Ernest Hemingway’s novel, The Sun Also Rises, deals with a number of issues that might be examined through a Marxist point of view. For one thing, the story includes a numerous amount of references to class status. The words “upper class” (153) and “peasants” (156) are both present in the text. There is a definite portrayal of social ranking in The Sun Also Rises, as well as a definite description of who belongs into a certain class. Count Mippipopolous, along with Brett Ashely, for example, both represent the top of the social chain. The count enjoys a lifestyle of extravagance. Brett, though financially dependent upon her husband and other men, is rewarded by the many benefits that her title affords her. Robert Cohn and Bill Gorton also
If you have ever read the book 1984 by George Orwell, then an interesting topic may have crossed your mind. The way the classes of people break down can be quite similar, and very different at times. In the United States, we have classes like the lower class, the working class, and the middle class. In 1984, there were such classes as the Proles, the Outer Party, and the Inner Party. The way the classes are broken down in 1984 reminds me a little bit of my old history class. When I studied medieval times and the classes back then were broken down into the nobles, the bourgeois, and the serfs.
In the passage from “Outliers”, published in November of 2008, acclaimed author Malcom Gladwell discusses class and argues that being a part of a higher class comes with its advantages in regards to being successful. He supports this claim by using rhetorical strategies such as ethos, example and comparison, along with an unvarnished tone, with the purpose of exhibiting the advantages of social class on success.
whose literary lense was on Marxism. So during his presentation, I've learned about what the protagonist, Billy did throughout the book. Some of the things that he did was joining WWII as a soldier and going to Dresden to serve as a soldier and thought that Dresden was the safest place to serve because the chances of getting bombed is so low. Ironically, Dresden gets bombed. So through the Marxist lense, everyone on earth are equal; which could mean that there is no such things as social classes or social hierarchy. However, this is a total opposite in the book. There were social hierarchy in the book, as it could be seen through the position the aliens and humans are in. The aliens were seen as superior while the humans were seen as peasants. During Eric’s presentation, I've discovered that capitalism and Marxism are related since capitalism states that economics is before everything, and Marxism is a pre-constructed form of Communism, but specifically focusing on the economy. This can be seen in the novel as Billy married his wife for her money even though she is physically unappealing. I've also learned that Marxism says that unemployment equals to freedom which was quite interesting but it is also kind of true in the book as Billy loses his freedom and joy for money when he marries and unattractive yet rich
Furthermore, they viewed the affluent lifestyles of the rich as lavish and wasteful. As a social class nowhere near middle or luxury status, all social norms are disposed of when your sole job is to survive. Yet, Orwell wrote from the perspective of the lower class to exploit the economic injustices of the upper classes. According to Gordon Beadle’s publication by Hofstra University on George Orwell’s Literary Studies of Poverty in England, “Orwell went so far as to assert that ‘economic injustice will stop the moment we want it to stop, and no sooner, and if we genuinely want it to stop the method adopted hardly matters.’ Orwell’s criticism of society is moral criticism, an appeal to the conscience and better nature of the nation” (Beadle 192-193). Through the novel’s plotline, Orwell attempted to address an issue greater than economic diversity including homelessness and impoverishment. He sought to address economic injustice, which planted its roots in the stinginess and arrogance of the upper classes. The perception of the upper societal classes in the eyes of the lower class differed somewhat from reality, but primarily stuck to the point by addressing the rising issue of economic
In our current society, it is acceptable to talk about race or gender. However, when it comes to the subject of class, people tend to tense, and are uncertain as to where they stand. At one time in history money afforded prestige and power, however now, money is a large part of our society and tends to rule many peoples lives. In the book Where We Stand: Class Matters, by bell hooks, she describes a life growing up in a family who had nothing, to now becoming one of America’s most admired writers. She wrote this book because she wanted to write about her journey from a working class world to class-consciousness, and how we are challenged everyday with the widening gap between the rich and the poor. In her book, hook’s describes a life dominated by the haunting issues of money, race, and class.
Marxist criticism is inherently existentialist. One cannot know anything without having been exposed to it as some sort of life experience. There is no knowledge a priori, as some of the ancient philosophers would have us believe. Rather, knowledge is accumulated a posteriori, through actual experience. Therefore, there is almost nothing that is inherent and absolute in our knowledge. It can never be purely objective, as knowledge is absorbed through the grid of our own perceptions, and that grid is in turn formed through our youthful socialization within our particular culture. For this reason, Marxist analysis does not allow gut-feeling or individual bias to play too great a role in the debate. It is more important to determine how exactly these "common sense" reactions are formed.
Society’s view of social classes and one’s identity is continuously morphing to fit in new views and essentially to create an ideal culture. During the Victorian Era, the views of the social classes were very black and white when it came to the values and lives of the rich verses the poor. During this era there were many pieces of literature written to show example of the society they lived in. One of the most satirical of those pieces of literature is The Importance of Being Ernest by Oscar Wilde.
The amount of money different people make has always been a contentious subject between people. There is always a higher income level that people wish to get to, and often even after reaching that specific class, after an initial moment of happiness, people become antsy and wish to continue to move up the social ladder. Someone's social class can be a very prominent part of one's identity and can shape the way someone views themselves. Thus, a person wishing to improve their social class can indicate them wanting to improve their own perceptions of themselves, and also the way they wish to be viewed in other's eyes. Miss Julie written by August Strindberg and The Weavers written by Gerhart Hauptman highlight the differences in social classes,
It has been around for centuries and will stay for centuries to come, it is social class; a division of a society based on social and economic status. Today America’s society is familiar with the common three stratum model which self explanatory is divided in three classes, upper, middle, and lower class. The very affluent and powerful are part of the upper class that possesses and controls the means of production. The middle class is full of small business owners, professional workers, and managers. Lastly the lower class depend on low salary jobs for their means of support and they unfortunately often experience poverty. Such as America now at the time of this novel, British were divided up in classes. One’s place in the social class is
Throughout the three books which compose the series it is easy to see examples of class struggle, ruling class ideologies, and revolution. I intend to focus on these
In the American Social Classes in the 1950s: Selections from Vance Packard’s The Status Seekers, which was edited with an introduction by Daniel Horowitz, Packard discusses the the social construction of America in the 1950s after the Cold War ended and McCarthyism began to diminish. There was much too cheer about during this time period, but also much to worry about Mccarthyism and the atomic bomb produced fear among millions of Americans. At the time there was much economic growth and prosperity in the United States, and the baby boom occurred. This was a time characterized by fear of communism. Many people were dissatisfied by society and unsure how to create a better one. It was widely believed that this time period created a classless society. It was an era of abundance and economic growth. Packard believed that in reality, there was a drift in society and social stratification. Page 45 in Horowitz’s book shows Packard’s view of the social structure of America at the time, The Diploma elite being higher socially, and the supporting, or working and lower classes being lower. Page 45-48 describes each class in detail, from the “real upper class”, being “people who are likely to be on the board of directors of local industries, banks, universities, and community chests to to lowest group of people on the totem pole, being the
He says “She was one of those pretty and charming girls who are sometime, as if by a mistake of destiny, born into a family of clerks. She had no dowry, no expectations, no means of being known, understood, loved or wedded by any rich and distinguished man; and she let herself be married to a little clerk at the Ministry of Education” (Maupassant, 505). Maupassant shows Marxism through this because he is basically saying that people are born into their class. In this example, since Mathilde was born in a family of lower-class (clerks), she too married a man from the lower-class. This shows the upper-class has more power of the lower-class because they are the best and no one below them can ever be with them. Also, Mathilde’s husband works as a clerk for the upper-class, so the upper-class is basically paying him. Bourgeoisie is shown again when “She danced with intoxication, with passion, made drunk by pleasure forgetting all, in the triumph of her beauty, in the glory of her success, in a sort of cloud of happiness composed of all this homage, of all this admiration, of all these awakened desires, and of that sense of complete victory which is so sweet to a women’s heart” (Maupassant, 507). Being at the ball showed her and made her believe that this is what it means to be in the upper-class. She felt rich, wealthy and an upper-class because of what she is known to believe the upper-class do.
Politics and many aspects of society today have been heavily influenced by political thinkers and scholars from ages before our time. Whether their ideas were implemented or avoided, society today has learned and grown from these influenced; there has been societal adaptions and changes with every success and failure. One important philosopher that is still widely talked about today is Karl Marx. His theories and ideas are still studies, discussed and utilized today. Some aspects of Marxism is relevant to modern day but there are still some major critiques to his opinions that prove there in inconsistencies with the relevance of Marxism. This is a result of his failure to predict how advanced and revolutionized society would be in modern day.
The Oxford Dictionary defines class as a 'system of ordering society whereby people are divided into sets based on perceived social or economic status'. Literature according to Marx echoes the social institutions from which it comes and literature is a economic product, that often reflects an author's idea or vision of class. Indeed, when reading Oliver twist by Charles Dickens, the reader will find a description of the different classes that composed the Victorian society and how they interact with each other; each character has been assigned a social and political status and acts accordingly, and the way Dickens portrays them has an impact on our idea of social class, indeed, the reader will find that the upper classes of society can be as corrupt as lower ones. Literature can thus depict and criticize the actions, the values of the bourgeoisie, or denounce the wrongdoings of the poor.
Much of Shaw’s beliefs on social class stem from his youth. His background in socialism and Fabianism greatly influenced his works. He grew up in the lower middle class, and as a child, he witnessed many people, including him, get denied certain luxuries and respect due to their place in social hierarchy. Shaw did not believe in social classing (Crick), instead believing that everybody deserved equal chance, as Bert asked in The Awakening, “How valid is social status based less on one’s family and money? How many wrongs should a birthright right if a birthright could right wrongs?” Social equality was not a popular goal, however, as well as the idea that people could improve their social standing as, quoted by George Gissing “social transformation, whether passive or active (‘raising or being raised’), was still for a member of the London underclass in the late nineteenth century, or a virtual impossibility.” Shaw addresses social mobility in his preface, arguing that it is quite easy and quite ...