
1984 takes place in an alternate-reality future where after World War 2, the world was divided into three main nations: Eastasia, Eurasia, and the super-country, Oceania. The book is set in Oceania in the year 1984, in the city of London, Airstrip One. Oceania is in a constant state of war against the two other countries, with bombings occurring daily and the living conditions extremely poor – very little food, very little clothing, and broken down housing. The Party rules over Oceania, with telescreens in almost every room that monitor every move a person makes, as well as anything they say. Posters hang everywhere with the phrase – BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU.
In George Orwell’s 1984, where strictly regulated rules is what generates this society, and any disregard for these rules ends in unimaginable punishment. Winston and Julia’s love for each other, however unconventional it is, is greatly beneficial for not only the participants, but also for O’Brien, and particularly for Big Brother itself. This passion for each other, seemingly inextinguishable, is later on taken into account by the Inner Party, finally resulting in not only complete obedience and conformity from Winston and Julia, but also in a peace of mind for these two characters.
This collective whole is easily controlled and manipulated. Society has always been troubled by the idea of overpowering control. In George Orwell's 1984, humanity is dominated by an extreme government whose intent is to abolish all aspects of freedom. Orwell indicates that when subjected to mass propaganda and intimidation, the ignorant majority’s memory and concept of truth are distorted, making them extremely malleable and subservient. The Party employs slogans to convince the ignorant that what they want is what they already have.
In George Orwell’s dystopian novel, the government blocks almost all forms of self-expression in order to assert its authority over the people. Those within the society who show signs of defiance against the set rules, even those who act unwillingly, are seen as a threat to the success of the regime are wiped from existence. In Orwell’s 1984, the government uses different forms of propaganda and brainwashing to achieve complete control of society for their own personal benefit.
Discuss the ways in which the proles are presented as being different to Winston and the people he works with. What might be the advantages of being a prole?
In George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-four, the prodigious sovereignty of Big Brother eradicates any indication of humanity, as well as any qualities that shadow it. The protagonist, Winston Smith, continually seeks to rebel against Big Brother’s ideas of erasing humanity. Winston himself is an outlier within the society, consistently depicting the humanizing qualities Big Brother aims to delete, such as individuality, curiosity, and pleasurable sex. By performing the activities he enjoys as per his human nature, he is rebelling against Big Brother and their desire for a dehumanized society.
In the words of Benjamin Franklin “Any society that will give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both”. Benjamin Franklin was one of our founding fathers that fought for our freedom , he was apart of the Declaration Of Independence and invented many things that America uses today and would be nothing without it . Most importantly Benjamin Franklin believed in rights and liberty and those who would give up their liberty for security doesn’t deserve either.
“At one time it had been a sign of madness to believe the earth goes around the sun; today, to believe that the past is unalterable,” muses Winston Smith, taking care to keep his face neutral so as not to reveal any expression which may suggest thoughtcrime (68). He lives in a world where every move he makes and every thought he thinks is dictated by the government. The Party has control over memories, as well, and the past is constantly rewritten to fit the Party’s lies. To not believe the Party over one’s own memory would mean death. The novel 1984 by George Orwell delivers a clear warning: one should never concede the rights to freedom of speech, thought, and self-expression.
1984 follows the life of our protagonist, Winston, and his attempt to save humanity from the dystopian world they now inhabit, created by the new government called The Party. This new government is completely power-hungry and does whatever it can to keep its citizens working for them by repressing freedom of speech, emotion, and even thought. The Party also brainwashes citizens into believing that whatever the government says is the truth, no matter what the people think. This theme of repression is a pervasive element seen throughout the story and serves as a huge point of conflict in Winston's struggles, as well as the struggles that we see other people face. The Party manipulates and represses the people's feelings and instincts to control
In George Orwell’s novel, 1984 the theme is a totalitarian government has the capability to physically and mentally break down individuals and then rebuild them the way they want by using torture and the destruction of emotions and personal thought.
For decades, governments all over the world have abused their power at least once. Whether it was erasing events in history, not telling the full story of wars and crimes, or using surveillance on their citizens without them knowing. This was brought to life in the novel 1984 by George Orwell. The government in George Orwell’s 1984 is closely similar to the governments in the United States and other countries in the past few decades.
The social science fiction 1984, by George Orwell displays the horrors of a dystopian community controlled by a totalitarian government known as Big Brother. The book shows that the indoctrination of youth can alter generations of adults into believing lies and beliefs of the Party. In modern society, youth indoctrination is seen in many forms of government around the world. Children are told to act or think certain way at a young age, causing then to become the person that the government desires, just as in 1984.
Totalitarianism is a government controlled society where the citizens have no power in any situation. Hitler's Germany, Stalin’s Soviet Union, and Mussolini’s reign on Italy are perfect examples of this type of government. The government has almost total control over its citizen´s lives, desires, and actions. In George Orwell’s novel 1984, the concept of totalitarianism was brought to the eyes of the reader. The party is always watching its citizens. In a totalitarian government language regulations, as stated in 1984, is a mean of controlling the citizens of Oceania.
Social influence is defined as the pressures of others affect the way people, which lead to conformity and compliance. One main reason that people conform is that they feel the need to always to be right. People want to obtain precise judgments of their reality, and they just assume that when others also agree on something, that the
...e influences can be positive and help develop a more prosperous individual that will contribute to societal norms or the in group mentality. On the other had social influences can also be negative. In many cases how another group perceives an individual can determine if they will change or conform in a negative or positive way. Negative transformations can cause a person to be seen as societal deviant and therefore outside of society. Conformity and obedience should be seen as two separate ways for an individual to change and become acclimated to either the in group or out group of society. Both conformity and obedience can be negative or positive in nature and can be viewed as such. No matter the change that an individual will make to themselves it is important to remember that in many cases this is due societal norms and the influence that they have on them.