Albert Cohen states that delinquency is a collective rather than an individual response. He argues that its mainly the working class youth who turn to delinquency due to the fact that they strive toward the success goals of mainstream culture but cannot get to that goal through approved means due to experiences of failure in education, living in deprived areas etc. which cause them to feel like they are denied status in mainstream society and experience status frustration. They then react to this by forming a distinctive set of values which oppose mainstream values and form a delinquent subculture. So by forming a delinquent subculture, it becomes a means of achievement through an illegitimate opportunity structure.
I thought to myself, “how could a man whose treatises have defined the way we think to this day call others out for dictating the thoughts of others when all of his teaching have been equally as persuasive?” But as I dug deeper into the reading I realized that the reason he despised persuading the middle and lower class citizens was because he believed that they were easily persuadable, and not capable of true intellectual thought. Although the argument may be made that he was simply looking out for the middle class, I believe that his argument greatly underestimates the human ability to do what is right, and not what is necessarily the easiest
Dubose and eventually win the reader over with their unseen goodness despite the heinous reputations they carry in society. This novel shows the reader that when a person or group of people judges someone else solely based on his/her unflattering attributes and actions, it is a very dubious approach and often misleading. Atticus illuminated one of the threads that binds the theme of the novel and society as a whole when he says to Scout, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view. . .
They also did not know God the way the settlers did, as a result they were a misunderstood people in their ways of life. Along with that the early Europeans thought of themselves as being far more advanced in terms of culture and possessed arrogance in how they viewed the Indians. It is clear to me that Ben Franklin recognized their social behavior in which they understood proper etiquette such as (“the Indian rules of politeness and not to answer a public proposition the same day that it is made”)
1) Evaluate the ways in which the different approaches to Enlightenment held by France, Britain, and America impacted their own societies. Thesis: The extreme and different approach of to Enlightenment of the French alienated it from the British and Americans, and also led to the destruction of the country. Both America and Britain had a moderate reform, while the French had an extreme upheaval that led to its ruin. All three Enlightenments were based on the same concepts of reason, liberty and justice. Britain built their Enlightenment on ‘social virtues’, not reason.
Algernon's view on his servant Lane in 'The Importance of Being Ernest' reflects this: "If the lower orders don't set us a good example, what on earth is the use of them? "Algernon believes the lower classes should set a moral example for the upper class subverting the conventional view of the upper class acting as the role models. Wilde use of irony is significant as it emphasises how corrupt the upper class because, although they are at the top of the social hierachy, they rely on those ranked below them for moral examples. Additionally, the idea that there would be no "use" for his servant if he fails to do so shows how reliant Algernon is on Lane, and, as Lane represents the lower class, how much the lower class are needed by the upper class. Wilde uses irony and humour to invert class roles in order to call attention to the corruption of Victorian society to the audience at the
Iago utilizes manipulation because he opposes the way society ranks people by birthright rather than talent. He shows resentment towards Cassio after learning that Othello gave him the lieutenancy. Iago's bitterness arises from his belief that he deserved the position. Iago plots against Othello and Cassio to obtain what he thinks he deserves. Since Iago lives in an environment favoring the higher social class, he assumes he can achieve his goals only through deceit.
Great Expectations Themes Social Class The theme of social class is central to the novel’s plot and to the ultimate moral theme of the book—Pip’s realization that wealth and class are less important than affection, loyalty, and inner worth. Pip achieves this realization when he is finally able to understand that, despite the esteem in which he holds Estella, one’s social status is in no way connected to one’s real character. Drummle, for instance, is an upper-class lout, while Magwitch, a persecuted convict, has a deep inner worth. Perhaps the most important thing to remember about the novel’s treatment of social class is that the class system it portrays is based on the post-Industrial Revolution model of Victorian England. Dickens generally ignores the nobility and the hereditary aristocracy in favor of characters whose fortunes have been earned through commerce.
28) In this confrontation the difference between the social classes are shown. It shows how Tom looks down on gorge just because he is poor, and how Tom thinks that because he has a higher social status and because he is rich has the power to treat him badly. Tom’s self center and prepotent attitude is shown in the dialogue, and thus representing the moral and social decay that the wealthy people had due to their excesses. In conclusion Fitzgerald exclude the middle class as a critique to the extremes in the social classes, because he wanted to show the contrast between them and the repercussions the social class had on the characters. Through the novel the duality between the rich and the poor is always present, and the effects of the extremes and the insatiable aim of wealth is represented by the valley of ashes.
Crime is often the result of offering society-demeaning work with little sense of creativity. Laws that are passed on reflect the wishes and ideologies of the ruling classes. Thus for Marxists punishment for a crime may depend and vary according to the social class of the perpetrator. Modern Marxists point to education and the media as socialising agencies, which delude the working class into conforming to a social order, which works against its real interests. From a Marxist point of view laws are made by the state, which represent the interests of the ruling class.