An Analysis Of Jack And Jill

Class struggles have appeared in societies of all epochs of history. As humans, we are constantly valuing and arranging ourselves into levels of social status according to power, intelligence, and wealth. Karl Marx’s perspective of the proletariat and bourgeoisie struggle can be used to analyze simple concepts and ideas from unlikely places. These comparisons to Marx’s view brings about creative and profound interpretations. Jack and Jill, a famous children’s nursery rhyme, can be analyzed in this way. Although it is not the epitome of the working class revolution, Jack and Jill can metaphorically represent the relationship between the bourgeoisie and proletariat. Jack and Jill represent the working class, who struggle against the hill or

The water, in this case, represents the product or reward Jack and Jill are working for. However, despite their efforts, the arduous hill causes them to fall, and the product is kept out of the workers’ reach. The author wants us to sympathize with Jack and Jill, who are determined to work together in attempts to get water but suffer injuries at the bottom of the hill. This Marxist analysis can be directly connected to The Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx. For example, in the novel, the proletariat is described as “a class of laborers, who only live only so long as they find work, and who find work only so long as their labor increases capital” (Marx 68). This quote explains the relationship between the workers and the capitalists, where the capitalists keep the products of the worker’s labor power. The bourgeoisie requires much effort from the proletariat but keeps the product of their labor out of reach, much like the hill does for Jack and Jill. Similarly, the proletariat vs bourgeoisie relationship portrayed in Jack and Jill can be associated with ideas from Popular Culture

The nursery rhyme does not encourage the audience to desire a revolution, but instead invites us to accept the proletariat’s failure, as they will never acquire the water they work for. If there was a revolution, we would be encouraged to cheer for Jack and Jill, who would seize the product they deserve. On the contrary, The Communist Manifesto clearly supports the proletariat revolution. For example, throughout the first chapter of the novel, Marx points out the inevitable fall of the bourgeoisie and victory of the proletariat, “Not only has the bourgeoisie forged the weapons that bring death to itself; it has also called into existence the men who are to wield those weapons—the modern working class—the proletarians” (Marx 68). It is discernible by his emphasis on the bourgeoisie’s production of its own “grave-diggers” that Marx anticipates the proletariat revolution. Moreover, the article titled Punk: The Do-It-Yourself Subculture, by Ian P. Moran, describes the political statements used by punks to rebel against society. For example the article shows how punks challenge authority and mainstream standards through the D.I.Y. punk social movement, “Being able to produce and distribute ideas and art without the interference of major corporations seems to be the main idea within the punk subculture” (Moran 64). This quote encapsulates punks’ anti-establishment and