Ideas and Values Shape Who You Become in Society Essay Example for Free

Ideas and Values Shape Who You Become in beau monde EssayMost people strive to have a untroubled social standing and the ideas and value they hold on to can often influence their place in society. Society dictates which ideas and values pull up stakes be accepted and which will be rejected. The values that stick with us the most argon normally taught to us as boorren and help to influence who we become. In Girl and Good lot, the characters were raised to have ghostlike values and to coif in a bearing that will get up it easy for t hem to conk into their society. The briny characters in these stories had their values imposed on them at a young age, and helped to shape who theyve become and how they behave in society.Read more Good people by David Foster WallaceessayReligion is a cornerstone for the characters in both stories. They argon taught what is accep disconcert in their religion, in this slip Christianity, and realize certain(prenominal) actions could alienate them from their social groups. In Girl, the little girl is given specific instructions on how to behave, including dont prate benna in Sunday school (Kincaid, 120). She is taught that singing folk music on the Lords day is improper, and even though she doesnt sing benna on Sundays at all and never in Sunday school (120), she is explicitly told a fewer times not to do it. There, it is important for her to be on her best behavior. On Sundays she is shown she must seek to walk like a lady and not the slut you are so bent on becoming (120) because how she is perceived on Sundays can be detrimental to her public image.In Good People Lane A. Dean Jr and his girlfriend Sheris values weigh heavily on their thoughts as they consider their options when do a momentous decision. The two are very religious and theyd prayed on it and talked it done from every antithetical angle (Wallace, 152). They are worried about how their society will perceive them and if they are still untroubled peo ple if they go through with having an abortion and never really mention the word in conversation. blushon the phone they speak in a kind of half code in case anybody accidentally picked up the extension (153).Neither of them goes to a friend or even religious leading to talk about their situation, not Pastor Steve or the prayer partners at campus ministries, not his UPS friends or the spiritual counselling available through his parents old church (152) because they are ashamed. Specifically, Lane feels like he knew instantly why it was a true sin and not just a leftover rule from departed society (152). In Girl and Good People, the main characters religious values have an affect on who they are in society, a good person or someone who gets to touch the bread (Kincaid, 121). veritable(a) though Lane Dean and Sheri had made the appointment, they were still uncertain of their decision. Lane knew he couldnt make up his girlfriends mind because he knew if he was the salesman of it an d armamentd it upon her that was awful and wrong (Wallace, 152) and he knows it isnt his place to make a decision for her. However, he wishes he could know what Sheri is thinking and get her to open up and say passable back that he could see her and read her heart and know what to say to get her to go through with it (152). Sheri knows Lane Dean is a good person, and that he respects her enough to know he cannot force her to side with him, but he still wishes he could persuade her to have the abortion. Ultimately, it is Sheris decision to have the abortion, or cancel the appointment.Similarly, included in the long list of instructions in Girl is how to make a good medicine to throw away a child before it even becomes a child (Kincaid, 120), so the girl can decide for herself whether or not to have an abortion. Beside how to make medicine, the girl is taught early(a) gender specific lessons that include cooking, sewing, laundry, and grocery shopping. She needs to learn how to sew in order to hem a dress so to prevent yourself from looking like the slut I know you are so bent on becoming (120) and looking indecent in public. All of these instructions are aimed to make it easier for the girl to find a husband by teaching her how you set a table for dinner with an important guest how to behave in the presence of men who dont know you very headspring (120). Understanding of gender roles and how to behave around men, or be a wife, are important lessons for the girl to learn in order to survive in her society.Class affiliation plays a role in the upbringing of the girl. She is instructed to wash the white turn and put them on the stone heap(119) and when buying cotton to make yourself a nice blouse, be sure that it doesnt have gum on it(119-120) because it doesnt matter which social crystallise she belongs to, she still needs to have clean, well-made clothes. Sewing is a useful skill for her, because she cannot afford clothes that are already made, or even prem ade fabric. Harsh words and phrases that are repeated throughout the news report such as slut and wharf-rat boy accentuate the point that there is a certain way for her to behave in society and that if she acts like a slut or associates with wharf-rat boys, people will side her as being sink than them.Unlike the girl, Lane A. Dean Jr seems to belong to the upper middle soma based on his name, and the fact that he attends junior college while living at home with his parents. He was named after his father, and perhaps this close affiliation with the patriarch of his family makes him apprehensive of confiding in his parents about his situation. He is close with his mother as well, and she thinks Sheri is good peopleshe made this evident in little shipway (150). Lane is worried their decision and their sins mean they will no longer be viewed as good people to the people in their upper class society and knows Sheri can neither have an abortion today nor jam a child alone and shame her family (155).Trying to fit in to society, whether upper or lower class can be an arduous task with many lessons to learn and roles to play. Knowing your place and where you fit in determines your success. The ideas and values imprinted on youth to build character and deter bad behavior deed over them to conform to society.Works CitedMays, Kelly J. ed. _The Norton Introduction to Literature._ Portable 11th ed.New York Norton, 2013. Print.Kincaid, Jamaica. Girl. Mays 119. Print.Wallace, David Foster. Good People. Mays 149. Print.