Individualism In The Arizona Humane Society

The positives of being an individual are more present in the media, (give examples) but the negatives are normally overlooked. In the novel named The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier the main character Jerry has to deal with reality that it 's not so easy to go against the grain. The novel does an excellent job highlighting how his individuality affects his social, personal life, and the power of societal pressures and bullying are leveraged against Jerry. The first thing The Chocolate War highlights are the effects individuality has on the protagonist Jerry Renault throughout the story. After Jerry decides to not sell chocolates there seems to be a ripple effect of other students viewing him as a hero with kids slapping him on the butt and in the school that was a sign of respect.

America has had a tumultuous existence, replete with war, progress, and ideologies. The most formidable of these is individualism, or the shift of society’s focus from the group to the individual and a growing emphasis on their personal needs and desires. Despite wide criticism, it has become the societal norm, spanning all generations, genders, races, and walks of life.

The utopian society in the Brave New World can be compared and contrasted between our contemporary society using individualism, community and the human experience. The fictional novel by Aldous Huxley, published in 1932, is about a utopian society where people focus stability and community over individuality and freedom, but an outsider is introduced to intervene with the operation of the utopian state. In the contemporary world, people need to show individuality in their communities in order to survive, and to be human, one must show emotion, which is the opposite in the Brave New World.

In my first three years of high school, I have had many struggles that have taken me on a different track than what I expected. My freshman year I had received four concussions. Some of these were sports related while others just happening by accident. These accidents left me missing tons of school and made me fall behind. Classes were hard to keep up with mentally as well as emotionally.

“An individualist is a man who says: I will not run anyone’s life nor let anyone run mine. I will not rule nor be ruled. I will not be a master nor a slave. I will not sacrifice myself nor sacrifice anyone to myself.” - Ayn Rand.

Of course I am not trying to make up excuses on why I did so poorly, throughout this semester I have been dealing with my own internal problems and also illnesses. I have been dealing with family problems such as, potential divorces and differences in the family that have been arising

In class we watched the movies Pariah, The breakfast club and Mean girls to see how they present expressive individualism. Bulman defined expressive individualism as “that strain of American individualism that values not material achievements, but the discovery of one’s unique identity and the freedom of individual self-expression” (Bulman, 2005). In the movie “Mean Girls” it’s about a girl named Cady who is new in a suburban high school. She moved there from Africa and has now the problem of facing the inequalities by social classes which are noticeable by expressive individualism.

Individualism can mean a lot of things. It tends to show a different meaning depending on the person you ask. Is there a way Individualism can change the world? Could Individualism somehow be a bad thing? Individualism can change the world.

I noticed that I treated all animals with care and compassion which grew to an obsession. In elementary school kids are asked what they want to be when they grow up and most girls’ responses are either, “Princess, Barbie,” etc. My response has remained in the animal field. I figured out in my 9th grade year that being a Veterinarian Technician would be in my best interest. Day in and day out, if I ever saw a homeless animal I would beg my mother to let me keep them and love them.

Individuality allows every person to be themselves and be different from each other. However, In Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem, Rand describes a society where the people were not allowed to openly be themselves, or else they would be punished for being different. The main character, Equality, notices he is different slowly throughout the novella, but kept continuing to be like everyone else for awhile. These rules exist in this society to strip human individuality in order to achieve total equality.

Individualism is when a person has achieved non-conformity, self-reliance, free-thought, confidence, and finding one’s self through nature. Although individualism may be achieved in society, it cannot be fully achieved until one removes himself from society. Chris McCandless did exactly that; he removed himself from society by backpacking and hitchhiking throughout the United States to test and achieve individualism. McCandless’s last great adventure was to Alaska to fully obtain individualism, unfortunately, he died trying to find his spiritual belonging and individualism. Many people would think it was absurd that Chris left his family and threw his life away, and they would think that he was not justified in leaving society, however, Chris McCandless was justified in leaving society because by doing so he could achieve non-conformity and self-reliance without being oppressed.

All my life I had always loved to help others and set an example. I believe that community service through the program National Honor Society, has greatly impacted my life by showing me how I can put my underlying motivation and cast a full fire of passion. I have always loved to teach and motivate others to try their hardest in school to achieve something above of their expectations. From my love of teaching, tutoring and trying to help understand in "student talk" has always been a strong point to show how rewording something can greatly impact a student's understanding which is all worthwhile. I always make sure to keep my grades up and dedicate time to studying and persevering which has influenced others around me to follow my path to achievement.

Individuality makes a person unique and different from anyone else. Their personality frees them from any ties they have with society. Both of the short stories, ¨The Pedestrian”by Ray Bradbury” and “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut are about the future, and how technology conforms people to be equal. In the article, “The Sociology of Leopard Man" by Logan Feys is about a tattooed man who doesn’t live anywhere near society. As Fey states “Living in society, we are under constant pressure to surrender our individuality, to the will of the majority, the school, the workplace, the family, etc.”

I have also grown as a student this year by volunteering at “My Best Friends Shelter” which is something I myself like to do and I volunteer there by helping out animals get adopted by a family who will care for them. I also help there by walking animals around the yard and make sure they have love shown to them and to make sure each one of the animals is well cared for. While taking this experience I learned that I didn 't really want to work in the field with animals in my future. By helping at animals I realized that 's not where I wanted to see myself working as.

You are unique. There’s only one of you in the world so you will be stand out when you’re being yourself. If you try to be someone else, you’re diluting the power of your authenticity. You’ll be one among many.