Obedience to Authority by Stanley Milgram
Published 1974 · 53,018 words · about 3 hours at an average pace · Non-Fiction, Psychology, Science
How hard is Obedience to Authority to read?
Obedience to Authority scores 46 out of 100 for difficulty on ReadingRate, making it moderately challenging. The score is a weighted composite of nine measures: four of how hard the prose is to parse, five of how hard the meaning is to extract.
- Vocabulary: 78 out of 100
- Milgram employs a precise, academic lexicon, consistently using specialized social psychological and scientific terminology such as 'ubiquitousness,' 'prepotent impulse,' 'dispositional cement,' and 'agentic state.' While not archaic or invented like 'Finnegans Wake,' the sustained use of such vocabulary places a significant demand on the reader, akin to the scientific jargon found in 'Gravity's Rainbow.'
- Sentence structure: 75 out of 100
- Milgram's analytical prose features consistently long sentences, often with multiple subordinate clauses and parenthetical explanations, particularly in the theoretical sections. Although it does not reach the extreme lengths or unpunctuated flows of 'Ulysses' or 'Absalom, Absalom!,' the intricate sentence structure and substantial paragraph length require careful parsing, placing it above '2666' in grammatical demands.
- Abstraction: 82 out of 100
- The book frequently shifts from concrete descriptions of psychological experiments to profound theoretical and philosophical discussions on human nature, social hierarchies, and the 'agentic state.' It explicitly analyzes abstract concepts like responsibility, conscience, and the evolutionary basis of obedience, making it highly theoretical and less narrative-driven, placing it closer to 'Waiting for Godot' than 'Gravity's Rainbow' in its sustained abstraction.
- Information density: 80 out of 100
- The text is densely packed with interconnected concepts, experimental variations, and theoretical arguments, demanding sustained attention to grasp the nuances of Milgram's analysis. Each chapter introduces new ideas, models (e.g., cybernetic viewpoint, automata), and their implications, requiring a high cognitive load per page, comparable to the conceptual richness of 'War and Peace.'
- Narrative indirection: 100 out of 100
- Milgram's work is a direct scientific exposition, clearly outlining the experiments, their methodology, and his interpretations of the findings. The author explicitly states meaning and purpose, such as 'The important task... is to be able to take conceptions of authority and translate them into personal experience,' leaving little room for reader inference. The text prioritizes clarity and factual reporting over narrative ambiguity, contrasting sharply with works like 'Finnegans Wake' (98).
- Symbolic density: 50 out of 100
- As a scientific treatise, 'Obedience to Authority' focuses on empirical data and direct analysis rather than literary symbolism. While the subject matter of obedience carries profound real-world implications, the text itself does not employ recurring motifs or allegories to convey meaning beyond its literal scientific findings. The 'shock generator' and experimental setup are presented as factual components, not as symbolic representations requiring deeper interpretation, unlike 'Moby-Dick' (90).
- Ironic distance: 50 out of 100
- The author maintains a consistently objective and serious academic tone throughout the book, presenting his research and analysis without any discernible ironic detachment. There is no gap between what the text states and what the author intends; Milgram's voice is direct and earnest in its scientific inquiry. The book lacks the satirical or unreliable narrative elements that would create ironic distance, placing it closer to 'Diary of a Young Girl' (15) than 'Lolita' (75).
- Resolution withholding: 15 out of 100
- Milgram's primary aim is to systematically investigate and explain the psychological mechanisms of obedience, providing clear findings and theoretical models. The book offers explicit conclusions and analyses for the questions it poses, such as the agentic state and binding factors, rather than leaving core mysteries unresolved. While the societal implications are open-ended, the scientific inquiry within the text strives for definitive resolution, contrasting sharply with 'Waiting for Godot' (95).
- Structural complexity: 100 out of 100
- The book employs a straightforward, linear structure typical of scientific research, progressing logically from problem introduction to detailed experimental methods, results, and theoretical analysis. There are no complex narrative devices such as non-chronological timelines, shifting points of view, or unreliable narrators, unlike 'Ulysses' (98) or 'Flights' (88). The inclusion of subject transcripts serves as direct evidence within the author's consistent expository framework, not as a structural experiment.
How Obedience to Authority is regarded
Obedience to Authority holds a literary regard score of 73 out of 100, weighing its place in the canon, its critical reception, its influence on other writers, and the standing of its author. Regard is measured separately from difficulty: a demanding book is not necessarily an admired one.