Raw by Scott Monk, Hard Rock by Etheridge Knight, and Dangerous Minds by John N. Smith
Institutions can have positive and negative effects that can alter an individual's perceptions, judgment and values. "Raw" by Scott Monk, "Hard Rock" by Etheridge Knight and "Dangerous Minds" by John N. Smith help communicate an understanding of how such institutions can reform an individual.
The novel "Raw" written by Scott Monk, is simple in style but introduces interesting and an acceptable insight to the concept of "the institution and the individual experience". Brett Dalton resembles a highly wrought, reactionary character who challenged or feels confronted by structures of authority or control.
Using Brett as the protagonist, Monk opens the novel with a prologue that describes Brett as delinquent and confused teenager who refuses to take responsibility for his own actions. His intolerance leads him to committing a crime - breaking him into a bottle shop; this explains why he is in the institution called the "farm", which can be described as a "half-way house" with between no security and maximum security. This institution accommodates troubled teenagers, in which it is their second chance to become better individuals. Throughout the novel Brett is symbolized as the troubled teenager who overcomes his ignorance.
On the farm, Brett meets the caretaker Sam, who is symbolized not only as a role model but also the cause of Brett's positive change. Sam respects each individual equally and believes everybody deserves a second chance, but Brett, at the beginning does not tolerate anyone, especially people with authority – "they are the enemy, and you never get friendly with the enemy". This demonstrates Brett's attitudes and protest t...
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... of the students. Many of the students have no sense of belonging and see no relevance of to be at a place where even there teachers have no expectations for them.
All until Lou Anne Johnson arrives. Lou Anne gives hope to the students and shows the students that there can be some positive effects of the institution. But the negative effects end up reappearing, when a student is turned away by the principle on the basis of a petty rule. This emphasizes and the focus on the rules and order rather than the individual. The consequence of the student in this case is the death. Lou Anne sums up this incident appropriately “What should I tell them? If they don’t want to die remember to knock?”
"Raw", "Hard Rock" and "Dangerous Minds" all deduce to exemplify one meaning – institutions have the power to radically change the personal experiences of any individual.
Take for example, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey. There is no doubt in my mind that the mental institution that comprises the primary setting of the narrative is intended as a metaphor of societal oppression. This symbolic novel relays the story of an inmate standing up against the powerful forces that operate a psychiatric hospital, but it represents much more than just a classic case of “man versus the establishment”. The questions raised by Kesey are almost as chilling as his descriptive tales of inmate abuse. Kesey compelled me to ponder just how thin the line is that separates insanity from sanity, and treatment from control. Representing a heroic struggle of personality against an institution of mindless conformity, I found “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” to be one powerful piece of literature.
Brett, the 16-year-old protagonist, forms the basis of the novel with his rebellious, arbitrary way of thinking. The scene is set
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." (Robert Frost) In today's world there is no tolerance for the individual thinker. It is not acceptable to modify or bend the rules of society. Society is civilized, and to be civilized there must be rules, regulations and policies that prevent. Individuality leads to a mess of chaos. To prevent disorder, institutions in society keep these rules strongly enforced. Man creates these institutions in order to provide convenience and stability in everyday life. Then instead of man running these institutions, the institutions begin to reverse the role of power and the institutions are running man. He is rendered helpless to what he has created. With the institution in power it has become smarter and stronger than man, working to destroy individuality with the invisible machine running smoothly. Positions of power and authority are given to some. The power changes those who it into an unfeeling, ruthless, cold machine. Also they become part of the institution, forgetting the real purpose of their jobs. Institutions force individuals to bend and mold the standard and give up freedom and individuality. Some individuals are unable to conform when their will to remain creative and self-reliant is too strong; they fight against the current that society and its institutions create. Beating the system is another thing; those who attempt to beat the system are often referred to as romantics because they do not focus on the reality of situations. The system cannot be beat. If one official of an intuition is taken down there will be a many more waiting i...
Sam and Josh have a friendly relationship. "Sam doesn't order me to do anything. He's my friend. I live on his farm. I do what he says" Josh says. (page 36). “That’s why I don’t put up with anyone’s hard luck story,’ Josh said. ‘I’ve been there. I’ve beaten it. I’ve started putting my life together again. If I can, anyone can.” (Page 307). This was the perfect representation of how Josh connected to Brett about exactly how he has learnt to forget and move on from his past and improve himself, displaying that if Josh could push through a hard time in his life, then so can Brett. That's when Brett realised that he was lucky to have normal parents who were respectable
The writer begins the story with Bryon and Mark (both 16 years old) being the best of friends like brothers that are involved in gang fights, hustling people and not having to follow any rules. As the story continues, the writer shows us how both boys begins to take a different path from each other. When Bryon gets beat up for covering for what Mark done to Angela., Bryon doesn’t want Mark to get even with the people that hurt him. “I don’t want to keep this up, this getting-even jazz. It’s stupid and I’m sick of it and it keeps going in circles” (pg 129). The writer also show us th...
...el, The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson accentuates the fact that society’s expectations of a character causes negative impacts upon their lives through the creation of a struggle to achieve his goal. Ian is an impeccable example of this because he is prone to adolescent tendencies due to youth. Ian struggles to achieve his goals due to the following expectations: to leave Struan, for a superior opportunity to become successful; to strive for a medical career, since he excels at the trade already; and to … Society is too abrupt in its assumptions of an individual, these assumptions often catch one unprepared, spreading chaos and confusion through one’s mind. It would be substantially more beneficial if society did not place expectations at all.
Society often pressures individuals within it to conform to different ideals and norms. This stems from the fact that individuals in a society are expected to act in a certain way. If a person or group of people do not satisfy society’s expectations, they are looked down upon by others. This can lead to individuals isolating themselves from others, or being isolated from others, because they are considered as outcasts. The emotional turmoil that can result from this, as well as the internal conflict of whether or not to conform, can transform an individual into a completely different person. This transformation can either be beneficial or harmful to the individual as well as those around them. The individual can become an improved version of himself or herself but conversely, they can become violent, rebellious and destructive. The novels Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk and A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess both explore the negative effects experienced by individuals living within the confines of society’s narrow-mindedness. In A Clockwork Orange, protagonist Alex was the leader of a small group of teenage criminals. He did not have a healthy relationship with either one of his parents or with others around him. Instead he spent most of his time alone during the day and at night roamed the streets in search of victims he could mug or rape. In Fight Club the unnamed protagonist was an outcast in his community. He chose to distance and isolate himself from others and as a result had no friends, with the exception of Tyler Durden and Marla Singer. Due to his isolation, he often participated in nightly fights that took place in Fight Club so that he could relieve his anxiety and stress. In this way, Alex and the unnamed protagoni...
Raw by Scott Monk Brett holds a rebellious attitude and has certain negativity towards authority; this is expressed in his attitude towards the police at the start of the novel and the use of the dialogue "pigs". They capture Brett after a bungled robbery and he is taken from Sydney to a juvenile detention centre in Mungindi run by Sam and Mary Fraser. Brett Dalton is the individual we see the institution have major effects on, it changes his life, attitudes and morals.
As “The Blue Hotel,” “The Displaced Person,” “Bernice Bobs her Hair,” and In Dubious Battle demonstrate, the outsiders in each story, though instilling an initial fear in the eyes of society, experience a sudden and considerable downfall in the end. Each of these defeats, some more extreme than others, result from a clash of society’s fixed guidelines with an outsider’s challenge of these rules. Whether this rebellion against society constitutes a conscious or unconscious effort, and whether the punishment results in justifiable or unjustifiable consequences, one pattern emerges. The outsider instills fear in the mind of the community, and as a defense mechanism, society takes it upon itself to conquer the stranger, leading to his or her ultimate downfall.
For some students it is difficult to get a good education. These students live in a poor community and are required to go to schools that have a low graduation rate. These schools have a certain reputation such that other students refer to it as the “ghetto school”, “where the pregnant girls go”, and the “dropout factory”. This
‘Society makes and remakes people, but society is also made and remade by the multiple connections and disconnections between people, and between people, places and things’ (Havard, 2014, p.67).
...ting them choose their own groups to be in during class, as offering multiple ways to complete projects, different assigned reading topics, and etc. The student can only get out of the class as much as they put in. Even though the students may wish the teachers would give less homework or let them read Sports Illustrated in class, there is a fine line between academic learning that incorporates “street smarts” and academic learning that lacks on the academic part. Teachers must insure their students are learning the required material and that they are not taking detours from learning about topics and ideas that students need to be successful after college.
These students would be put into typical classroom settings. “All kids with the right support, the right technology, can learn the general curriculum”, said a teacher at the academy. This is showing how effective Habib is trying to show all students can try to be in typical classrooms and succeed with some effort and trying. The teachers have to put in a little more effort in making inclusion lesson plans and activities that accommodate each student. Habib shows that if the children learn the differences inside the classrooms, it could help them later in their
For a significant portion of the novel, Cohn is defending himself from the threats and name-calling of Mike, the man to whom Brett...
It is hard to know each and every one of your students on a personal level