Great Expectations and Brave New World on Social Class

The environment and economic situation an individual develops in has a great impact on the individual's characteristics and actions later in life. Throughout the events of Brave New World and Great Expectations it becomes apparent that social class deeply influences the mental state and actions of the characters. Social class has an immense impact on the characters in Huxley’s novel Brave New World and Dickens’s Great Expectations.

Throughout Great Expectations the importance of social class in the novel is discovered, and the emphasis on the subject is apparent. Every character in the novel, whether it be a lowly criminal like Magwitch, or a wealthy aristocrat like Miss Havisham, is defined by their social class and acts in a way that is deemed “appropriate” for their respected social class. The characters tend to conform to the way that their social class is supposed to act; the only social mobility really seen throughout the novel is Pip’s becoming a gentleman. It even seems as if each social class lives in a completely separate world from the other classes and people of the lower class only dream of what it is like to be wealthy. The people of the lower class have this great expectation that being wealthy would solve all of their problems and they would be happy. However it is learned that this is not true; the people of the upper class are not how the lower class think them to be. An example of this is Miss. Havisham, although she is rich, she is characterized as a “grim lady” and has great inner conflict which is shown by her. Like Miss. Havisham many people of the upper class lack the moral wealth that some of the degraded citizens like Magwitch possess.

Many of the characters who are members of the upper class like Miss...

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... others belonging to their respected social class. Many of the upper class aristocrats like Miss Havisham have an elitist attitude and many lack self worth and conform to their social class, citizens belonging to the middle class like Pumblechook are quite stingy and are almost obsessed with their image and moving up in social class, citizens who belong to the lower class like Joe and Biddy are mostly reasonable and polite people, and the people of the degraded lower class like Magwitch; although very materially poor have great self worth and moral wealth. In Brave New World the predetermined social caste system has total control over the past, present and future of the citizens, Alphas and Betas will prosper and hold powerful decision making positions in society and Deltas, Gammas, and Epsilons will without decision, live and die as slaves to the Alphas and Betas.