Construction of Reality in the Society

Construction of Reality in the Society

Errol Morrel’s text “Believing is Seeing” invokes an in-depth evaluation of what reality is in our respective societies. The book provides an insight into the significance of individual and collective reality, and its evaluation warrants the inquiry into the definition and the mechanisms for construction of such. As per The Social Construction of Reality by Peter Berger and Thomas Luckman, the reality in any society sums up the ontological status of things, influenced and created by various human interactions and their perceptions. Arthur Miller’s play, The Death of a Salesman, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story, The Yellow Wallpaper, provide unique insights on how the reality of society is constructed, rather than observed, habitualization and institutionalization.

Habitualization is arguably the first step in the creation of reality. As per The Social Construction of Reality, habitualization involves human interactions, and denotes “any action that is repeated frequently becomes cast into a pattern, which can then be … performed again in the future in the same manner and with the same economic effort” (Berger and Luckman). As such, people in society not only create their own reality but also accept the reality of others. Such reality may have been passed down to them through generational knowledge and cultural norms. In The Yellow Wallpaper, it is deductible how norms of gender inequalities in the narrator’s society have been passed down through generations. The narrator notes that she is not allowed to write by the physicians, as that is not a womanly thing to do. Furthermore, her supposed husband John and her brother, are both physicians, a career only meant for men. From her experience, we can deduce that the ontological status of things in that society is the scorning and mistreatment of women, as they are deemed inferior to the men.

Habitualization also employs the concept of self-fulfilling prophecy in the construction of reality. As per Robert K. Merton, this concept of self-fulfilling prophecy denotes that successive definitions of a situation, often lead to the actual fulfilment of that situation. Consequently, the reality gets constructed from those particular definitions. Notably, the veracity of such notions does not affect the actual realization of the defined condition. A perfect scenario is where children who grow up being habitually referred to as thieves, fulfill those prophecies and become real thieves. Such prediction is so strong in the primitive African societies, which individuals who are labeled as social misfits in their respective societies rarely defy such labels by actually live up to the society’s expectations.

The concept of self-fulfilling prophecies that constructs reality is highlighted in Arthur Miller’s play, The Death of a Salesman. Willy Loman is constantly defined as a failure in the society, due to his unending poverty. Such constant references to his failure can be denoted as creating that reality. The concept of self-fulfilling prophecy is further highlighted when the character predicts his death, stating that many people will attend his funeral as he has numerous acquaintances. Such predictions elicit rebuke from his children, who refer to him as a failure, and that his perceived ideas and notions are mere fantasies. Due to the frustrations, Willy commits suicide, thereby creating his own reality and reinforcing the concept of self-fulfilling prophecies. Furthermore, the successive definitions of Willy as a failure are even noted in his death and funeral, where few people attend. Willy is, therefore, a failure even in death and grave. As such, the preceding denote the creation of reality through the concept of self-fulfilling prophecy.

Perhaps one of the most notable ways through which habitualization constructs the reality of society is through roles and status. Notably, roles indicate the patterns of behaviour of a person, which denote the social status of the person.  Various people have various roles and statuses they play in society. Such roles may either be assigned by the society, for instance, being a daughter or achieved by the particular individual, for example, being a physician or teacher. As such, human interaction and the performance of these various roles ultimately lead to the creation of the reality of society.

The construction of the reality of society through the performance of roles and society are highlighted in both The Death of a Salesman and The Yellow Wallpaper. In The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman highlights the roles and status of the narrator’s husband and brother, who are both physicians. The performance of their respective roles invariably creates the reality of the narrator, which is that of a mentally ill patient. Furthermore, the performance of the roles highlights the significance of the well-being of the patient to them, as she is a wife to John. Additionally, the performance of their roles, for instance, in forbidding her to write, exhibits the successive cultural norms which portray women as the weaker sex, whose sole existence is for the performance of domestic chores.

In The Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller highlights the creation of reality in society through the various roles played by characters such as Willy Loman and his children. Willy Loman holds the role of a salesman, a person the society deems that he never loses hope. The performance of the role further denotes the status of Willy in the society. The roles of Willy’s children, such as Bill, assists in the construction of the reality in that particular society. Constant rebuking by members of the public, including his children, lead to Willy taking his own life. The low turnout in his funeral further reinforces the construction of the reality of Willy as a mediocre salesman and a failure, as labelled in the society. As per the preceding, it is evident and undeniable that the various roles and status ascribed in the social construct the existing reality.

The construction of reality in the society through habitualization would be incomplete without the concept of presentation of self. The concept involves how a person presents himself or herself to other people in the society during the interaction. As such, the person is like an actor on stage who applies impression management so that other people can perceive him as he wishes to be perceived. As per Erving Goffman, each situation is, therefore, a scene, and the individuals perform various roles depending on who is present (Goffman). For instance, couples may be nude in when they are in seclusion, but observe a particular dress code in public, depending on the situation which they are going to be in, for example, a court.

The concept of presentation of self, otherwise coined as dramaturgy by Erving Goffman, is highlighted in The Death of a Salesman by the character Willy. The character posits undying hope of recovery from his diminishing career, which is expected of him by society as a respectable salesman ought not never to give up. When worst comes to worst in his present life, Willy reflects on the grandeur of his past, and the hopes and aspirations he expects of the future. He talks of the numerous people he is acquainted with, and that his children would be ashamed due to their constant rebuking of him when the people come to attend his funeral. Sadly, such a presentation of self strains him when Willy becomes frustrated by the negative labels and the lack of any hope for the future, which leads him to commit suicide.

In The Yellow Wallpaper, the narrator constructs the reality of that a mentally ill patient through her presentations of self through non-normative tendencies. For instance, she gets frustrated by her inability to move the bed, and she ends up biting it. Her constant fixture and progressive analysis of the wallpaper further signify her derailing mental health. As such, the narrator gets lost in her reality of mental illness when she refuses to accept her condition, which ploughs her deeper into her mental illness.

The construction of social reality further occurs through institutionalization. Institutionalization refers to the implantation of a norm or convention in the fabric of society. Institutions may include the treatment of mentally ill persons through confinement, as illustrated by the treatment of the narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper. Institutionalization is also exhibited through the creation of various conventions in the society, such as salespeople, banks and economic depression, as manifested in The Death of a Salesman. As such, institutionalization assists in the shaping of the reality of various players in the society, as it may dictate various expectations of the members, and the various roles they are supposed to play in the society.

As per the preceding, it is irrefutable that reality is constructed instead of observation, through habitualization and institutionalization.  Various mechanics of habitualziation such as ascribed roles, status, self-fulfilling prophecies, and expression of self shape  all shape the shared reality of the society. As such, it is deductible that reality exists in totality, an aggregate of the individual realities of persons in society.

Work Cited

Dickinson, Hayley. “Tobacco Use on College Campuses: Should Smoking Be Banned?”. 2014, pp. 1-46., https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1007&context=honors_theses. Accessed 20 Jan 2020.

Berger, Luckman. The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. 1966 Garden City, NY: Anchor Books

Goffman, Erving. The Presentation of Self In Everyday Life. 1959. New York: Doubleday

Merton, Robert K., 1957. “The Role-Set: Problems in Sociological Theory.” British Journal of Sociology 8(2):110–113.