Intolerance to Difference: Social Realities and Norms in the Crucible, The Guest, And the Old Chief Mshlanga Human societies have, throughout the years, established norms, values, and artifacts that are collectively agreed-upon by its members. The culture of a society can be both advantageous and disadvantageous to its people. Norms and values held important by members of a society can be advantageous in that it provides people with social structure and order. It is disadvantageous when members of the society become intolerant to individuals or groups that deviate or differ from the majority in the society. When cases like this happen, social conflicts and destabilization occur, leading to the marginalization and eventual displacement of some members from their society.

Intolerance to social deviation and differences are the main themes discussed in three works of literature. The Crucible by Arthur Miller, The Guest by Albert Camus, and The Old Chief Mshlanga by Doris Lessing are examples of literary works that reflect on the issue of rigidity of social

Miller, Camus, and Lessing's works center on the situation where an individual is confronted in deciding whether to conform to the norms dictated by the society or not. Camus and Lessing's written works discuss the issue of racial differences, while Miller's center on the dominance of the Christian religion against the taboo rituals and tradition of non-Christian practices, which the characters refer to and symbolize through witchcraft.
A character analysis of the protagonists in the three authors' works show that all of them share the same internal conflict: whether or not they should conform or deviate from the strict rules and norms imposed by their society. This is explicitly shown in the short story by Lessing, The Old…