Sociological Analysis Of The Movie

I thought the movie was good. The conflicting personalities and attitudes of Shannon and Joseph I think made the movie interesting. I think their personalities were also admirable. To me, it is commendable to see people who express themselves. One of the sociological perspectives that can be applied to this movie is the functionalist perspective. It focuses on society as a set of interrelated parts that work together to produce a social system. Emile Durkheim and Herbert Spencer influenced it. The main assumptions of the functionalist perspective are society is held together through consensus; most people agree on what is best for society and will work together to ensure that the social system runs smoothly. The topics of interests of the …show more content…
The aforementioned examples relate to division of work in the family either by their affiliation with certain groups or their response to certain roles. The functionalist perspective can be applied to Shannon’s departure from the factory because her departure slows down the operation of the factory. Shannon lashing out at her boss may show that daughters in upper class Irish families don’t have to work. As for Joseph leaving the railroad workers, the functionalist perspective would explain that his departure from the train declined the operation of his …show more content…
The wagon was used by an Irish man for transportation. As for the long barrel shotgun, it was used by Joseph in his attempt to kill Shannon’s father. Another was used by the people of the house that Shannon and Joseph entered. A couple examples of language are Shannon calling Joseph a “boy” and Joseph being called a “mick.” The term “boy” in Ireland is used to distinguish the low class Irish people from the high class. People calling Joseph a “mick” could be a word that Americans used to refer to an Irish immigrant. There are two examples of values in the film. Those two examples are Shannon’s mother telling Shannon to cover her neck and prohibiting her husband from drinking at home. Shannon’s mother told Shannon to cover neck to stop her from being “vulgar.” I believe that her resistance to her husband drinking at home showed disapproval with his drinking habits. Some examples of norms are Joseph sitting at Shannon’s dinner table and Shannon dancing at Joseph’s match. Even though Shannon questions Joseph sitting at her dinner table, there is no great moral significance to it. However, there was some moral significance to Shannon dancing at Joseph’s boxing match. The reason is that she was dancing for the men’s entertainment, which seemed shameful to