Obedience
Blindly obeying authority often results In disobedience to one's personal morality. Since rules were established and exist for the common interests of the general population, some would say adhering to the rules is obedient. Contrary to popular belief, disobedience does not center around ignorant rebellion. In fact disobedience is the manner which people shed enlightenment on the well-traveled trail of benightedness, by offering another point of view. In "The Lottery", by Shirley Jackson, a fictional town is introduced in which all the villagers participate annually in a lottery used to determine which inhabitant is to be stoned to death; performed out of habit, it demonstrates ritualized unthinking obedience to custom. Moreover, in "Group Minds", Dorris Lessing asserts that a lack of awareness of the extent to which groups mitigate a person's individuality makes that person susceptible to the pressures of groups. Using the threat of world total destruction as a backdrop, Erich Fromm's "Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem" distinguishes between disobedience that is destructive and disobedience that is life affirming. Lessing and Fromm have different analysis of obedience when it comes to the stonin
and is based on the fact that as human beings we have an intuitive knowledge of what is conductive of life and what is destructive. Furthermore, Lessing claims that " what is dangerous is not the belonging to a group, or groups, but not understanding the social laws that govern groups and govern us" (334). Tessie accepts her role in society, up to a point. According to Fromm,there exists two forms of conscience,the first form being the authoritarian conscience, and the second being the humanistic conscience. Lessing argues that a human is a social animal and with that, comes social pressures and authoritative figures. He noted that human history began in an act of disobedience, that of Adam and Eve's "original sin"(378), which set man free to develop and grow. Therefore, as Erich Fromm and Dorris Lessing explain, one should distinguish between disparaging and constructive obedience, and should discern to what extent they get implicated within a group. Therefore,he has to 'obey the atmosphere". We see that even as Tessie is being stoned to death she does not question the reasoning behind the lottery,but why it should be her that has to die. Wiping her hands on her apron and apologizing for being late by saying, " Wouldn't have me leave m'dishes in the sink, now would you. Joe?," help establish Tessie's status in this society as a housewife.
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Acceptance Essays
