Narrative about a fictional town named McMinden - Essay Example

Town Of McMinden The sociological perspective is a broad aspect of the of sociology. It basically revolves around the social aspects of people living in this world. The sociological perspective tells about the society as a whole and how the norms of the society change with culture and groupings. It tells as to how a person is affected by the place where is he living at. The sociological perspective has its core lying in the behaviors and change that an individual undergoes in the society. The perspective revolves around the fact that if an individual moves from society to the other then his behavior would change in the same manner.

The following passage clearly shows that migration is prevalent in the town of McMinden; McMinden is a small city in the farm belt, with a population of 20,000, along the Gilligan river. German immigrants began populating the Gilligan river valley beginning in the 1880’s, along with other white settlers moving west from Kentucky and Indiana, as well as a few black settlers from the South. The concept of sociological perspective is being followed generally in the town as it is followed everywhere in the world.

In our general life it is seen that if an Asian migrates to United States then he tends to adopt the same perspective as being practiced in United States. The division of social classes was not broad enough in the previous times as it has become now. The prestige of individuals was not judged upon by their level of wealth but it was rather inherited or attained by their reputation of righteousness. Power existed in the olden times too but it generally was categorized for limited individuals. Nowadays it is seen that power is abruptly managed by a lot of individuals.

All these individuals are key players in the decision making of the society. Social classes can also be witnessed in the town of McMinden as shown by the following passage; The richest part of the town is a subdivision built around Lake Elmo. Most of the owners in the Lake Elmo district are bankers, business owners and professional people. The upper classes live in the district of Lake Elmo and somehow control the politics in the town. It is because of these social classes that some kind of discrimination also occurs in the society of McMinden which has been stated by the individuals interviewed.

Another concept of sociology revolves around the aspect of culture. Every culture in this world has its own norms and values which every individual has to follow in accordance to his respective culture. In every culture it is seen that many subcultures exist which form an identity for the individuals. It is a culture which exists in the realm of dominant culture but is no different from it in different aspects. The subculture inside the town of McMinden revolves around the citizens of it. Subcultures inside the town are of workers, farmers, catholists, and students.

The individuals interviewed belonged to either of these subcultures. Similarly in our normal life these subcultures also exist in similar forms in different societies.