Cultural Tightness-Looseness and Spiral of Silence: A Cause-and-Effect Study of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder

Abstract

The Cultural norms and values play an important role in human life. They may become a source of flourishing or a hindrance to self-growth. The people within a community may choose to live either with justice by raising their voices or with inequality by staying silent. This study explores these issues in the novel A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. The study uses a qualitative design to analyse the text. Purposive sampling and thematic coding are used to extract the data. Primary and secondary sources have been consulted for the study. Gelfand et al.'s (2006) theory of cultural tightness-looseness and Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann’s (1974) Spiral of Silence are adapted as a theoretical framework. It is a cause-and-effect study; both theories are found in interplay in the text. The study determines that tight cultures are more likely to develop the spiral of silence on many intricate issues, which cause injustice and inequality, and make the minority suffer. But there is always a minority voice that overcomes the societal pressure and frees the victim. The study has implications for literary readers, researchers, and rigid societies to consider the consequences.