Social Convention and Samuel Butler's Erewhon

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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.

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