“Society exists only as a mental concept; in the real world there are only individuals." These are the words of the 19th century writer and poet Oscar Wilde, and they perfectly illustrate the often contentious dispute between individualism and conformity to community. Indeed, this dispute has played out throughout the pages of history, and it is difficult to objectively state that one of the extremes provides better results or a more correct answer. On the side that advocates conformity to community, there are both ruthless despots who wished to turn men into machines, along the lines of Stalin, and beloved apostles of social betterment, similar to Mother Teresa. On the other hand, in defense of individualism and the relative contempt of society as a whole, we can see both great writers, just like the aforementioned Oscar Wilde, and cruelly apathetic hedonists, including Nero and many other Roman emperors of the first century . plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay. In reality, however, few people have dedicated their lives to advocating extreme conformity or extreme individualism, as the individuals mentioned above have done. Rather, most people have opinions somewhere in the middle of the spectrum, incorporating bits and pieces of both theories. When debate emerges in the modern world, it tends to do so quite tacitly, perhaps through a certain slant or implication on society when discussing current events or perhaps through symbolism and hidden meaning in literary works that focus on protagonists who are “outsider”. .” The short stories “The Third and Final Continent” by Jhumpa Lahiri and “What You Pawn, I Will Redeem” by Sherman Alexie are perfect examples of the latter situation. Both stories describe an individual from an outside world, so to speak, trying to live in a foreign society. Here, however, the similarities end. While “The Third and Final Continent” argues that “outsider” individuals can become part of society and benefit from it without having to lose their tradition and dignity through complete conformity, “What You Pay, I Will Redeem” offers a much darker conclusion . , stating that conformity in a new community is difficult to achieve, but those who do not achieve it will be chewed up and spat out, resulting in a loss of tradition and dignity. In his many adventures across three continents, the narrator in “The Third and Last Continent” always manages to successfully blend into a new society, in small and large fashions, while maintaining both his tradition and his dignity. The narrator never forgets to carry a small slice of his "first continent" with him wherever he goes. For example, in London, before arriving in the United States, the narrator speaks of attending the London School of Economics while living "in a house occupied entirely by penniless Bengali bachelors like myself, at least a dozen and sometimes more" (1216) . At the same time, he and his roommates sip tea while smoking Rothman's, a prominent British cigarette; they listen to traditional Indian music on a Western-made reel-to-reel tape recorder. All in all, this shows that the narrator wishes to maintain his traditions, and the fact that he is able to do so easily is a comment from the author. Entering a new society does not necessarily mean losing every fragment of the old society, he seems to say. Indeed, over and over again, it is emphasized that the narrator not only wants to maintain his traditions while taking into account some aspects of his new community, but that he is accepted for this. A particularly fascinating, if underestimated, example of this state ofthings is the narrator's diet after the arrival of his wife Mala. “I… [came] home to an apartment that smelled like steamed rice,” the narrator says, “The next morning, when I walked into the kitchen, [Mala] had already poured cornflakes into my bowl”( 1225-1226). This fusion between Indian cuisine for dinner and American cuisine for breakfast suggests the ultimate harmony of cultures in a worldly way. After all, when the narrator says he prefers cereal for breakfast, his wife doesn't bat an eye, and when he comes home for an Indian dinner, he eats it as a taste of home he wouldn't (and shouldn't) deny himself. . As if that weren't enough, there are many other testimonies of the harmonious fusion of the old culture with a new community sprinkled throughout the story. Mala, for example, wears an Indian sari every day, but is frowned upon by the community. In fact, when the narrator takes her to meet Mrs. Croft, he thinks to himself, “I wondered what she would object to. I wondered if he could see the still vivid red dye on Mala's feet, almost hidden by the bottom edge of her sari. Finally Mrs Croft declared: 'She is a perfect woman!'” (1227). This delightful response from Mrs. Croft exemplifies what history hammers into our heads again and again: communities are not at all incompatible with external individuals and their traditions. In stark contrast to the successful blending of cultures in “The Third and Last Continent,” the social fusion in “What You Pawn, I Will Redeem” is messy and unsuccessful, full of stories of lost heritage. The clearest evidence of this it is the fact that the main character and most of the Native Americans present in the story do not have a home It clearly indicates that, for one reason or another, the goals and tribulations of the Native Americans were not reconcilable with American culture. This testimony, however, is further strengthened by the description of Jackson, the protagonist: “I grew up in Spokane, moved to Seattle twenty-three years ago for college, failed two semesters, worked various jobs as a laborer and as a laborer for many years, married two or three times, fathered two or three children, and then went mad” (1246), then, began when he moved from his Indian family to Spokane new community. So the implication here is that entering a new community actually means losing the orientation provided by the old community, and it also means that you cannot gain new orientations until you achieve very difficult conformity and assimilation. Jackson's story, however, is not the only one. There are many other Indians in history whose lives pay homage to both the difficulty of conforming and the dangerous results of failure to conform. “Most of the homeless Indians in Seattle,” notes Jackson, “are from Alaska. One by one, they each boarded a large workboat… to Seattle… [partyed] hard at one of the highly sacred and traditional Indian bars, went broke, and tried to find their way back to return to the boat and since then the north has frozen” (1249). Like Jackson, these Indians left their homes with bright prospects, only to see everything come crashing down because they didn't adjust. This passage, however, points out something else. There is an intense irony in partying in a sacred and traditional Indian bar, and this suggests a real loss of tradition and heritage. All Indians, even those who ended up unable to conform, saw their precious traditions trampled upon, replaced by the American value of a good party, even if they were still unable to conform and adapt. This constitutes a slapon each cheek, and also gives new meaning to Native Americans being homeless in the story (and the uprooting of the few who do have homes). They failed to integrate into the white community and, in the process, lost everything that made them Native American, preventing their return to that community. The Native Americans in "What You Pawn, I Will Redeem" are truly homeless in every sense of the word. Venturing to his "Third and Final Continent," the narrator of that story embarks on a true journey of formation, for his new community influences him in an undeniably positive way, directly preparing him for the rest of his life. When he first leaves India, the narrator is but a boy. He is not married. He has no job. He doesn't have much formal education. Although he achieves the last of these three things in England, it is without question that the narrator truly comes of age in his third continent, America, particularly through his interactions with Mrs. Croft. Over the course of his time with Mrs. Croft, the narrator begins to feel a sense of duty towards her. At first, this is evident simply in the ritual he performs every evening, keeping Mrs. Croft company on the bench and telling her how “splendid” it is that the American flag is now on the moon. Upon learning of her age, he is very impressed and offers to heat her soup, although Mrs. Croft's daughter refuses the offer. The narrator laments, “There was nothing I could do for her beyond these simple gestures” (1224). However, there is a tinge of admiration evident in his voice when he tells Mala that “for the most part [Mrs. Croft] takes care of herself” (1226), despite her age. This admiration, this desire to care for another person is built into the narrator by Mrs. Croft. When Mrs. Croft finally meets Mala, she declares, "She's a perfect woman!" (1227). In giving the narrator his seal of approval, the narrator's care for Mrs. Croft is, in a sense, bestowed on Mala; it is this event that begins to spark love in their relationship. In this way, it is thanks to the narrator's new community that he has become a good and caring husband. It should not be forgotten that the narrator's new community promptly gave him numerous other positive things. He got a job easily; found a home without any trace of discrimination; he became emotionally mature, living alone for the first time. Despite these important positive contributions, it was Mrs. Croft who was his greatest contribution, but in any case, the third continent and its community were undeniably positive forces in the narrator's life. On the other hand, our outsider protagonist in “What You Pawn, I Will Redeem,” is negatively affected by the community, his interactions with the people of Seattle directly recalling the interactions between white settlers and Native Americans long ago. The Negotiations with Native Americans from the 17th to the early 20th centuries were characterized by generous gifts of everything from precious metals to food and alcohol to “protected” reservation lands, in exchange for “only a small portion” of the their current unprotected land. According to the government, however, they did not even own that land. Eventually, the tribes began to rely on these gifts, economically and socially, but once the supply of land, the only truly durable resource. , was exhausted, the flow of gifts was choked, and they were completely ruined (Banner 51). They lost both their self-sufficiency and their dignity. That little piece of protected land they held was truly theirs if it was thrown to them as some sort of gift ? Likewise, the white people in the Seattle community that Jackson befriends do soconstantly "gifts". When Jackson is trying to raise money to buy the signs, the pawn shop decides to help him out a little: "He opened his wallet, took out a twenty dollar bill, and gave it to me" (1249). Moments after receiving the money, Jackson walked up to "7-Eleven and spent it on three bottles of imagination" (1249). This symbolizes how Indian tribes lost their trade and skills in the face of gifts provided by European settlers. The rapid expenditure of money on alcohol also represents something deeper. It represents the downward spiral of alcoholism unleashed on Native Americans as they became more and more dependent on something only the white man could provide. If this were the only occasion in history of this, however, this symbolism could be erased. On the contrary, it happens over and over again. Jackson later visits a newspaper publisher to purchase a large number of newspapers to sell on the streets for profit. With only five dollars of initial investment, the company director says: “I will give you fifty documents for free. But don't tell anyone I did it” (1250). After selling five newspapers, Jackson promptly destroys the other 45 and spends the profit on food. When Jackson wins $80, he spends it on alcohol. When Officer Williams, a friendly white cop, gives Jackson $30, he spends it on more food. All of this takes place over the course of one day, drawing an undeniable parallel between Jackson's addiction to gifts and alcohol and the Native Americans' addiction to the settlers' "gifts" and alcohol. Ultimately, Jackson is only given the insignia as a gift, likely foreshadowing that he will eventually sell them for alcohol or entertainment. The irony in this, however, draws a final parallel between Jackson's situation and that of the colonized Native Americans. . The gift that was eventually given to them, the insignia in the first case and the “protected” reserve land in the second, already belonged to them in the first place. The many similarities between the sad plight of Native Americans in the 19th century and Jackson's situation in "What You Pawn, I Will Redeem" put it beyond doubt that Alexie intended to state through his story that an outsider can only be further hurt by a community. who denied him acceptance. The narrator of "The Third and Final Continent" fails to change much about his new community, but considering the story's overall argument that greater social conformity is unnecessary, the small and personal way in which it has an effect about his community is more than enough. Just as the most obvious mark left on the narrator came from Mrs. Croft, the most important change imposed on the narrator's new community centered on Mrs. Croft. Mrs Croft is a very past-focused person, largely due to her age. For example, note his response when his daughter Helen speaks to the narrator upstairs: "It is improper for a lady and a gentleman who are not married to each other to hold a private conversation without a chaperone!" (1222). Although the world that Mrs. Croft speaks of has disappeared, she still has an emotional attachment to it. After all, it was precisely that world of “chaste drawing-room conversations” in which Mrs. Croft had grown up. When Helen asks Mrs Croft what she would do if she saw a girl in a miniskirt, Mrs Croft replies dryly: "I would have her arrested" (1223). As time passed, Mrs. Croft slowly became more separated from and embittered towards her community. The narrator actually gives her hope. One day, the narrator delivers the rent payment directly to Mrs. Croft on time instead of placing it on the windowsill.piano. This affects her. At first he says nothing, but after the narrator returns that night, many hours later, he still holds the payment in his hands, saying, "That was very kind of you!" (1221). Even though it is a relatively minor action on the narrator's part, these small acts of chivalry have become all that Mrs. Croft truly desires, as mentioned above. After all, these acts of chivalry date back to the days of Mrs. Croft, a time during which a gentleman stood up when a woman left a table or took off his hat in the presence of a woman. Indeed, Helen tells the narrator, “You are the first boarder she has ever referred to as a gentleman” (1222). In the last months of her life, the narrator gives Mrs. Croft something to believe in, just as Mrs. Croft gives the narrator something to care about; in this way he gives something back to the community that helped him, having a positive impact on it. Ultimately, this is a change that the narrator imposes on an individual, not on the community, but since the story promotes the maintenance of individualism in the face of a new community as an admirable and possible goal, there can be nothing more glorious than giving an old woman a last hope. Jackson from “What You Pawn, I Will Redeem” also fails to change the larger community around him, but considering the opposite message of the story, this inability for change in the community has an entirely different meaning. Recall that “What You Pay, I Will Redeem” argues that the effect of a new community on an outsider is entirely negative, resulting in forced conformity, which usually ends up unsuccessful and, in any case, robs the subject of his legacy. This is directly contrasted with the positive effect of a new community on an exalted outsider in “The Third and Final Continent.” So the former needs change and the latter doesn't, so the lack of change in this story can only be a bad thing. (The aspect of the community that needs change, of course, is its perpetuation of the old vicariously cruel treatment of Native Americans.) Jackson actually builds close personal relationships with some of the story's white characters, not much different from the narrator's relationship with Mrs. Croft in "The Third and Final Continent". In particular, note Agent Williams' interaction with Jackson. “You bet I would give you a thousand dollars if I knew you would fix your life,” says Officer Williams. “He meant it,” Jackson reassures us, “he was the second best cop I ever knew” (1256). Ultimately, however, Williams gives Jackson $30, perpetuating the cycle of his addiction to gifts in exchange for dignity. This negative relationship between Jackson and his community, previously mentioned, is further indicated by another passage regarding Officer Jackson: “He had given me hundreds of candy bars over the years. I wonder if he knew I was diabetic” (1255). A diabetic may crave sugar, but this will only harm them further. Similarly, Jackson longs for the gifts his white friends offer him, but these only make him more dependent on them, causing him to lose his dignity (and remember that this, in itself, parallels the larger plight of Native Americans ). In the end, the reader gets the impression that, unlike “The Third and Final Continent,” individual relationships with conformed members of the community do not matter here; they have no influence on the community or how it possibly treats outsiders. However, the conclusion of “What You Pawn, I Will Redeem” offers a small glimmer of hope. “I stepped off the sidewalk and came to the intersection,” he says,.