Recently, in my AP Language and Composition class, my teacher assigned her classes a synthesis paper on outsiders in our society. We had read The Scarlet Letter and just finished watching The Crucible. We were to use three out of the five sources to quote from in our paper. Along with the two I have just named, two clips from Good Night and Good Luck (Or was the title the other way around?), and an article entitled “Just Walk By: Black Men and Public Space.” Of course, I know that my paper could be much better than it was, especially if I had started it sooner. For those of you who read my Xanga (if any), I hope you enjoy what I have written. Comments would be much appreciated, even though the paper has already been submitted for grading.
Philosophically, every person can be considered an outsider in another’s opinion. The basic standards that are considered when judging another to be an outsider remain the same for everyone, regardless of ethnicity, economic status, or intelligence. For example, a person born into wealth may regard him- or herself an outsider because they do not have to worry about financial problems. This person may also view one who is impoverished as an outsider because the latter is unable to provide for himself. Likewise, the impoverished views both himself and the one financially blessed to be outsiders for the same reasons. Although these two people are from different ends of a spectrum, the ways they consider people outsiders are the same. Therefore, people considered outsiders and those considered “insiders” both have a similar understanding of how this judgment system works. In today’s society, people of extremely high intelligence, people with a disability (physical, or mental), and people who are extremely outspoken are the main groups one thinks of as outsiders.
“Jealousy breeds contempt” lays the foundation for the ostracization of people whose levels of thought seem unfathomable for those of average intelligence. Society treats these people by three basic methods: mocking the intelligent, expecting superhuman accomplishments (exerting overwhelming stress upon the individual), or ignoring them entirely. Society has even created separate schools for people of such intelligence (although these institutions were established for the betterment of bright individuals). These actions cause exceedingly smart people to become extremely independent. An aversion to social settings may stem from this independence, resulting in social ineptness (even when with people of similar intelligence). A need to “fit in” may cause the person to not live at his full potential, wasting the gift he has been given. Society censors these people by not accepting them and implying that acting “normal” would gain them a more favorable treatment. Just as excessive surveillance causes Winston Smith in Orwell’s 1984 to subconsciously self-censor himself, stereotypical treatment of highly intelligent people will cause them to suppress their creative and cognitive abilities (source C paragraph 7).
Society treats people with physical or mental disabilities similarly to those with high intelligence. Some are mocked for their differences while others are ignored for their oddities; however, depending on the severity of the disabilities, little is expected from these people. For those with more debilitating disabilities, people trained specially to deal with mentally or physically challenged people are recruited to care for the latter. As with the intelligent outcasts, the government has established special institutions for these kinds of people. State schools undertake the task of teaching those with mental disabilities, at the pace the student needs, while insane asylums care for those who have experienced severe trauma that has rendered them incapable of caring for themselves. In a way, this is society’s attempt to distance itself from people who seem extremely different from the norm. Society has even coordinated Olympics especially for those physically or mentally challenged. Although, from this aspect, society (as a whole) cares for these people, many others act condescendingly. In the 1600s, people with physical and mental disabilities were sometimes believed to be connected with witchcraft and the devil (whether they be victims or witches themselves).
While society mainly ostracizes the highly intelligent and the physically or mentally disabled, it tends to suspect and censor the ones who blatantly express their opinions. In the past, everyone was expected to speak only in court when given permission. Expressing one’s opinion that disagreed with a majority of the people caused the person to be judged when they had otherwise been innocent. For example, when John Proctor questions the abilities of the girls to see the devil and his minions, suspicion falls on him (source B). One person would not disagree with the majority without a viable reason. Society has determined for itself what it likes and dislikes; when someone expressive crosses the imaginary line, certain people of the society become indignant and enraged, thinking that they have been wronged or misrepresented in some way. As Edward R. Murrow said, “[Societies] have a built-in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information” (source E). Since society has a defaulted set of standards for the people within itself, such as political correctness, when an expressive person speaks his mind, society attempts to asphyxiate the individual, wanting to make him or her conform to its standards. Through this, people slowly lose their given right to freedom of speech and thought. Society should be more tolerant of such expressive people because their voiced opinions causes the rest of the people to think about the problems of today’s world. To silence and control them would be a mistake, even if their expressiveness becomes blatant and uncivilized.
In conclusion, everyone is considered an outsider in his life at some point, by someone. The world contains billions of opposites, and anything opposite something else can be considered unorthodox (or an outsider, in this case). One does not even have to be a polar opposite of someone else in order to consider the other an outcast. The slightest difference in personalities can trigger the stereotypes in one’s mind into classifying another as an outcast, although the term “outcast” may not be used. People view outsiders through the outlooks they have been raised with. Outsiders are only those whose personality and being causes one to differentiate himself from another, no matter how big or small the difference.
