118331 Final Exam Essay The role of an individual in a society is crucial to both the individual and the community in which the individual resides. As a result, the government structure is essential in supporting the individuals. Individuals are also essential in either supporting the government or opposing the government if they do not agree with the way their society is being run. Three themes that are necessary in being a good individual are civil disobedience/protest, defending the rights of others, and working outside the system of formal government. The actions of individuals keep the government in line and develop a better society for people to live in. Though it may seem counter intuitive, the willingness of people to break laws, in order to stand up for individual rights, is an essential mechanism for individuals to exercise in order to make a society accountable to serving its people. Individuals strive to do this through civil disobedience. Civil disobedience is defined by the refusal to obey certain laws or governmental demands for the purpose of influencing legislation or government policy, characterized by the employment of such nonviolent techniques as boycotting, picketing, and nonpayment of taxes ( Civil Disobedience ). People should not have to follow the rules if the government keeps making hoops to jump through and avoid getting things done. In order to get laws and ideas changed, people should peacefully protest so that the government notices. If a person strongly believe something, they should do something about it. They should not just stand there and complain, because then nothing will get done. If an individual does not contribute to the cause or to society, they cannot complain or fight against the outcome. In Beauty Queens, the girls on the island express their opinions and protest against others in order to do what they think is best for
them and the others on the island. This is also seen in Animal Farm when Napoleon uses his rights as a leader to protest against Snowball and go as far as kill animals that break the rules. The other animals, especially in the beginning, fight against one another to get their opinions across. This is against the rules, but speaking out helped them know what everyone felt. More importantly, this created a better, overall environment and society, for them at the time. They fought against the humans to get their farm and then again to keep the farm when they tried to take it away again. Examples of civil disobedience are also seen in The Giver. Jonas, once he receives the memories and can see what his society is missing, wants to change the way his government works. The only way to do this is by leaving his society so that the people can get the memories back. This is an act of civil disobedience because the government figures would not change the way the society works. Jonas realized he needed to do something, so he went against the authoritative figures and left in order to help the people he loved. Civil disobedience was seen in our democratic society during the Civil Rights Movement, the Women s Rights Movement, and the Boston Tea Party. The government made hoops for leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. to jump through. He could not get his point across or resolve what he wanted to, so he utilized the techniques of civil disobedience. This was violating the law, but it changed our nation for the better. Without acts such as these, our world would be very different not in a good way. In an academic article, Stuart Brown said, acts of civil disobedience must be distinguished both from typical cases of crime and from acts of civil rebellion (Brown 670). Civil disobedience is not just merely rebelling or getting upset and firing shots, but rather a way of showing the government that things should be changed in a peaceful manner. This is an effective way of an individual helping their society because it is not the
typical way of rebelling with violence, but rather disobeying laws peacefully to get laws and norms changed. Another role that individual citizens should posses for the betterment of society is defending the rights of others. In order to be united as a society, we must unite and back each other up, if we agree with the opinions of that particular person. Only a united community can function in a close to utopic way. An example of defending the rights of others in a dystopian novel is in Beauty Queens. The girls who are friends with each other stand up for one another and unite, making groups or even cliques. They speak up about what they do and do not like and speak their opinions freely. This lets the other girls on the island know that they are united and believe the same things, creating a strong bond that helps people get things done. In The Giver, the society Jonas lives in is so controlled by the government, that people do not have the opportunity to speak up about what they believe in. If someone does defend another right of a person, it is through the rules. This almost never happens, however, because people in the society do not break the rules. Jonas decides to change this because he believes people should have natural, humanistic rights that should not be taken away from them. Because Jonas leaves, he is defending the rights of all those in his society. In opposition to defending the rights of others, a society can fall apart if the individuals are not united. An excellent example of this is in Animal Farm. The animals do not stand up for one another and defend the rights of others. Because they don t do this, their society falls apart. Napoleon takes over and the animals merely do what he says. Their government falls apart and the animals eventually cannot tell the pigs apart from the humans.
Defending the rights of others has been found in our society during WWI and WWII. There was a lot of propaganda made that united the nation such as Rosie the Riveter and Uncle Sam. They also had rations and collections to get enough money to support the troops. This unity of the nation helped the troops in fighting the war because they knew that their friends, families, and fellow citizens had their back. Going along with the wars, the armies had to be united as well. Armies have historical importance only because they win or lose. Of course, it is recognized that certain of their internal features have a bearing on the success or failure, notably their training and supply (MacMullen 440). Defending the rights of others helps individuals in a society be united, which overall helps the nation as a whole. An individual in a society should also work outside the system of formal government if necessary. People should respect the formal government system and follow along with them until something goes wrong or they do not agree with the way the government works. This goes along with civil disobedience because if something needs to be fixed, individuals have the responsibility of fixing them. In Beauty Queens, some of the girls, especially Adina, go against Taylor s rules because they do not agree what she was doing or trying to make them do. For example, Taylor wanted to practice her routine and her speeches because she wanted to be prepared to compete when they got rescued. Adina, however, wanted to work on survival, shelters, finding food, and getting rescued. There is no use in practicing your routines if you are never going to get off of the island. Napoleon goes against the rules of Snowball at the beginning of Animal Farm and secretly trains the dogs to become weapons. Although Napoleon ends up being an awful leader by the end of the book, his tactic of going behind Snowball s back was brilliant. He got things done and accomplished what he was trying to do instead of going along
with Snowball and being miserable. In The Giver, Jonas goes out of the formal system of government when he and the Giver decide that Jonas should leave for the good of the people in his society and the betterment of the community as a whole. Because they go against the government, the community will have the chance to feel and see color and experience life the was Jonas and the Giver get to. The only down side to this is that Jonas and Gabe may never get to see their family or friends ever again. We do not know, however, what happens to them because the book ends before we can find out. In 2011, the Occupy Wall Street protest movement in New York City took place. From September 17 to November 15 of 2011, protestors camped out in Zuccotti Park. The main issues of protest included social and economic inequality, greed, and consumption of the wealthiest 1% of the United States. The individuals felt that the distribution of wealth between the wealthiest 1% and the rest of the population was unfair. This example of working outside the system of formal government ties into civil disobedience because of the protesting acts, but the individuals felt as if the government should take responsibility and change the way their nation was operating ( About Us ). In Ernest Young s academic article he says, countries lacking a single canonical text define the constitution to include all laws that perform the constitutive functions of creating governmental institutions and conferring rights on individuals (Young 408). This quote explores the definition of the constitution and the bounds that individuals have according to the constitution. Through civil disobedience, defending the rights of others, and working outside the system of formal government, individuals can help improve our government and make our
society a better place overall. If individuals do this, the government will support the individuals and our society will be the best government it could possibly be.
Citations "About Us." Occupy Wall Street. Web. 15 Dec. 2014. "Association s Committee Intervenes to Defend Right of Public Assembly." JSTOR. American Bar Association. Web. 5 Dec. 2014. Bray, Libba, and Elizabeth B. Parisi. Beauty Queens. New York: Scholastic, 2011. Print. Brown, Stuart. "Civil Disobedience." JSTOR. Journal of Philosophy, Inc. Web. 5 Dec. 2014. "Civil Disobedience." Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 11 Dec. 2014. Lowry, Lois. The Giver. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993. Print. Mecartney, John. "Civil Disobedience and Anarchy." JSTOR. Pi Gamma Mu, International Honor Society in Social Sciences. Web. 8 Dec. 2014. MacMullen, Ramsay. "The Legion as a Society." JSTOR. Franz Steiner Verlag. Web. 8 Dec. 2014. Orwell, George. Animal Farm;. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1954. Print. Posner, Eric, and Adrian Vermeule. "Inside or Outside the System?" JSTOR. The University of Chicago Law Review. Web. 5 Dec. 2014. Young, Ernest. "The Constitution Outside the Constitution." JSTOR. The Yale Law Journal Company, Inc. Web. 8 Dec. 2014.
118331 Overview The role of an individual in a society is crucial to both the individual and the community in which the individual resides. Three themes that are necessary in being a good individual are civil disobedience/protest, defending the rights of others, and working outside the system of formal government. The actions of individuals keep the government in line and develop a better society for people to live in. Civil disobedience is one major theme that individuals in society should abide by. People should not have to follow the rules if the government keeps making hoops to jump through and avoid getting things done. In order to get laws and ideas changed, individuals should peacefully protest so that the government notices. Another role that individual citizens should posses for the betterment of society is defending the rights of others. In order to be united as a society, we must unite and back each other up, if we agree with the opinions of that particular person. Defending the rights of others helps individuals in a society be united, which overall helps the nation. An individual in a society should also work outside the system of formal government if necessary. People should respect the formal government system and follow along with them until something goes wrong or they do not agree with the way the government works. Doing this will allow the individuals and government to balance each other in order to create a better society. Through these three themes, individuals can help improve our government and make our society a better place overall. If individuals do this, the government will support the individuals and our society will be the best government it could possibly be.