How Do We Become Who We Are - Essay Example

 Society - and all that encompasses it - exists to make people adhere to its belief system, its moral code, its hierarchies, its biases, among other variables.

The extreme side of the way how society imposes itself on people is reflected in the chronicles of Marjane Satrapi’s life back in Iran as documented in her award-winning work called Persepolis. In her story, three very powerful institutions conspire together in order for the character to abide by its rules – religion, the state, and the collective rigidity acquired by the country’s populace as a result of years of indoctrination by the previous two institutions. The fact is that society has to have a belief system in order to survive. This is a given and that all people recognize this making them consider that the societal influence in their lives is actually legitimate and necessary.

Even the most unreasonable demand for women to wear a veil in Iran was being supported and followed by many people – the child Satrapi included - because the belief system prescribes that it is necessary for preserving the kind of society they have or the appropriate society they must strive to preserve – one that is free from corruption. And so, even for outsiders such a rule that dictates what clothes to wear is barbaric, the potent social belief system of the Iranian society makes it alright and it is not going to change any time soon and definitely without having both the state and religion tore down. Even if such a case would happen, it would still require years and years for people to adjust to understand that they are freer and could do more independent decisions regarding their own being.

Even the free and liberal Western societies are not free from imposing themselves on how should people become. The documentary Thoth and its main character reflect this argument excellently. The narrative told the story of what happens to a person – Thoth - who refuses to follow convention. For years, he has lived his life on his own terms, pursuing personal freedom since his birth. But the degree of success he has attained is defined according to the social standards which are heavily weighted against him. He earns less money, lives with his mother, no direction in life – in other words a failure by all counts. As a result, whether people accept it or not, he has become an outcast and a pariah. Interestingly, the way the social belief system in America influenced Thoth is not unlike the Iranian experience. The only difference is the institutions that propagate the powerful belief system and the pressure mechanisms. Instead of the church and an authoritarian government, it is money, social status, success, access to material goods and the media that dictate people’s actions, decisions and aspirations.

In the end, both Satrapi and Thoth’s experiences demonstrate how people are influenced by society, beginning with interpersonal influence and ending with what Bar-Tal called a well-planned, systematic, societal indoctrination, making forceful persuasion for individuals to assimilate or, otherwise, be expelled from it.