Non Conformist

As the world is seen as alienating, unfriendly and an ugly environment to the minority, those who find themselves as an outsider find that they are non-conformists, one who does not conform to, or refuses to be bound by, accepted beliefs, customs, or practices. Those who do conform to this way of life are the outcasts; they feel alienated and displaced as they reject the dominant paradigm.

To be a conformist a person who uncritically or habitually conforms to the customs, rules, or styles of a group is to be part of an accepted code. To be a non-conformist in a changing society is to be given a cold shoulder and thought to have no moral decency. Within these characteristics, the non-conformist hide their identities behind a concealing mask.
This is because these minority figures shape themselves into what society wants them to be.

T.S Eliot travels through two personality differences of conformity and non-conformity, the journey of diverse psychology. Eliot 's writing is open for an outsider 's interpretation with existential messages of human condition that is relevant in today 's society. While the writing is directed for an educated and elite audience as it is demanding and complicated, the audience can still identify with the poems of dilemma and found position and it can still be enjoyed on many levels.

T.S Eliot travels through the concepts of conformity and nonconformity in great depth.
Transforming the conventional ideas, he develops the qualities of both non-conformists and conformists into a more complicated, diverse picture. Presenting this non-conformist voice of rhythm, he establishes both non-conforming and conforming characters. Eliot shows the contradictory argument of both qualities with their conflicting attributes as their true identities are hidden as society shapes the idea of their individual qualities. This is shown as Eliot gives us a sense in which he is a conformist 'My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin ' as he has been apart of the middle class word - 'For I have known them all already…Beneath the music from a farther room '. This conformist side of T.S Eliot is produced prominently in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, demonstrating the idea that he shapes himself into the ideals of society. However in Rhapsody on a. Windy Night he produces a contradictory dynamic of being a conformist when he reveals the characteristics of non-conformity, how he sees the corruption of society 'Twisted like a crooked pin '. While he travels, walking through the streets in his mind at night, seeing the cold, hard, confronting images of suffering and revealing society undergoing change that has turned catastrophic 'So the hand of the child, automatic/Slipped out and pocketed a toy/I could see nothing behind that child 's eye '. Here he reveals
his inner dimension, how he is an outsider, living in the world with consciousness, a sense in which he is prepared for the ordinary, corrupt, instinctive, mundane way of life 'Put on your shoes at the door, sleep, prepare for life/The last twist of the knife '.

These qualities illustrate that even though he looks the part of conformity, he retreats back into his non-conformist ways- roaming the streets 'Along the reaches of the street ', seeing the world bare with corruption.

John Fowles travels through the deep, serious and realistic pictures of a distorted personality and produces a social morality of the world. As the book is set as a first person narrative, Fowler also uses inclosed diary entries to symbolise that Miranda is trapped into the world of Clegg. Fowlers ' writing is popular to many ranges as it is a crime thriller about a killer. The Collector does not pose many complicated directions and is easy to read.

Reading between the lines, Fowles opens a world filled with concepts of conformity and non-conformity. In The Collector, Fowles reveals a light behind that of social displacement; but a life that is only lived in fantasy and dreams '…I gave myself to dream,…I knew my love was worthy of her ' . This quality is shared by both Clegg and T.S Eliot as they have the attributes of shaping themselves into societies view. Clegg tries to change for Miranda '…I began to read the classy newspapers,…I went to the National Gallery and the Tate Gallery ' and Eliot produces the 'look ' of conformity by dressing well 'My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin ' and going to middle class functions. They both retreat back into their ways of non-conformity, transforming and living in their thoughts, T.S Eliot- on a journey in his mind as he roams the streets of poverty 'The secret of its skeleton/…A broken spring in a factory yard ' and Clegg in his fantasies of being with Miranda '…living in a nice modern house, married, with kids and everything '.

As Clegg lives in his mind, he replaces living a real life and trades it in for a life in thought. These attributes of non-conformity are concealed as he starts to change himself into a conformist to fit into Miranda 's way of life '…But I went so as I could talk to her, so I wouldn 't seem ignorant '. Clegg also has a sense in which he portrays conventional ideas about women, sex and marriage.

Although in spite of these conforming qualities, Clegg lives a life of non-conformity, he is an outsider that is not accepted by society and feels as though he is alone 'I stayed the lone wolf '. Clegg always comes back into this view of how society looks down upon him 'look down at us because we weren 't brought up their way ' and how he has this conscious feeling as though they are looking down on him. All these ideas retreat back to the same idea that society is out to get him.

Miranda exemplifies the very contradiction of conformity and non-conformity and the fine line between. A product of strict conformity she rebels with a bohemian life style, straying far from the rituals of her childhood. Yet essentially she is a conformist retreating back to her known world visualising her life at home with longing.

Miranda develops these conventional ideas toward Clegg as though all that is on his mind is sex, wanting her body and her 'He has some secret. He must want me physically '. Miranda is unable to contemplate the ideas of Clegg- what he wants from her 'I find it frightening that he didn 't do anything. What is he? '.

Fowler gives us a sense in which Clegg is the victim, as though he blames society for being isolated 'London 's all arranged for the people who can act like public schoolboys, you don 't get anywhere if you don 't have the manner born and the la-di-da voice '.
This is also shown by Eliot as he believes he is a victim of the world 'brought in upon a platter. 'Clegg feels as though the world doesn 't understand him and that society looks down upon him, which illustrates the dynamic of being unable to talk to Miranda. This is also illustrated by Eliot, being unable to find words to represent what is felt "Should I say: 'that is not what I meant at all. That is not it, at all ' "T.S Eliot and Clegg both obtain the quality of self-deprecating themselves. Showing a rhythm of self loathing, Clegg always retreats back to the importance of class '…I mean rich people 's London '. This is exemplified also by Eliot as he justifies himself as just an ordinary person 'No! I am not Prince Hamlet…/Am an attendant lord/…At times, indeed, almost ridiculous-/Almost, at times, the Fool
'.

The twisting and turning of conformity and non-conformity, to suit aspects of life, doubt and judgment is an intriguing part of both texts. The fine line between the both is a tool of survival in a world that is not as simple as black and white. T.S Eliot and John Fowles have portrayed this fundamental value with their gripping images.

BIBLIOGRAPHYJ. Fowles, The Collector, LSD London, 1959T.S Eliot, Collection of T.S Eliots fine works