Non-Western Literature, Paper #2: The Individual vs. Society

“Fortunately, however, society rarely offers critical comment regarding the way a person dies. The way a person lives is what evokes criticism” (Akutagawa, “Horse Legs”)

For this paper, I want you to compare two works that discuss the conflict of identity vs. society in a similar way. In other words, what happens when someone’s dreams, desires, and sense of self is at odds with how their society expects them to act or appear to others? This is all the more important in these “Non-Western” works, since a sense of cultural or racial identity depends on who you are—and who you present yourself to be.

We see this theme throughout our last three books: in Akutagawa, many of the characters are in conflict with the norms of their society and its conceptions of religion and honor; in Wide Sargasso Sea, being “English” means something very specific, since it is a standard of conduct and civilization; and in The Interpreter of Maladies, we see characters adjusting to life in a new country, while still part of the life of the old one. What does it mean to find yourself when society wants you to be different—especially in a society whose laws you don’t agree with or didn’t seem invented for you?

Choose ONLY two works—by which I mean individual short stories, or ONE part of Wide Sargasso Sea (don’t focus on the entire work). For example, you could use “Horse Legs” (which I quoted above) and “The Interpreter of Maladies,” or Part One of Wide Sargasso Sea and “O-Gin.” Any combination works so long as you can find some connection between the two that shows people struggling against similar values or ideas, or that shows different responses/approaches to dealing with these conflicts. Be sure that the stories are connected somehow—in other words, that there’s a reason you’re looking at both of them together.

REQUIREMENTS

• 3-4 pages, double spaced
• Use no more than two stories/parts in your discussion
• You must quote from each story (as much as you want) to illustrate your ideas and show us how each author documents this struggle of identity
• Cite quotations according to MLA format and include WC page
• PLEASE E-MAIL YOUR PAPER TO jgrasso@ecok.edu (you can also turn in a hard copy to be safe, but this time, I want to grade electronic copies] 
• Due Monday, November 12 by 5pm [no class that day]