Society's Pesky Fly

Keeping society awake

Upon reading Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail and Plato’s Apology, I couldn’t help but notice a very similar use of metaphors for similar purposes. This metaphor is that of the gadfly. Before we look into the metaphor, allow me to explain what a gadfly is exactly. A gadfly is a fly that typically annoyshorses or livestock by biting them and constantly pestering them around. With this in mind, the metaphorical use of the gadfly by MLK and Socrates can be seen as entirely accurate. As the metaphorical gadfly, they constantly nip at the policies of the state/government and ask questions in order to keep the government in check and constantly updated in its policies. In the words of Socrates recorded in Plato’s Apology, “if you kill me you will not easily find another like me, who, if I may use such a ludicrous figure of speech, am a sort of gadfly, given to the state by the God; and the state is like a great and noble steed who is tardy in his motions owing to his very size, and requires to be stirred into life.” In this, Socrates starts the metaphor of the gadfly and seems to begin the idealization of standing up against the state. 

About 2400 years later, and the use of the metaphorical gadfly to describe social/political activism is still as strong as ever, this time with King using it to describe himself. Just as Socrates did long before, King stirred up awareness and activism in order to garnish support of the Civil Rights movement of his day. In his famous Letter from a Birmingham Jail, King declares “the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood.” To King, acting as a gadfly for society was imperative in order to bring about positive change for society. Clearly acting as a social gadfly was effective, for through King’s actions African Americans were afforded the civil liberties that were withheld from them for so long.

Purpose of a social gadfly is to upset the
status quo

It is quite evident in his writings, that King was heavily influence by Socrates and his teachings , as he states “Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal.” Obviously King saw the importance of acting out against societal standards in order to constantly keep the government in check, and with this he looked with admiration upon the actions of Socrates so long before him. King believed that “to a degree, academic freedom is a reality today because Socrates practiced civil disobedience.” With this in mind it becomes fascinating how through King’s actions, civil freedoms are around today (to an extent) for a larger proportion of the population.

You could say Marx stirred things up a bit

With all of this thinking about social gadflies, I started reflecting on some other people that can be seen in some of the readings that we have recently looked at that can also be compared as a social gadfly. With the Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto, while not taking an active role in changing society, his works helped bring about a more direct look into the horrors of the current capitalistic system in place at the time and incite revolutions around the world. While it can be argued about the extent to Marx’s positive social impact, his role in questioning common societal norms at the time leads to his being labeled as a gadfly. For in bringing up unsettling questions about the commonly accepted norms of his time, Marx was doing what Socrates did many years earlier and what MLK would do several decades later.

Along similar lines as Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X can definitely be considered a social gadfly as well in his questioning of African American’s civil rights through his The Ballot or The Bullet. While taking a less passive approach towards civil rights, the questions and issues that he raised through his campaign for awareness helped bring about many positive social changes for the African Americans living in America at the time. Malcolm X was not satisfied with the way things stood for people of his race, and therefore questioned the government and institutions running the country in order to bring about positive change.

The key thing to remember about social gadflies, however is that it does not have to bring about a positive change, simply to upset the status quo. The role of a gadfly is to upset the balance of things as they stand by asking questions or simply being irritating. With this in mind, I present to you the example of one of my favorite characters in any movie: Tyler Durden from Fight Club. This movie is incredibly well done and has loads of twists and turns, but that is besides the point. The main point being, is that Tyler Durden is a social gadfly for society. 

Not all gadflies need to be clean cut

Without providing too many spoilers for those who haven't seen the movie (if you haven't seen it I would simply recommend go watching it), Tyler Durden is a man with a vision. He sees a capitalistic system that has overtaken society as a whole and plans to slowly bring about the destruction of a system that puts profits and purchases above basic interpersonal relationships. Resultantly, Tyler's famous line showcases his role as a social gadfly the best: "I want you to hit me." Tyler is unlike anyone else in the movie in that he appears to be a man that is crazy. He starts a club that is based solely around people beating the living hell out of each other, sometimes to the point of near death. Tyler upsets the status quo by asking the questions that nobody else dared, and by simply being a thorn in the side of a society that he sees as totally against everything humanity stands for. Without spoiling the end of the movie, Tyler Durden as a social gadfly takes drastic actions in order to bring about change. 

Fight Club at its best

Change is the key issue at the core of a social gadfly's agenda. Namely, such a person does not want to see a society ever become too comfortable with itself and forget its basic values. A metaphorical gadfly, just as an actual one, does not let the society become too sleepy before it bites into its side and rears it back into a state of awareness. Such people allow for change in society and constantly advocate for it through the tough questions. 

Resultantly, it is our duty as citizens to constantly act as social gadflies. Always be prepared to ask uncomfortable questions about our society, so as to constantly advocate progress for a country that is far from perfect. The political Facebook statuses and tweets are far from the actions of a social gadfly, and we must instead be prepared to ask such questions that the greats before us asked in their time. Whether it was Socrates with his quest for academic freedom, or MLK with his journey for equal rights for all, there will always be something worth raising awareness for, and just as this course has taught us, there is never any individual way of running things. 

Never accept the status quo
Be a gadfly

Gadfly photo found here

Tyler Durden photo found here 

Martin Luther King Jr. photo found here 

Russian Revolution photo found here

Change photo found here