Influence of Sociological Variables on Perception

A person’s location can influence what they see, how they see it, and therefore what they know. Knowledge of the world is subjective and particular in nature. Sociological variables including class, status, ethnicity, gender, religion, region, and education can impact their views and understanding of the world. According to Karl Marx, a renowned theorist, a major consequence of Capitalism was poverty due to inequality or uneven division of wealth and income. His personal location will result in one of two conclusions based on how the social forces impacted him. Marx’s location may have acted as a blinder in a way, creating a bias. He may think he understands the world, but he really does not in the end. Or, his location could have actually

His father, Heinrich, was one of the most respected lawyers in Trier and his mother, Henrietta, devoted most of her time to caring for her family. Marx experienced life as a middle class child, then transitioned into lower class as an adult. For the first half of the 1850’s, Marx and his family lived in poverty. Himself, his wife Jenny, and his four children lived in a three room apartment in the Soho area of London. Marx and Jenny eventually had seven children together, only three of which survived to experience adulthood. Providing for his family was a struggle for Marx because he did not have a steady source of income. He worked as a foreign reporter for the New York Daily Tribune and wrote weekly articles, but the revenue from that was not enough. Marx frequently depended on family and friends, including Engels whom had a family business in Manchester, to assist him with expenses. Marx’s wife Jenny von Westphalen was of a higher social status, which aided in his attempt to climb the social ladder. She was the daughter of Baron von Westphalen, a prominent member of the Trier society. Marx’s social status from that point on was hard to determine considering he was repeatedly exiled by different governments and not necessarily

Up until the age of twelve, Marx was educated at home, most likely from his mother. From 1830 to 1835, Marx attended the Friedrich-Wilhelm Gymnasium, which was the Jesuit high school located in Trier. He was classically educated in subjects such as history, mathematics, literature and other languages. Marx learned to fluently read and write in French and Latin. As an advanced scholar he continued to learn by teaching himself to read English, Russian, Spanish, Italian, Scandinavian and Dutch. Although he could articulate the English language relatively well, Marx never lost his thick German accent. In an attempt to fulfill his father’s desire that he become a lawyer and follow in his footsteps, Marx began studying law at the University of Bonn inn1835. His stay was short-lived due to unsatisfactory behavior according to his father. Marx was frequently disturbing the peace, was rebellious, was imprisoned for being intoxicated and got into physical altercations with other cohorts. In 1836 his father enrolled him in the University of Berlin. He remained more grounded and focused while studying both law and philosophy. Marx then received a doctorate from the University of Jena in 1841. His aspirations of becoming a professor were put to an end because of his radical political views and he had trouble securing a steady