The Last Literary Theory Of Irwin, And Duddy, By Karl Marx

The last literary theory that can used is marxism. In the mid 19th century Philosopher, Karl Marx, developed a theory that is about an imbalance in social classes where the lower working class is oppressed by the upper and middle class. This is oppression is caused from inequality and takes place in the form of “unjust or cruel exercise of authority or power.”, (Merriam-Webster.com). The two characters, Irwin and Duddy, are examples of how money and power leads the upper and middle class to oppress the lower class. Irwin does so to Duddy and Lennie. Throughout his life, Irwin does not treat the lower class as an equal because of his father’s social standing being in the upper class:
Irwin Shubert was nineteen. A tall bronzed boy with curly

His bets seemed to follow no apparent pattern. On each spin of the wheel he placed a dollar on numbers fifteen, six, thirty-two, three, and twelve, and it was only the next morning when he looked closely at the wheel that Duddy realized these numbers ran together there. Irwin won, he didn 't win on each spin, but whenever one of his numbers came up he collected thirty dollars and twice if his number repeated. Others, riding his streak of luck, began to bet with him, and once Duddy had to pay off three different people on number three. That cost him ninety dollars, not counting the side and corner bets. (Page

“ ‘You cheated me. You arranged it all with Linda and the wheel was crooked. I hope you had a good laugh.’ ‘The wheel wasn’t crooked.’ ‘Cheaters never prosper,’ Duddy said. ‘I hope this’ll be a good lesson for you. I hope you’ll profit from it in the future.’ ” (Page 91). Irwin rigs the game because he does not like Duddy and he does not like him because of their different classes. So what Irwin does is takes something that has more value to Duddy than to him which is money. Irwin has been lucky enough to have money as he grew up, but Duddy on the other hand has had to work hard for his money. Irwin is aware of this so he uses his authority to trick Duddy into losing three hundred dollars. This three hundred dollars is what Duddy has been saving up from his tips at the hotel for his piece of land, so it is clear to have a high importance to him. But Irwin does not care and just does this because he has the power to. Irwin also oppresses Duddy’s brother, Lennie. Lennie and Irwin both go to McGill University where Lennie starts to hang out with Irwin’s crowd, the upperclassmen. When one of their friends Sandra becomes pregnant, Irwin tries to convince Lennie to perform an abortion on her. He does so by trying to make Lennie feel as a part of their social group by inviting him to partying just so he would perform the abortion. “ ‘You want to know