He asserts the way in which such prejudice can “obscure the truth.” Furthermore, the author asserts the effects of other human fallibilities, such as personal experience and preconceived ideas, on the decision making process. However, Rose asserts that such weaknesses can be overcome if there is at least one person who is acting honourably and has the courage to stand against opposition, for through his actions, he can initiate others to acknowledge their prejudice and seek justice. Through the frailty of prejudice portrayed by the jurors, Rose asserts the difficulty of making objective decisions, and the effects such fallibilities have on the stability of the judicial system. Rose initially depicts the prejudice held by the majority of the jurors through the haste with which eleven of the twelve jury members reach a decision. Despite being required to deliberate a case with such serious consequences, all bar one of the jurors believe that there is an “obvious” truth, that it is “one of those open and shut things.” These views highlight the author’s concern as he demonstrates the ease with which the wrong decision could be made, as a result of prejudice.
To counter these differences, effective counsellors must investigate their clients’ cultural background and be open to flexible definitions of ‘appropriate’ or ‘correct’ behaviour (LaFromboise, 1985). Many groups have particular needs, different from those of the majority. Such groups are usually the ethnic minorities who are not used to counselling and what they need from it might be very different from the majority. Most of these groups also will experience prejudice or some form of discrimination and therefore have suspicions of
‘Year of Wonders’ is a novel that explores the impact on the life of a small village in the 1660s. The villagers of Eyam begin to question their faith because of the terrible price they must pay to contain the plague within their boundaries. They question their beliefs as the sinister side of religion becomes more apparent with the passage of time. This essay will explore how religion is used to explain why the villagers must take on the burden of quarantining their village and then how later characters such as Anna Frith questions her beliefs in God based on her observations of life in the village at this time. This essay will also explore how the villagers begin to abuse their beliefs and use them to scapegoat others.
“Sinners in the Hands of an angry God” In the “Sinners in the Hands of an angry God” Edwards talks to the puritans in a form of imagery, stating how God has us in his hands and at one point he might just have to let us go because of our sins. Edwards tries to get his point across by stating the awful weight of sin, the wrath of an angry God, and the power of God and his ability to do horrible things to sinners. He wants to put fear into the unconverted people of the church. As he starts his sermon, he beings to talk about the unconverted people in a different way using the words “they” or “them” but the people already knew that sermon was referring to them. He uses this topic to penetrate main point inside the people’s hearts.
Arthur Miller’s play “The Crucible” and Armin Geder’s picture book “The Island” display these experiences the characters face. Individuals who do not belong to the community, either by choice or force, may face consequences. Throughout ‘The Crucible’, the protagonist John Proctor chooses not to conform, not to attend church, and disobeys the values and rules of Salem theocracy. These actions chosen by Proctor become consequential when Reverend Parris, the minister of Salem’s church, uses this against him in court, as Parris uses repetition to state to Danforth, “He’s come to overthrow this court!” Proctor’s decisions to exclude himself from the community and Salem theocracy have caused the court to accuse him of lying and following witchcraft and the devil. This is also evident in ‘The Island’, although while it was a choice of proctor’s to not belong, it was not a choice for the outsider in this text, instead it was forced upon him.
Pearl’s alienation displays the consequences of not behaving properly as a child in Boston. Chillingworth alienates himself to avoid being ridiculed by the town for having an unfaithful wife. Dimmesdale is emotionally segregated from the people of Boston as the price of his secrecy. Every character becomes isolated in their own way, and Hawthorne uses them as examples of which traits the Boston colony values and which traits it loathes.
The challenge to belong may be resisted or embraced. How is this explored in your prescribed text and ONE other related text of your own choosing? Belonging to society. Texts: Romulus, My Father & To Kill A Mockingbird Thesis: Despite the need that lies in every human being to find a sense of belonging within the society they live, which can require conforming to the society’s beliefs, attitudes and culture, this challenge can also be resisted for moral reasons. This challenge is faced by the characters in both Raimond Gaita’s memoir Romulus, My Father and Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird.
It is funny in a way, as we all long to be free, to be who we truly are, yet we conform and do everything asked of us in order to belong to some kind of community or group. Each of us are individuals with our own expectations and beliefs and the experiences we go through life test who we are, and this can lead to struggle in identity for some. This could involve a person struggling to be themselves in the world the live, in order to belong. More often than not, to be our true selves, we find it difficult to belong, and this can lead to us changing our identity and being someone who we are not, in order to belong. This was the case in the Novella ‘Member of the wedding’ where the protagonist Frankie Adams changes her identity multiple times in order to belong and be part of the world.
Conformity corrupts the individual due to societal constraints and scorn. Moreover, conforming to social institutions such as communities of opinion or religions, which offer knowledge as a gift or second hand beliefs, saps the individual the energy required to create new knowledge. As we passively accept other people's ideas, we lose our manhood becoming phantoms, Emerson writes, “Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist”. Furthermore, when Emily Dickinson in her poem “This world is not conclusion” states that “... much gesture from the pulpit – strong hallelujahs roll- narcotics cannot still the tooth- that nibbles at the soul”, she asserts that established knowledge claimed by religion works as narcotics which help to silence but, nonetheless, it can not stop our need to solve the
The role of an individual can be to be a part of the community. But if the community is too controlling then the individuals cannot express themselves. There are a few fundamental ways in which conformity is important in society. These include the importance of following the law to ensure safety, peace and harmony within our community. If society had no laws to which to conform than it would be pandemonium.