Conformity is a person's belief or behavior that is influenced by their environment. Rebellion is the act of refusing to listen to or follow authority. There are different costs and benefits of conformity and rebellion. The assigned readings highlight many of these examples. However, living a life of conformity, rather than rebellion, would be a good and safe decision. If one is a conformist should he continue to live that way or change to be a rebel? The cost of conformity would be in question whether one's environment was positive or negative. This would reflect whether or not one should go with the flow or rebel against it. When you choose to be a rebel in life, you take a risk. Many people don't think about the consequences of some of their life decisions. Referring to the story “The Lottery” (Jackson). The people of the village would be considered conformists because of their beliefs. The villagers' ritual of holding a lottery once a year was influenced by their ancestors. If one decided to disobey or rebel against the ritual he would find himself in great embarrassment. Tessie had her beliefs and wasn't afraid to stand up for herself. It seems that whoever had the piece of paper with the black dot would have been stoned by the other villagers. Storr 2Tessie tried to stop this from happening to her husband. Tessie shouted, “You didn't give him enough time to get all the paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn't right!”(p.343). Although Tessie showed courage in saving her husband. However, her acts of rebellion lead to her being stoned to death. The next example, showing the costs and benefits of conformity and rebellion, is expressed in the story "Two Kinds" (Tan). Jing-mei's Mother...... middle of paper...... convinces her husband to change his mind. Unfortunately his persuasions were unsuccessful. Mr. Helmer's respect for the law was expressed through this quote that he shared with Nora. After trying to help Krogstad, her husband asks her if “She forged someone's name. Do you have any idea what that means?" (p.460). As far as he knew, he knew that his wife Nora had committed the same crime. Nora showed a sense of rebellion against authority. Loans were not to be given to women. So he decided to forge her father's name with a loan. Her aim was to save her husband's life. In a life or death situation a person must do what he must to survive his family from the anguish and pain of death. However in the end he still ends up losing his family because of the decisions he made. This meant abandoning them.