The idea that unequal treatment and social mistreatment are still constant struggles is addressed in Angelina Price’s essay “Working Class Whites” and bell hooks’ essay “Eating the Other: Desire and Resistance. Both authors explain how racial and social controversy affects today’s society. This is done through Price narrowing her focus on how class structure and media relations affects this issue while hooks’ essay concentrates more on public perception with relation to this issue. Both authors use a significant amount of evidence to support their logic as well as ideas that allow the reader to draw their own personal conclusions. In both essays, the idea of social class fueling thoughts and perceptions of either the “Other” or “poor white class” in today’s society is drawn upon multiple times.
Since the beginning of civilizations there as always been social stratification or an arrangement in social classes. For instance, there would be the lower class, middle class and of course upper class. Then there is also social inequality. Based on documents from 1000 B.C.E through 465 B.C.E, I can analyze the causes of, and responses to, social inequality during the Classical Age, as well as explaining how one’s status within society influenced one’s perspective of events in that society. Some of the causes included, the extreme power to a single leader, and the desire for power, while some responses would be hatred towards the leader and hard work to stay alive, all depending on one’s perspective due to their status in a society.
Karl Marx was a late 19th Century thinker. He saw class as being the central category for analysing social relation and social struggles. This is because he believed that class struggles drive the social changes in our societies ‘The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles’. (Marx, Engels, 1848, pg.8) He viewed class objectively, defining it by the ownership of property. The class struggle’s which Marx refers to above is that of the Bourgeoisie, who own the means of production and the proletariat, who sell their labour.
And out of these judgements you were put into a one of three categories; (change slide) lower or working class, (change slide) middle class bourgeoisie and (change slide) upper class aristocracy. (change slide) Jarry relates his characters to this era of social classes, for example, the peasants in Ubu Roi were seen as lower, working class people, who were to obey and abide by Pa Ubu, who represents a upper class aristocracy citizen. The play sets out to mock the themes of greed and corruption of the late 19th century French bourgeois culture and even foreshadows a totalitarian governments abuse of power. INNER WORLD- style context Next we have style,
Marx predicted that capitalism within a socioeconomic system would inevitably create internal tensions between social classes leading to its demise and replacement by a new system, communism. For Marx, the concept of class has always existed in society. Historically, a society has always been arranged into various orders of social rank. A defining characteristic of capitalism however, is that “it has simplified the class antagonisms. Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other: Bourgeoisie and Proletariat” (Marx and Engels 1848).
Pip goes through many changes throughout Great Expectations due to the changes in his social class. Dickens explores the class system of Victorian England, ranging from the most despicable criminals (Magwitch) to the poor peasants (Joe and Biddy) to the middle class (Pumblechook) to the very rich (Miss Havisham). P ip originally believed that the higher your class the better you were treated and the more love and amenities were given to you, this is why he was frustrated at Joe for raising him the way he did. “I wished Joe had been rather more genteelly brought up, and then I should have been so too.” (1.8.92) Pip is irritated that Joe was raised in the lower class and as a result so was he. Joe was Pip’s father figure and because of that Pip was never taught well manners or how to behave gentleman like around other people.
In the novel “The Great Gatsby”, we meet a wealthy mysterious man named Gatsby. Through the eyes of his friend, Nick Carraway, we witness how Gatsby struggles with these ideals for the woman he loves, which in the end fails to gain, because his high expectations
The lavish parties he had to hide the emptiness in his life. He idolize Daisy liked he did the wealth. Gatsby never realize daisy was not impressed by his materialism Daisy was dealing with reality and Gatsby was dealing with turning his life into something he wanted it to be. And in the end Gatsby lost everything he was trying to gain at no matter what. The book is a revelation on how thing was in the roaring twenties and the attitude of rich people.
At dinner, Tom is the one who speaks the most, who dominates the conversation. He tells Nicks about “the Rise of the Colored Empire” which is a racist book, basically saying that aristocratic need to watch out for colored people (and people from the middle class) who are becoming richer and might overtake them… It shows really well that the Buchanans but the upper class in lives completely disconnected with its time: racist sayings during the Harlem renaissance?
Living on a family farm, there was minimal wealth coming into the family. Traumatized by his father’s murderous death on his childhood farm, he becomes coldhearted and obsessively concerned and determined to become wealthy and rich when he grows older. Money and status influenced his goals and actions throughout life. Not only has money and wealth influenced his entirety as a whole, but it has made him completely dead and emotionless in his soul. Macon Jr. has accumulated so much wealth throughout his adulthood and ultimately lives in a nice house, has tenants, hires maids, and gains wealth on a frequent basis.