Julia Friese 1

Julia Friese
Mrs. Housepian/Ms. Smart
English 2H; Period 2
16 November 2015
To Be or Not To Be

ThomasBernhardoncesaid,Idontbelongtothemasses,Ivebeenagainstthe
massesallmylife,andImnotinfavourofdogs.Somemightthinkthatnonconformity
iswhenonerefusestodowhattheyaretold,anditis,butreallyitisgoingagainstwhat
societybelieveseventhoughthereareconsequences.Nonconformityiswhenone
staystruetowhattheybelievein,nomatterthecost.
Whenonedoesnotconformto
society,theoutcomerevealsonescharacter,althoughoneisinfluencedbymany
factorssuchastraditions,customs,andexpectations.
Traditionsdirectlyinfluencesocietyandonesidentity,andhowoneactsupon
thetraditions.
Forexample,intheshortstory,EverydayUse,byAliceWalker,Dee,
thedaughterofthenarratorisanonconformist.Deesmother,describesherdaughterat
ayoungage,Atsixteenshe[Dee]hadastyleofherown:andknewwhatstylewas
(Walker316).
Fromthis,itisportrayedthatDeehasalwaysbeendifferent,evenwhile
stillatayoungage.Shemaintainedherairofuniquenessbynotfollowingtradition.
In
thequote,Shes[Dee]dead,Wangerosaid.Icouldntbearitanylongerbeingnamed
afterthepeoplewhooppressme,(Walker318),
whichthisquoteisreferringtothefact
thatDeerenamesherselfinordertoshowshewouldnotfollowinthenormalwaysof

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herfamily.Shewantstogobacktoherroots,anideaabhorrenttotheotherfamily
members.Deeisaffectedbytradition,inthesensethatsherefusedtofollowit.Shehas
herhairdownfree,wearsbrightcolors,andevenchangeshername,showinghowshe
wishestobeherselfbynotfollowingtradition.
Theamountoneconformstosocietysexpectationsandbeliefsrevealstheirtrue
nature.
In
ToKillaMockingbird,
byHarperLee,twocharactersrefusetoconformto
societysexpectations.Thequote,don'tseewhyyoutoucheditinthefirstplace,Mr.
LinkDeaswassaying.You'vegoteverythingtolosefromthis,Atticus.Imean
everything,(Lee195)
showshowAtticusdoesnotconformtosociety.Heiswarned
thathecouldloseeverythingthathehasworkedfor,justbecauseofonecasethathe
disagreeswithonthesocialnorms.Societyexpectshimtobeunfairinhiscase
becauseofaprejudicedwayoflife.However,heisjustandfaireventhoughitwasa
casethattestedhisbeliefs,andhefeelsthepressureofothersbeliefsalongwithhis
own.
Also,whenMr.GilmoreinterrogatesTomRobinson,aconvictedman,
Youfelt
sorry
forher,youfelt
sorry
for
her
?[...]Butthedamagewasdone,(Lee264).
Tom
Robinsonfeltbadforawhitewomanwhichiscompletelyagainstcustoms,makingthe
courtuncomfortable.Asaresult,thecourtsdecisionisinfluencedfromthemisstep
thatTomRobinsontookbysayingsuchinfrontofawhitecourt.However,bysaying
thisTomrevealsthatheharborsbeliefsthatareunapprovedbysocietyinthattime,but
hestandsbythemanyhow.
Societyscustomsputpressureuponpeople,andhowtreactorconformtothese
customsbringsoutone'scharacter.
InthetextThePedestrian,anoldmanis

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pressuredtoconformtohissocietytobeinsideatalltimes.Theoldmanremembers,

Intenyears,ofwalkingbynightorday,forthousandsofmiles,hehadnevermet
anotherpersonwalking,notonceinallthattime(Bradbury)
.Asaresult,theoldman
hadtobecautiousofhissocietyforitwaspressuredthatonewouldstayinside.When
foundoutsidebytheauthorities,herevealedthathewasdifferent,anddidntwanttobe
insideliketheothers.
Becauseofthis,
theauthoritiesquestionedhimasseen,

Andyou
haveaviewingscreeninyourhousetoseewith?[...]No?Thewasacracklingquiet
thatinitselfwasanaccusation,(Bradbury)
whichinturnrevealedthefactthattheold
manhadmadeachoicetobedifferentthanthecurrentsocietydespitethefactthatit
wasdeterredimmensely.Hethenrevealedabouthischaracterthathewasabletoact
ashimselfevenwhilebeingpressuredbysociety.
Inconclusion,conformityinfluencesaperson,bythechoicestheymaketofollow
societysexpectations.
InEverydayUse,Deeshowshowshewasaffectedby
tradition,assherefusedtofollowit,byshowingthatshehadherhairfree,worebright
colors,andevenchangedhername.InToKillaMockingbird,AtticusandTom
Robinsonprovetobetruetotheiropinionseventhoughtheoutcomecouldbedire,
suchaspublichumiliationorevendeath.Andfinally,inThePedestrian,theoldman
showshowhekeptonwalkingeventhoughnooneelsedidintheentireworld.
Together,thecharactersdemonstratehownonconformitybringsoutonestrueidentity.

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Works Cited
Bradbury,Ray.ThePedestrian.Literature&LanguageArts.Ed.JohnLaydenandHester
Weeden.Austin:Holt,RinehartandWinston,2003,4751.Print.

Lee,Harper.
ToKillAMockingbird.
NewYork:HachetteBookGroup,1960.Print.

"QuotesAboutNonconformity."
(49Quotes)
.Web.16Nov.2015.

Walker,Alice.EverydayUse.Literature&LanguageArts.Ed.JohnLaydenandHester
Weeden.Austin:Holt,RinehartandWinston,2003.7781.Print.