<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>Prompt: Are we free to make our own choices in life, or are our decisions always limited by the rules of society?</p>
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<p>Essay:</p>
<p>The rules and constructs of a particular society limits how and individual can act and live.</p>
<p>Throughout literature and history there are many examples of a society persecuting an outlying individual. Even in the more tolerant world of today, eccentric individuals are often outcast for their differences. This innate human instinct to form groups and vilify outsiders makes it difficult to create an alternative lifestyle.</p>
<p>For example, in The Scarlet Letter, the main character and her lover and persistently persecuted by the member of their town for their affair. Though Hester survives the ordeal, her lover Dimmesdale dies from the stress. Their actions were far from accepted by the townspeople, and evidences the inability to truly nonconform without consequences.</p>
<p>Another well-known piece of literature illustrates this point. In the story of Tarzan, the lost child is adopted by a society of apes. Knowing no others, the boy grows up conforming to the rules of the hominid society. It is only after Tarzan leaves his jungle home that he begins to live like a man, though this is simply conforming to a different culture's traditions. In the end, Tarzan has not lived an alternative lifestyle and adapts rather quickly to the constraints of human society.</p>
<p>Perhaps one of the oldest and most famous persecutions of this is the story of the Greek philosopher Socrates. During his time, Socrates was known as a nuisance in Athens, primarily for questioning the societal norms. For this insistence on questions in the rules of his group, Socrates was put to death.</p>
<p>These examples show clearly that it is difficult to live apart from the rules of a society, and persecution is the curse of these alternative decisions.</p>