CONFORMITY As Defined in Merriam-Webster dictionary; "Conformity is fact or state of agreeing to similar behaviors of most other people in a society, or a group.” In the following articles: " My First Goose" by Isaac Babel, " The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me" by Sherman Alexie and, "They Call Him Miracle Worker" by Michael Ryan, the authors illustrate how the characters of these essays felt pressured to conform to the expectations of others without wanting to do so, cause them to regret the mistakes they made to their lives. People, who feel pressured to conform to certain behaviors, beliefs, and expectations of group norms against their better judgment, live a life to please others without their decision. The short story, "My …show more content…
He realizes his action toward the Mistress was wrong, but acted in frustration for the Cossack to accept him. Also, the narrator felt less lonely and his hunger problem was solved with a cooked goose he killed. The narrator stated, "I [dreamt] and saw women in my dreams, and only my heart, crimson with murder, screeched and bled" (230). This quote shows how the narrator's guiltiness had entrapped him, making him regret his decision for conforming to the behaviors of the Cossacks. The narrator describes the moon as a "cheap earring" because he feels that the moon is him and what the Cossacks did to him had made him feel worthless, making him see himself as …show more content…
He realized he was destroying his future and needed to do something to fix it. Carlson no longer conform to the behavior of his peers because his grades had dropped and his life was at stake. His mother "worked on him constantly" to help his future become a reality by pressuring him to conform to her values. Sherman Alexie continued as non-conformist in the reservation schools because he knew the stereotype had entrapped his fellow Indians from achieving their goals and the only way to escape such idea was through education. The narrator from Babel's "My First Goose" would have been Non-Conformist to the behavior of the Cossacks if they accepted him without making him feel worthless on the day he joined the Cossack Army. He joined the Army as a university graduate and didn't know what goes on in the war. He wanted to improve his writing by joining the war, after his editor, Gorky advised him to see the world in a different
Sherman Alexie was a man who is telling us about his life. As an author he uses a lot of repetition, understatement, analogy, and antithesis. Alexie was a man of greater words and was a little Indian boy at the beginning of the story and later became a role model for other boys like him who were shy and alone. Alexie was someone who used his writing to inspire others such as other Indian kids like himself to keep learning and become the best that they can be.
Sherman Alexie’s character’s often struggle to release themselves from the stereotypes that have been forced upon them. The narrators of these stories all become the Indian that the white man wants them to be in order to tell their stories. This can leave the readers with a sense of discomfort, which is exactly what Alexie wants to do. He wants the reader to feel uncomfortable with these stereotypes so that they know there is something wrong with attaching a group of people to certain standards like that their all alcoholics, live on reservations, and spiritual. He pushes this feeling of discomfort onto his readers to make them aware of social injustice and immorality towards Native Americans and much of this discomfort is projected through the use of dark humor, cultural assimilation, and ceremony.
Picture yourself in a town where you are underprivileged and sometimes miss a meal. In the novel, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” Sherman Alexie wrote the book to show hardships that Native Americans face today. Alexie shows us hardships such as poverty, alcoholism and education. In the novel, Junior goes against the odds to go to an all white school to get a better education to have a better life
...hough there were a lot of odds against him, Sherman Alexie pushed towards what he really wanted. Life can have a lot of obstacles, but you have to find ways to overcome them. You also have keep on fighting. It doesn’t matter what people tell you, if you believe in something it will happen. This story is truly inspirational. Unlike many of the other Indian children, Alexie refused to fail in school. No child anywhere should give up at all and always have this kind of a attitude. The kids were expected to fail, but Alexie was one of the few to not live up to those expectations. Alexie read everything and everywhere he went. This is probably one of the reasons Alexie never failed in school, because he loved to learn, he wanted to be smart. A lot of people can learn from him. Life is whatever you make it, so make wise choices, and don’t let any obstacles hold you back.
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
Conformity is behavior following socially accepted standards, this story conveys this to an extreme. “THE YEAR WAS 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren't only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else (195 Kennedy).“ Everyone in this dystopian future is average in every aspect. If not, the government gives the person a series of handicaps to hinder them. It is a law that everyone must be the same in aptitude. This shows that the government has an average standard for their people. Later it is revealed that they even in prison those that aren’t fully
The purpose of this story was to help other Indian children that are in the same position he is at to save their lives with reading. Why with reading though? Because reading is a basic skill of knowledge that will lead your to more and more intelligence. He shares in the last paragraph of his short story that there are two different students. The ones that are already saving their lives by reading his stories and fleeing to him when he comes to the reservations and those that have already given up and are defeated in the last row in the back of the class room. Sherman Alexie effectively states clearly “I am trying to save our lives.” He uses pathos, logos, and ethos effectively to describe his difficult life in the Indian reservations and how he persevered and strikes the world as an intelligent boy. Alexie says. “A smart Indian is a dangerous person, widely feared and ridiculed by Indians and non-Indians alike. We were indian children who were expected to be stupid.” Even though Alexie became and incredibly smart, he never became an of those things. He was known as an idol, trying to save the lives of young Indian children in the
Conformity can be useful when in unfamiliar surroundings or activities. Several examples make their appearance everyday like dancing. Dancing is a fun activity, but when it’s unclear what kind of dancing to do. What happens then? It’s in everyone’s best interest to mimic the people who know what they’re doing to avoid embarrassment. In some way or another, everyone has done it throughout their life but it is really handy in the right
Sherman Alexie is an author that uses his experiences in life living on the reservation as tool to create his stories. Alexie describes the misery, alcoholism and poverty that shaped the lives of Native Americans living on reservations. Alexie writing emulates hatred and sadness but leaves readers with a sense of understanding, and compassion for characters who are portrayed in apparently hopeless circumstances. Alexie’s creations incorporate characters who struggle to survive a constant battle of their spirit, mind and body by White American society that they live in and their own sense of powerlessness and self-hatred of themselves. Through Alexie’s life he strives to be the
Conformity is defined as a change in behavior or belief to accord with others. (Meyers 170) What other people do and say can gradually influence others to deviate from ones beliefs and conform to others. One of the most famous documented studies to better illustrate this was a procedure performed by social psychologist, Solomon Asch.
Sherman Alexie based the novel off of his own childhood and experiences he went through. He has personal experience when trying to fit in as a “strange” Indian boy fitting into a new society. The guided notes for our diversity section states that “ as with all literature, multicultural literature can spark imagination,” (Thursday 5th) allowing adolescents and adult readers they are able to put themselves in the shoes of other cultures, understanding what is important and meaningful. Despite the fact that the novel was written from a Native American point of view, it still follows the same general feelings of most adolescent novels. Friendship between Rowdy and Junior was restored at the end of the novel, and they are happy.
In every society, there is conformity and nonconformity, although we may not notice it. Conformity is when someone is doing the same thing as others because they do not want to be the only one doing differently. Example, if there was a whole class raising their hands would you want to be the only one with your hand down, no so you would raise it with the rest of the class to not look like you don't know anything. This is called social pressures it when a large group is doing something and you're the only one not then you want to be doing whatever that large group is doing.
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
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.
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