Conceptualizing the Concept of the Internalization of Internal Thoughts

Internalization. The thing that makes events "normal." What is normal? In Song of Solomon, we see Guitar and a gentleman at a bar discuss the death of Emmett Till. Freddie, the gentleman in the conversation, believes that Till is at fault for his own murder from, "acting big down in Bilbo Country" (Morrison 49). Basically, Freddie's internal thoughts leads him to believe that a black man should not have catcalled a white lady; so his death was his own fault because black men are naturally inferior and Till tried to step out of this "normal" mindset. Guitar however, sees a different light. He believes that Till should have not been killed out of a simple act of catcalling a white woman. In fact, he is in disbelief when Freddie says his rationale for the justification of Till's death. The internalization of racial inequality can affect the people of any race, but it can lead to the acceptance of inferiority rather than the freeing of these racial beliefs.

Even in real life we see the internalization of other thoughts that we deem "normal." For example, who decided the colors that look appealing together. Why is red and green not a compatible outfit for fashion? Or who decided that a book reads left to right top to bottom? These everyday examples help define internalization and makes me wonder about a simple question: what is "normal" and how does one become "normal?"

What other scenarios are just the general normality in everyday life?

Comments

  1. Not PrestoNovember 19, 2017 at 10:12 AM

    Society as a whole does seem to have this unified mindset on how certain things "normally" are, and your pointing this out is quite interesting. I myself have dealt with this a good bit, even the concept of something as simple as the hair length a dude is "normally" supposed to have without being either gay or a hippie. To be honest, the amount something as simple as my hair length angers/bothers people, is further incentive for me to keep it the length it is, just for the hell of it really. Any time that a majority of a group of people do something, it becomes indoctrinated into a society's values, and people often don't like this being messed with.

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  2. UnknownNovember 19, 2017 at 1:36 PM

    Another thought provoking blog james! I really enjoy reading your blogs because they always leave you questioning life. I think another normalcy of society is that mac and cheese is suppose to be eaten with a fork! Which is not the case, I gotta have a spoon!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Marina MalyarenkoNovember 19, 2017 at 5:44 PM

    I like all your questions. This post really shows the spectrum of societal norms, from everyday things to questions of life and death.

    ReplyDelete

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