Bichapulaq
Religious theme
A belief is an assumed truth.
An externally generated belief: The alternative to finding things out for yourself is to take on board things that others have found out. People who generally prefer to accept beliefs from others have a greater need for a sense of control.
Commitment: a public or private decision to act. If we make a commitment, we often feel bound to follow through on it, for fear of social rejection or simply due to the threat of cognitive dissonance.
Roles: expectations of behaviors
Religious is an externally generated belief which plays an important part in this book. The Creedish church pretty much takes over the control of their people, their names, marriage, property, life, and even controlling their death. There was a commitment for the Creedish since they were baptized. Their roles were to follow the rules in Church, and devote themselves to their Lord. They have to send themselves to their Lord in Heaven when the church called for Deliverance.
Mass Media
Informational social influence: When we do not know how to behave, we copy other people. They thus act as information sources for how to behave as we assume they know what they are doing. Also because we care a great deal about what others think about us, this provides a safe course of action—at the very least, they cannot criticize us for our actions.
Newspaper, televisions, radios and even rumors connect people with information from different places. In the story, Tender was told by the caseworker and the FBI that his religion was called for the Deliverance ten years ago. Almost all of the Creedish committed in the mass suicide, including those out of the district, he was one of the few survivors according to their record. Mass media create informational social influence when the people...
Please login to view the full essay...