Dissonance In Henry David Thoreau's 'Conformity'

Conformity Will conforms to the “bad boy” image. Since he is an orphan and was in numerous foster homes where he was abused he feels like he can’t accomplish great things. Instead, he jumps from job to job, gets involved in aggressive fights and tries to avoid incarceration, and goofs around with his friends. Along with this, Will has also spent time studying and is very intelligent but does not wish to pursue a grand career. We know this from a conversation he has with his friend Chuckie. He asks Will if he is going to be set up with a job. Will says yes but reveals that he does not want to teach people math for the next fifty years of his life. He says he plans to live there forever and keep living the same life he has been. Chuckie tells Will he better not still be working there in construction in another twenty years, otherwise he will kill him. He realizes Will has huge potential and tells him he does not owe it to himself but to Chuckie to go do something more with his life. It is evident that Will has a low self-esteem which

The Professor tried to reduce his cognitive dissonance by offering Will a deal that would get him out of jail. People often secure compliance by using small requests first and then follow up with larger, less desirable requests. For example, to get out of jail Will had to study with Professor Lambeau, which is the small request, and he also had to see a therapist once a week, which is the larger, less desirable request. Since Will is from a different social class, Professor Lambeau also tries to reduce his dissonance by trying to help will. He thinks he can persuade him to accept a high-level job and make him his right-wing man. However, Will does not want any of that and Lambeau struggles to keep his dissonance to a