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The Implications of Societal Conventions: Living Within A Well-Oiled…

- - - - The mechanization of art reflects this process of transformation from man to machine, as the art itself becomes engrained with those same characteristics of a machine. Reproduction of art furthers and quickens this process.
        
        "The end result is the ornament, whose closure is brought about by emptying all the substantial constructs of their contents" (The Mass Ornament, 77)
        
        "What is it that they, like an image become flesh, embody? The functioning of a flourishing economy" (Wiemer Republic Section, 565)
        
        "Admittedly, as a temporal event dance in general can hardly do without the rhythmic component; yet there is a difference between experiencing something authentic by means of rhythm and experiencing rhythm itself as the inauthentic objective." (Travel and Dance, 84)
        
        "When they formed themselves into an undulating snake, they delivered a radiant illustration of the virtues of the conveyer belt; when they stepped to a rapid beat, it sounded like "business, business"; when they raised their legs with mathematical precision above their heads, they joyfully affirmed the progress of rationalization; and when they continually repeated the same maneuver, never breaking ranks, one had visions of an unbroken chain of automobiles gliding from the factory into the world and the feeling of knowing that there was no end to prosperity. Their faces were made up with an optimism that nipped all resistance to economic development in the bud, and the little cries of pleasure, issued in a precisely calculated rhythm, gave ever renewed praise to the splendors of existence in such circumstances" (Wiemer Republic Selection, 565)
        
        "With these words, soul, eye, and hand are brought into connection. Interacting with one another, they determine a practice. We are no longer familiar with this practice. The role of the hand in production has become more modest, and the place it filled in storytelling lies waste" (Storyteller)
  - - - Any attempt to resist this commodification of art through industrialization is futile...
        "Modernism is among other things a strategy whereby the work of art resists commodification, holds out by the skin of its teeth against those social forces which would degrade it to an exchangeable object. To this extent, modernist works are in contradiction with their own material status, self-divided phenomena which deny in their discursive forms their own shabby economic reality" (Capitalism, Modernism, and Postmodernism, 67)
        
        “By making many reproductions it substitutes a plurality of copies for a unique existence. And in permitting the reproduction to meet the beholder or listener in his own particular situation, it reactivates the object reproduced. These two processes lead to a tremendous shattering of tradition which is the obverse of the contemporary crisis and renewal of mankind” (The Mechanization of Art, 221)
        
        This loss of tradition, in turn, effects all aspects of life...
        "We have witnessed the evolution of the 'short story,' which has removed itself from oral tradition and no longer permits that slow piling one on top of the other of thin, transparent layers which constitutes the most appropriate picture of the way in which the perfect narrative is revealed through the layers of a variety of retellings" (Storyteller, 6)
- - - - This sort of moral disposition to the acceptance of societal standards ultimately leads to the unhappy life, within which, more often than not, one ignores their instinctual disposition in order to live the life that is supposed to make them happy.
        
        “to follow the paths of life (marriage, reproduction) is to feel that what is before you is a kind of solemn progress, as if you are living somebody else’s life, simply going the same way others are going” (71)
        “It is hard labor just to recognize sadness and disappointment, when you are living a life that is meant to be happy but just isn’t, which is meant to be full, but feels empty” (75)
        (Feminist Killjoys)
        
        The perfect image of life is one in which the societal norms and expectations are upheld to the fullest extent. Yet, this image is not necessarily the one that inspires happiness within the lives of individuals. It is simply the image of happiness, not true happiness, that matters most.
        
        Bliss
        “she seemed to see on her eyelids the lovely pear tree with its wide open blossoms as a symbol of her own life” (147)
        “Really – really – she had everything. She was young. Harry and she were as much in love as ever, and they got on together splendidly and were really good pals. She had an adorable baby. They didn’t have to worry about money. They had this absolutely satisfactory house and garden. And friends – modern, thrilling friends, writers and painters and poets or people keen on social questions – just the kind of friends they wanted. And then there were books, and there was music, and she had found a wonderful little dressmaker, and they were going abroad in the summer, and their new cook made the most superb omelets” (147-48)
        
        This perfect image of Bertha's bliss sounds wonderful, yet it is incomplete. Ultimately it is revealed that she does not in fact have everything, as is revealed alongside the revelation of her husband Harry's affair with her friend Miss Fulton – her life fulfills all of societal expectations yet it remains imperfect. As long as the perfect image remains intact to the rest of the world, however, Bertha can pretend she lives a happy life.
        
        “the pear tree was as lovely as ever and as full of flower and as still” (Bliss, 156)
        
        Mrs. Dalloway
        "Much rather would she have been one of those people like Richard who did things for themselves, whereas, she thought, waiting to cross, half the time she did things not simply, not for themselves; but to make people think this or that; perfect idiocy she knew..." (52)
        
        The loss of identity for Clarissa arises in her inability to reside outside the conforms of society. She feels obligated to live her life for the sake of the perfect image, and in doing so she loses herself.
        "this being Mrs. Dalloway; not even Clarissa any more; this being Mrs. Richard Dalloway" (52)
        
        Yet, Clarissa makes the conscious choice to continue living her life as "Mrs. Richard Dalloway", for it is much easier than the alternative of having nowhere in society to fit in
        "But she must go back. She must assemble. She must find Sally and Peter. And she came in from the little room" (194).
        "It is Clarissa, he said. For there she was" (200).
        
        Garden Party
        Even Laura, as naïve as she is, recognizes the consequences of conformity, even if she does not understand the subject or why it matters in her life
        
        "Why couldn't she have workmen for friends rather than the silly boys she danced wth and who came to Sunday night supper? She would get on much better with men like these. It's all the fault... of these absurd class distinctions. Well, for her part, she didn't feel them" (62-63)
        
        Laura's ignorance to enforced societal conformities does not make her any less effected by them. Although she believes she does not recognize the existence of privilege as a result of her upper-class distinction, she recognizes that she is unhappy. Even when the purpose of conformity is not understand, it produces characters that are unhappy with the life they are forced to live.
        
        "Happiness is a hard master - particularly other people's happiness. A much harder master, if one isn't conditioned to accept it unquestioningly, than truth" (brave New World, 227)
- - - - "Homes would say, 'In a funk, eh?' Homes would get him. But no; not Homes; not Bradshaw... He did not want to die. Life was good... 'I'll give it to you!' he cried, and flung himself vigorously, violently down on to Mrs. Filmer's area railings. 'The coward!' cried Dr. Holmes, bursting the door open." (165)
        
        In this instance, Dr. Holmes represents the enforced conformity of society coming to fix the problem of the outcast. Septimus admits to himself that he does not want to die, because he likes his life, but the threat of conformity is enough to make him kill himself, because he recognizing the fact that life will not be good if he stays alive.
  - - - “The ultimate effect of conditioning, which is in fact adjustment come into its own, is a degree of introjection and integration of social pressure and coercion far beyond that of the Protestant ethic; men resign themselves to loving what they have to do, without even being aware that they are resigned. Thus, their happiness is firmly established subjectively and order is maintained” (Prisms, 100)
        
        John recognizes the imprisonment created by the forced implementation of societal norms and their acceptance. In recognizing this, and his inability to change the existing norms of society, as everyone else is already conditioned to believe themselves to be happy, he kills himself, for he is disgusted by the idea of becoming a machine of society.
  - - - From the beginning, Christopher Isherwood identifies himself as an outsider. He is merely an outsider looking into the happenings of society, within which he is providing commentary. He is unable to interject because of his position as an outcast. Yet, he holds the role of narrator, and therefore is important to the existence of those characters that fit within societal norms
        
        "No. Even now I can't altogether believe that any of this has really happened" (206)
        
        In ending the novel in this way, with the last chapter being "A Berlin Diary", mimicking the first chapter, Christopher Isherwood figuratively kills himself. In the first chapter he establishes his role as an observer, and therefore an outcast, but still important as a reporter. However, in destroying his credibility, he destroys himself, and remains in a figurative death
  - - - Robin is the obvious outcast of Nightwood, as she fails to live the life that is expected of her. Yet, Robin also lives in loneliness, and requires a companion to be satisfied.
        
        Robin's figurative death is therefore a representation of the inability for one to live life outside the bounds of society. Robin gives up in the end, submitting to the animalistic attributes that live within her, symbolizing her inability to live as a human accepted by society.
  - - - “The state exacts the utmost degree of obedience and sacrifice from its citizens, but at the same time it treats them like children by an excess of secrecy and a censorship upon news and expressions of opinion which leaves the spirits of those whose intellects it thus suppresses defenceless against every unfavorable turn of events and every sinister rumour” (Thouhgts for the Times on War and Death, 279)
        
        Those who do not subscribe to blindly accepting this form of obedience and sacrifice are defenseless against its powers of conformity, and therefore death is not viewed as a sacrifice given that sacrifices they are forced to make in their everyday lives
      - The recognition that there is more to life than conformity is not unusual, yet it had been accepted that conformity is a necessary evil of ensuring societal improvement. The false sense of happiness that is created is consequently insufficient for fulfilling the needs of the outcasts, leading the comfort in the certainty of an escape through death.
  - - - "In short, the observer is choked with observations. Only to prevent us from being submerged by chaos, nature and society between them have arranged a system of classification which is simplicity itself; stalls, boxes, amphitheatre, gallery. The molds are filled nightly. There is no need to distinguish details" (ch. 5)
        
        The idea of sorting people into boxes remains consistent throughout the novel, yet Jacob remains 'unsortable' as a result of his inability to define himself with one of the categories.
        "what remains is mostly a matter of guess work" (ch. 5)
        
        Jacob's death exists as a representation of allowing himself to be defined by society without finding any particular place within which he is supposed to exist. The title "Jacob's Room" portrays the idea of individuality, and the room of an individual is the most personal place within which they exist.
        
        " 'He left everything just as it was,' Bonamy marvelled. 'Nothing arranged. All his letter strewn about for anyone to read. What did he expect? Did he think he would come back?' " (ch. 14)
        
        The significance of the final chapter shows society, in the form of Bonamy and Jacob's mother, impede upon his individuality by invading his room after his death. Bonamy is shocked that Jacob may not have foreseen his own death and the judgement that he did not make his room less 'lived-in' and therefore less individualistic. Jacob's room after his death portrays the way in which society was unable to force his conformity during his life, and therefore destroyed his individualism in his death.
  - - - "These were sights and sounds that he did not like. They detained him in the world to which they belonged, but not he, as he fondly hoped... He sat in his chair in this way because it gave him pleasure! First it gave his body pleasure, it appeased his body. Then it set him free in his mind." (2)
        
        This is the first representation of Murphy's refusal to conformity, as he rejects the space within which he lives in order to fully reside within his own mind. In doing so, he willingly makes himself an outcast.