Hye Min Um Professor Gullen WSC 002-A 12/14/2011

The Individual and Society

The individual and society have always been thought of as complementary entities, complementary as with music and dance, man and woman, knowledge and power, bread and butter, art and culture, and so on. The fact that they are complementary explains how influential they are to each other. The individual, although it does not seem to all the time, plays a big role in society and society in turn affects an individuals life. In other others, the individual and society depend on each other to the extent that society always has expectations from individuals. The individuals then have to either struggle to live up to these expectations, or fight against those that underestimate them in order to prove the world that they can do better. This behavior is illustrated in Ragtime, by E. L. Doctorow, The Stranger, by Albert Camus and The Vigilante, by John Steinbeck. The main characters in these narratives either constantly try to prove themselves or simply fail to live up to societys expectations. In E. L. Doctorows novel Ragtime, we see two different cases where society has expectations from individuals. People do not expect much from the Jewish immigrant peddler Tateh. He is a foreigner and buys his day to day bread working as a peddler and silhouette artist. Nobody wants or anticipates anything from him; he is such a small component of society unnoticed by the mass that no one has high or low expectations for him. However, he is very observant of the world around him and reminds himself of the reason he came to America. He reevaluates his situation in this

foreign country. From this moment, perhaps, Tateh [begins] to conceive of his life as separate from the fate of the working class (131). He knows he can do better than live off as a peddler and thus leaves New York, and learns how to succeed in a period where interest in the motion picture grows increasingly. He adapts to the society he is now a part of remarkably well; although he belongs to the working class of society, he manages to use the societal changes to his benefit and becomes a filmmaker, something he always wanted to be. Even though society does not expect much from Tateh because of his economic backgrounds, it demands a lot from Evelyn Nesbit. She is a symbol of beauty of the twentieth century America. She is admired by everyone, both men and women. Her sexuality favors her greatly, as she is capable of succeeding with beauty alone. Moreover, she belongs to the upper class of society. The world regards her as the most beautiful woman on Earth and gives her so much praise, thus it always expects her to look fabulous and enjoy the life of a diva. Her personality is basically shaped by society and her life is mostly about her image and men. As a result, she constantly feels the need to be the perfect beauty and receive attention from the mass. [Causing] the death of one man and [wrecking] the life of another (6) is one of her ways to give the audience the drama they want. Furthermore, societys expectation for her to live as the most famous star allows her to have a mercurial nature. As a result, she always lives for the moment without concern for the future. She even has a short relationship with Mothers Younger Brother after having gone through hardships with both Stanford White and Harry K. Thaw, and moves on quickly to something else. It is almost as if she does not know what she truly desires but has so many people on her back that she is busy just living up to the expectations society has for her.

In The Stranger, by Albert Camus, we see a completely distinct scene with respect to the individuals behavior regarding societys expectations. Unlike Tateh and Evelyn Nesbit, who constantly try to prove themselves whether society has high or low expectations from them, Meursault does not try to engage with society in any way. Of course he is still influenced by society, but he does not make an effort to live up to its expectations at all. All throughout the novel, it is apparent that people want him to be caring, to show emotions, to believe in God and follow Catholicism. However, this is everything he is not. He is apathetic, very honest, has no moral feelings, and does not believe in the existence of something greater than the purely physical world he can perceive and understand. Although society does not ask him for much but to be an ordinary person they can relate to and comprehend, Meursault utterly fails to live up to its simple expectations. Thus his failure leads the people around him to believe he is a monster and come to an agreement that he is guilty, not for murdering Raymonds mistresss brother but for being unable to satisfy societys simple prospects. Consequently, the prosecutor says in front of the judge: I ask you for this mans head, and I do so with a heart at ease. For if in the course of what has been a long career I have had occasion to call for the death penalty, never as strongly as today have I felt this painful duty made easier, lighter, clearer by the certain knowledge of a sacred imperative and by the horror I feel when I look into a mans face and all I see is a monster (102). The story The Vigilante, by John Steinbeck explores a slightly different side to societys expectations for individuals. The society we face in this narrative is one in which violence and injustice are widespread. It is a degraded entity where law is neglected. As a result, society expects individuals to be able to justify their crimes against an innocent African-American man. Violence and injustice rule in this

community and thus the victim is mistreated, killed, and tortured by a large mob. The society is corrupt and therefore expects the individuals in it to be corrupt as well. The African-American man was completely guiltless but the media portrayed him as a feint. The mob is very biased, and takes action about a sensitive matter by itself. There is no judiciary system to stop this from happening. One of the men at the park even says that that its a good job, thisll save the country a lot of money and no sneaky lawyers getting in (94). Since the law is ignored and violated, no one will stand up and say this violent action is immoral. Everyones on the same side except the poor deceased criminal. Since the African-American man is the minority, society takes the majoritys side and supports it. Consequently, it expects everyone to think the way the mob was thinking: abandon individuality and follow what the mass is doing. As explained above, all three readings Ragtime, The Stranger, and The Vigilante reflect the theme of The Individual and Society. All of them successfully demonstrate that the individual and society depend on each other (even when the individual does not want to be dependent on it) and that society always has expectations from individuals. These expectations may differ among varying societies and individuals. However, all of them anticipate at least something from each person. Whether it is something to please the majority (as in the case of Evelyn Nesbit), or nothing much but to cause no troubles (as in the case of Tateh), or to simply have characteristics that can be shared and understood (as in the case of Meursault), or to agree with a wrongdoing and support it (as in the case of the mob), there are inevitable expectations from one way to the other. And when the prospects are not met, the individual suffers. This implies how condemning society is. It is reproachful of the individuals it is formed by. Moreover, we can further claim that since society is

condemning, violence and injustice are easier to exist in it. If an all-encompassing and understanding world existed, evils such as violence and injustice would have a harder time to survive. As a result, we must first hope and strive for a forgiving society before we try to rid of violence and injustice.

Works Cited

Camus, Albert, and Matthew Ward. The Stranger. New York: Vintage International, 1989. Print. Doctorow, E. L. Ragtime. New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2007. Print. Steinbeck, John. The Long Valley. New York: Penguin USA (P), 1995. Print.