The Individual vs. Society

 Societies are complex groupings of people consisting of different races, interests, and beliefs that bring us all together.  In any form of society, people are constantly faced with the pressure to “fit in” or conform themselves to what other people want them to. Whether it’s dressing a certain way to look cool for your friends or marrying a man because of his money and status, the sense of one’s individuality is questioned and challenged in social situations. This competition between individuality and one’s role in society is nothing new, dating back to strict societies of the 1700’s and even our world today. In Pride and Prejudice, each character is faced with decisions that define them as people; women are forced to marry to ensure their prestigious and well-off futures, ignoring their true emotions and desires. Because of these decisions, they give in to societal pressures, thus loosing their individuality.  Although our present is incomparable to the times of Pride and Prejudice, there are still situations where people are faced with the same problem. As kids, even myself, grow up into adults and head off to college and the world, we will chose to change ourselves to fit into a certain crowd while others remain true to themselves. Therefore, although the times and customs of people have changed through the hundreds of years, the problem of losing oneself to society and its pressures to be “a part of the whole” have remained present and left the world with a society consisting of individuals and social conformists.