Acceptance In West Side Story

While we may seek acceptance by others, we need to stay true to ourselves.

In a society which inherently seeks to categorise individuals and in which others’ acceptance is based largely on the extent to which one conforms, it is paramount that each person finds their genuine place in the world. Our society is fundamentally based around the often artificial groups to which we belong and the attributes and qualities associated with them. As a result, adherence to the pre-existing guidelines which define these groups, and to the expectations of others, can often be the easiest and is in some cases the only path to fitting in. However, the complexity and depth of our inner being can sometimes require that we go above and beyond others’ ideals
We see the members of Glee and indeed Rachael and John Book begin to challenge their stereotypes, but Arthur Laurents’ musical West Side Story demonstrates the true importance of interactions with others. A modern American adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story depicts the 1940s American gangland warfares between two gangs, the Jets and the Sharks. Similar to Shakespeare’s Montagues and Capulets, each member of the gang is brought up to loathe those in the opposing clan, and to fit the mould expected of them in line with the gang’s ideologies, emphasised by the lyrics “when you’re a jet you’re a jet all the way”. Tony and Maria, from opposing gangs, fall in love and go against the beliefs of their families and comrades in order to further their relationship. These two individuals see such a great need to indulge their love for one another that they are prepared to sacrifice others’ opinions of them in order to meld into “one hand, one heart”. This represents their common life goal – one of peace and love – which demonstrates that culture and upbringing do not have to limit thought and belief. The protagonist in each of these situations feels they are repressed by society and by others’ presumptions, and Holden Caulfield in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye
Those in particular who thrive on the validation of others, often find themselves simply indifferent to what they are doing to their identity, but far more intent on seeking the approval of those around them. Even in Holden’s environment at Pencey Prep, individuals such as Ernest Morrow and Ackley execute each of their actions in order to gain popularity, yet Holden loses all respect for them because they stand for nothing and they are no more sensitive than a “toilet seat”. The pressure to get good grades, to be popular and to fit the upper-class “mould” which Pencey promotes cause some individuals to develop vain, narrow-minded existences, who only interact with the world around them on a truly superficial level. In Bruce Dawe’s ‘Easy Does It’, the father seeks to prevent “his boy” from falling into this very stereotype. Although he realises his role as a father, to protect and “be careful” with his son, his absolute priority is to allow his “immediate-delivery-genuine-fold-up-and-extensible world” to continue to develop; to foster his childish innocence and sense of wonder. In the same way that Holden despises explicit graffiti at the museum and wants to become the “catcher in the rye” in order to protect children’s open-mindedness, this father realises that development