The Final Draft

Beyond the Crowd: The Weight of a Single Vote

Metaphors are often used to clarify and enrich an individual’s understanding of a topic, perhaps by providing previous knowledge to understand a new concept better or illustrate a need for social change. I could say, “It’s raining cats and dogs,” to emphasize how heavily it is raining, utilizing the size of cats and dogs to highlight the rain’s heaviness. In the work of literature, On Immunity, Eula Biss uses the metaphor of herds and hives to represent one’s role and the degree of immunity in a population. Using a voice as a metaphor for voting demonstrates the essentialness of voting, especially regarding issues and candidates that specifically affect us. The use of herds and hives in representing immunity in a population as seen in On Immunity by Eula Biss and the metaphor, “Your vote is your voice”, demonstrate the impact of one’s individual opinions and actions on affecting an entire community’s way of life.

Eula Biss decides to represent how one views immunity and its phenomenon through
herds and hives. Herd immunity is the idea that “vaccinating only part of a population” (Biss 20) or that many people “acquired natural immunity from infection during an epidemic” (Biss 20) provides a large impact in stopping the epidemic. These direct and indirect modes of protection create lulls in widespread disease and decrease the number of infections. This phenomenon comes from seeing oneself as just part of a group. Thus, using herds as a metaphor has been critiqued since we often view ourselves as individuals instead of just part of one large group. If
one considers their body as “inherently disconnected from [other] bodies” (Biss 20) they would not tend to associate themself with an imitative crowd, without the chance of individualism. Thus one would believe that the health of others would not affect us as long as one maintains healthy habits. Shifting from the herd metaphor, where cows are considered foolish, to a hive metaphor where honeybees are considered, “matriarchal, environmental do-gooders” (Biss 21) and “entirely interdependent” (Biss 21), our concept of shared immunity is shed in a more positive
light. With our “disconnected body” ideology, one tends to gravitate to “hive immunity” as it demonstrates our actions affecting the community’s health. Thus one’s individualism is maintained while illustrating the importance of interdependence and cooperation in a population. Hence, the use of the herd and hive metaphor garner contrasting results in representing one’s role in the population’s collective immunity.

When reflecting on how our individual choices impact society, voting comes into mind, especially the metaphor, “Your vote is your voice”. By comparing your vote to your voice, many feel more empowered in carrying out this civic duty by essentially saying that voting is one’s mechanism in expressing their opinions and enacting change within a community. However, many may say that your vote is not worth much and thus wouldn’t be an effective voice in addressing issues that affect your daily life. For example, in the United States presidential election, many would scorn voting for a third-party candidate, voting for a Democratic candidate in a red state, or voting for a Republican candidate in a blue state. Succumbing to this groupthink mindset where only the state’s major political parties matter, often discourages individuals from voting, especially if their beliefs differ from the general public opinion. Thus, many feel like they are part of one large group that lacks varied perspectives and stances, where individuality is quickly put down. However, one could think of voting similar to how one feels about hive immunity. By voting, an individual opinion has more of an effect than one realizes. There have been many instances where candidates were elected just from a few votes from Chris Eachus winning the representative position for New York’s 99th State District Assembly by eight votes in 2022 (Gross) to George I. Wiggins winning the New Hampshire senator position by a singular vote in 1982 (New Hampshire Public Radio). Thus our votes hold much more power than we realize especially in close election races. Thus it makes voting not seem like a chore that potentially has no benefits to your opinions and beliefs but rather an outlet to express one’s individualism and impacts the interdependent, cooperating U.S. voting systems. Due to the push and pull of the U.S. presidential voting system with the general election and Electoral College, many would argue that the voting results would only matter in the swing states, which have
similar levels of Democratic and Republican support. However, public opinion on political parties can change over time. Georgia, a state that generally sided with the Republican party, ended up being won by Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election and was the first Democrat to win Georgia since 1992 (CNN.com). Many kept in mind that their vote was their voice, their chance to enact substantial change in their community, and used this voice to vote for the unexpected political party. This shows how expressing one’s individual thinking provides interdependent results as this “different opinion” made a huge impact which turned Georgia from a red state to a blue state. Consequently, one doesn’t need to conform to the general popular
opinion to impact one’s community and can retain individuality with the complementary voting systems implemented for elections. Thus, your vote is an instrumental voice in deciding a community’s policies and future and encourages us to stand up for what we believe in and engage further in politics throughout our lives.

The heard and hive immunity metaphor and the “Your vote is your voice” metaphor
provide different outlets on how one can view their role and impact on society. The demeaning effects of groupthink are seen through the idea of herd immunity and questioning the value of one’s vote, therefore creating a sense of despair for the lack of individuality. However, the ideas of hive immunity and seeing the true power in one’s vote provide a shift in perspective, thus invigorating us to be productive, impactful members of society. Consequently, it is up to each individual to decide what pathway they would take in making effectual progress within a society.

Works Cited
Biss, Eula. On Immunity : An Innoculation. Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2015, pp. 20-21.
CNN.com. “Georgia 2020 Election Results.” Www.cnn.com, www.cnn.com/election/2020/results/state/georgia.
Gross, Hank. “Eachus Squeaks by with Assembly Win- Mid Hudson News.” Mid Hudson News, 23 Dec. 2022, midhudsonnews.com/2022/12/23/eachus-squeaks-by-with-assembly-win/.
New Hampshire Public Radio. “1982 State Senator General Election.” Nh.electionstats.com, 1983, nh.electionstats.com/elections/view/61620/.