Society’s Pressure Changes Personality
Ben Venghaus
Throughout the first unit of this class, one major theme has stuck out in many of the articles, if not all of them. This theme can also be seen in our everyday lives, and it continues to grow. The theme that has stuck out to me in these articles is how society's pressure changes people’s personalities. This could be for better or worse; it just depends on the environment that you choose to surround yourself with.
In Orwell’s Shooting an Elephant(1936), this theme is heavily shone negatively multiple times. In the essay, Orwell made a few racist statements about the people of Burma, which could be an effect of the imperialism of the British in Burma. Due to his status, society’s norms for a sub-divisional police officer in Burma was that they were supposed to be a figure of power representing the British, and were not very compassionate towards the Burmese; however, Orwell said “ …imperialism was an evil thing and the sooner I chucked up my job and got out of it the better” which shows that he knew that his actions were wrong, but he was too far in the act to have it easily reversed. One of the most evident examples of how Orwell was influenced by society's pressure is during the main event of the essay. This is when the crowd is building and Orwell is trying to decide whether to shoot the elephant. Orwell feels that shooting the elephant is not the right thing and that “ it would be murder to shoot him” but he feels pressured by the crowd. Orwell says “ To come all that way, rifle in hand, with two thousand people marching at my heels, and then to trail feebly away, having done nothing—no, that was impossible. The crowd would laugh at me. And my whole life, every white man’s life in the East, was one long struggle not to be laughed at” which shows that he fears the crowd's consequence actions if he were to let the elephant live. Ultimately, the crowd's pressure overrode his feelings on what is the correct thing to do, which demonstrates how society’s pressure changes his personality.
In Through the Tunnel by Doris Lessing, this theme is also apparent. Jerry, the English boy, started out just wanting to enjoy his time at this vacation destination. Then he met the native boys on the promontory. He followed their actions, diving into the water with them and taking their spot, and waited to dive in again. Then, when the native boys swam through the tunnel, Jerry realized that swimming through the tunnel was a feat he was too afraid to attempt. As the native boys started to leave the promontory and move on to the next one, Jerry felt ashamed that he could not do the same actions as the native boys, so he started crying. That shame and embarrassment started something inside him, that wanted to achieve this goal of swimming through the tunnel. He challenged himself extremely hard, to a point that may have not been safe, all for this goal. He spent many days training to accomplish his goal, taking up his entire vacation. On the last day, he finally attempts to swim through the tunnel. He barely made it, and almost sacrificed his life just for a goal that he obtained from the native boy's actions. Even though he learned about himself, he could have spent his vacation doing something that mattered more like spending time with his mom, but he spent it all on his desire to swim through the tunnel.
One final example of how society changes people's personalities is in Reading While Incarcerated. In this essay, Christopher Blackwell struggled with violence in his childhood, which eventually ended up with him in prison. While he was in prison he started college classes. While in college classes, he reached out to one of his classmates for help, and his classmate helped him realize that he was not just some lowly criminal and that he could be something more. He started reading lots of books and advocating for books that were banned to not be banned anymore because they were highly educational and could help others in prison realize they were worth more than they thought. He was lucky to find people in his prison who were willing to help him realize his worth, because without them he may not have.
Without the people who have surrounded me, I would not be the person I am today, and that is probably true for everybody. These essays are just a few examples of how society's pressure can influence people's personality and overall life. They show how some pressure can be bad and some can be good, and how it all depends on the people that we surround ourselves with.