Of Social Conformity In Ernest Hemingways The Sun Also...

Dalia Makhlouf Gregory Beirich History 173 11 December 2017 Social Conformity: The Sun Also Rises and Babbitt Conformity can be understood as the adjusting self as per accepted standards while social conformity, in particular, refers to that adjustment made by a person to fit in the prevailing nature of a particular group. In this understanding, social compliance can be the changing of one’s behavior and other actions to reflect those of a social group, family, friends or community in general. In the two books, The Sun Also Rises and Babbitt, social conformity takes places at different levels and in various ways. Characters sometimes go against personal desires to live in ways that others will approve, and there are also those characters†¦show more content†¦On her physical self, she is portrayed as outrageous and daring with a cropped hairstyle which was not common or accepted for girls to have. Her character, and actions also go against the widely accepted social norms. She is so open sexually up to the extent that she tells Cohn that she is not willing to give up his desir es for an active sex life, thus opting to relate with another man while still attached to Cohn (Hemingway, 26). Cohn on the other hand also suffers from an internal conflict, perhaps as a result of a dilemma between conforming to life as a spouse of a nagging Frances Clyne, and deciding to be happy by travelling. Jake sums up his conformity struggle by noting that â€Å"You can’t get away from yourself by moving from one place to another.† (Hemingway, 29) Brett’s mannerism and language also defy the social norms that have come to be identified as proper for females. Referring to herself, she flippantly uses the word ‘Chap’, which is normally a reserve for males and masculine language (Hemingway, 32). This tells a lot about how she is challenging traditional masculine and feminine roles and character. Brett is challenging the social code where males are judged less harshly by society for having multiple partners as opposed to females. This sense of independence appears to be liberating to her as she has the choice to be with different men as loves without suppressing