Conformity Leads to Discontentment

Conformity leads to Discontentment

The need for acceptance is one of most fundamental desires shared by all humans. However, how often do people allow their need for acceptance to hinder the act of making their own decisions? Too frequently people try to comply with a group or society's norms only to be dissatisfied with the fact that their not doing what they want to do. Did their need to belong lead them to their dissatisfaction? Individuals tend to take on a role of what they think is appropriate for the acceptance of others and do not think about their own preferences. Through the novel Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway demonstrates that the need of acceptance plays a role in an individual's conformity which leads to their own discontentment, through the protagonist Lieutenant Fredrick Henry.

In Hemingway's work, he examines the fact that we never do the things we want to do by showing how Fredrick Henry constantly does things only to impress other people and does not do things for himself. When Fredrick is given a Saint Anthony chain he decides he is not going to wear it, that is until he encounters the driver who says "I have one. It's better to wear him. That's what it's for." (Hemingway 44) As soon as the driver shows him that he also wears the Saint Anthony, Fredrick puts it on. It demonstrates that Fredrick would do anything a man would do just to fit in. Although Fredrick's decision is made without feeling of being unsatisfied afterward, there are times when his conformity does not make him happy.

Fredrick's need to feel accepted misguides him and leaves him feeling unhappy is when he gets to take a leave. Fredrick has to decide between going to visit the priest's family or going to various cities as suggested by the soldiers. He makes a decision to go to various cities instead of visiting the priest's family. When he comes back to the front, he is disappointed in himself "I myself felt badly and could not understand why I had not gone. It was what I wanted to do."(Hemingway 13) Fredrick acknowledges the fact the he did not do what he wanted do. "Henry would like to visit with the priest in his mountain village, but he cannot bring himself to do it."(Keith) Fredrick does not want to go to the priest family home and be rejected by the soldiers, so he submits to their suggestion. He does not seem to understand that because he was unable to make his own decision and went with what others thought was best for him is the reason he is feeling dejected.

Another situation where Hemingway portrays how doing what other say we should do leads to one's discontentment is when Fredrick is at the mess. Fredrick is told to join the Bacchus, a drinking contest. "Not Bacchus." (Hemingway 40) Fredrick does not want to engage in any sort of drinking game because he knows he has to meet up with Catherine