Social Convention and Samuel Butler's Erewhon
There are many conceivable explanations that have the potential to
rationalize the preservation of society through time. These
explanations clarify the fact that society, since its inception, has
continued to exist. I assert that the precise reason for this
self-perpetuation is convention, and moreover, that convention
encompasses all of the other possible explanations for this
continuance. Yet this conclusion merely follows from proper
distinctions of terminology. Real profundity stems from the
examination of convention in relation to individuals who follow it. I
find that many individuals are not cognizant of the fact that society
rests upon conventions. Consequently, these individuals often exist
with twisted ideas of reality. Conclusions in this realm parallel
closely with arguments made by Samuel Butler in his novel, Erewhon.
"In spite of all the to-do they make about their idols, and the
temples they build, and the priests and priestesses whom they support,
I could never think that their professed religion was more than
skin-deep; but they had another which they carried with them into all
their actions; and although no one from the outside of things would
suspect it to have any existence at all, it was in reality their great
guide, the mariner's compass of their lives; so that there were very
few things which they ever either did, or refrained from doing,
without reference to its precepts."
-Samuel Butler, Erewhon
Convention enables members of society to communicate. Without
convention, communication between individuals would...
... middle of paper ...
...urse, the society in 1984 is fictional and seems less
of a possible reality now that the major societies which the novel was
based upon are no longer in existence. Yet the possibility still
exists.
Essentially, the role of convention in society is to provide the
existence of society through communication. Convention also enables
societies to control the advent of innovations that attempt to modify
society. Furthermore, individual incognizance of a society's
conventional dependence can foster a skewed sense of reality. On a
final note, one must remember that rigidity of convention can be
detrimental to a given society, or even worse, just detrimental to
individual freedom and creativity while ensuring the ultimate
self-perpetuation of society.
Work Cited
Butler, Samuel. Erewhon. New York: Penguin, 1970.
...et, a social status and a link to our past. The Prehistory of home read like a narrative to human history and not just about the houses we built throughout time. As I read “The Prehistory of Home” I realized I was reading the history and evolution of humans in the last million years. Homes can mean more than increased storage: human shelters, Social status or a place to hang. It can have richly diverse names such as shack, kraal, cabin, chalet, igloo, shanty, condo and many more. As I read through the 12 chapters of this amazing book I feel more connected to my past and found new respect for the human race. As a home owner myself I feel that the first brick of my home was laid long before my time and what I have achieved today is but a mere footstep on our journey of life.
In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, Beatrice and Benedict rant about marriage for most of the beginning of the play, while Claudio raves about how wonderful it will be being married to Hero. Yet in the end, Claudio exchanges his marriage to Hero for an opportunity to bash her in public, while Beatrice and Benedick marry despite that they were mortal enemies for most of the first three acts. How did the situation swing around to this degree? Beatrice and Benedick had been using the most extreme metaphors to demonstrate their scorn of each other and of marriage, and Claudio had been doing the same to demonstrate his love of Hero. Not only did none of these three characters mean what they were saying, but meant the reverse, and the people that plotted to bring them together or pull them apart plotted because they understood on some level what each really wanted.
Richard Barber first published The Knight and Chivalry in 1970. At the time, not a whole lot had been written on the subject of chivalry. Thus, Barber can be viewed is sort of an original scholarly writer on this subject matter. His work is extensive. In this particular book he covers the following concepts: the transition of the Knight from mounted warrior, chivalry and literature, chivalry in the field, chivalry in religion, and finally, chivalry in the state. All five parts present pages of rich text. However, I will be dealing specifically on the concept of chivalry and literature. My reason is this: to the reading it was done in MDVL 145, heroes and villains, I am more inclined to look at the author’s own ideas in relation to other literature circa the 12th century, in a critical manner. Thus the purpose.
Webster's College Dictionary defines home as: An environment offering security and happiness" and "a valued place regarded as refuge or place of origin." Anyone can build a house but the emotional security a home provides is created by the people who live there. In Homer's Odyssey, the Greek hero Odysseus leaves his home in Ithica to fight in the Trojan war. The Odyssey tells the story of his treacherous journey back to Ithica, and the turmoil he experiences. Due to his strong desire to return to the place he remembered as home, Odysseus endurs the hardships of his journey. He hopes his homecoming will return him to the same home, and same life he built twenty years ago. Odysseus will never truly return home because he is not the same king, husband, or man he once was; He is not capable of recreating the home he once had.
Both Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est” as well as “next to of course god america i” written by E.E. Cummings preform critic on war propaganda used during the first world war. Besides this the influence war propaganda has on the soldiers as individuals as well as on war in more general terms, is being portrayed in a sophisticated and progressive manner. By depicting war with the use of strong literary features such as imagery or sarcasm both texts demonstrate the harshness of war as well as attempt to convey that war propaganda is, as Owen states “an old lie”, and that it certainly is not honourable to die for one’s country. Therefore, the aim of both writers can be said to be to frontally attack any form of war promotion or support offensively
Social orders have existed for many years and have been passed down from one generation to another. In history class we have discovered that “social order” was a product of “civilized” societies. Social order was the structure of a civilized society created by human and it determines where one is placed and their duty. The way social order was justified was through philosophical and religious beliefs and morals. The wealthy and the people who reinforce these justifications are the ones who benefit from a social order. I’ll be supporting my paper on social order through information from Vedic India and China.
The late 1900s were a time of tremendous cultural change and instability in American history, but this change did not begin until after the relative unison of the late forties and fifties. After World War II (1939-1945) ended, a desire for normality led to large scale compliance to social constructs, with people reentering existing expectations such as men working, women tending the homes, and minorities functioning only as second class citizens. Because of these social barriers' reestablishment, conformity was simply the norm.
trying to convey that if one were to see what he has seen, they would
As people socialize, they create interactions whose products are influential to act back upon the people to determine or constrain actions. Moreover, social interactions may be likened to a theatre whereby people are the actors as the rest of the people are the audience. These other people actively observe the role-playing and respond by reacting to the performances. However, people’s behaviors tend to change when they are alone as they get rid of the roles they play in front of others.
The 1920s saw a series of radical social changes in American society. During this era, people saw the clashing between the old and the new in various areas of American life. In some area, new values came to dominate and challenge traditional views, such as how women challenged old gender norms and how African Americans culture flourished and gained massive popularity. On the other hand, some conservative values seem to have triumphed over modern ideals, such as with the debate on the origin of human kind.
is said that the only way to fight a temptation is to succumb to it
“Poetry is a form of art that consists of oral or literacy works in which language is used in a manner that is felt by the user and the audience” (Poetry). In which case, they are used to convey emotion or ideas to the reader or listener in a summarized form. Poetry uses devices such as repetition, imagery, and diction to generate the meaning of the poem (Poetry). Because of its nature of using language specifically for the content, poetry is known for being difficult to translate (Poetry). Poetry is frequently used as a means of oral history and storytelling and the two following poems, “Dulce et Decorum Est” written by a middle-class war veteran, and “We Real Cool” written by well-known African American, postwar poet, does exactly this. Both poems hit home on the original meaning behind poetry, enhancing on the seven poetic elements: speaker, time period, word choice, images, figures of speech and sound elements.
In the opening chapter, we feel sorry for Pip as we find out that his
Talcott Parson (Parsons 1951) sees society as a collection of systems within systems Parson determined that each individual has expectations of the other's action and reaction to his own behaviour, and that these expectations would be derived from the accepted norms and values of th...
The story is told by Pip, a grown man describing his experiences as a young common labouring boy in the early Victorian period. He sometimes tends to narrate the story as if through the eyes of an innocent child. The effect that has on the reader is that it brings out both a mature and young adventurous side in us, it also makes us feel sorry for Pip in a way, because of the way he was treated by his merciless sister. For example when Pip?s uncle Mr Pumblechuck tells Pip he has to go and entertain a woman he doesn?t know called Miss Haversham, his sister forces him to go even though he doesn?t want to with a threat. ?If Miss Haversham wants a boy to go and play there and of course he?s going, or I?ll work him?. The explanation for this is she never wanted Pip in the first place as he was dumped on her, so she was happy to get rid of him.