Rylan Schutz Ms. Ivers World Literature 18 April 2023 Mexican Revolution Through the Marxist Lens “There are some things in life that shouldn't be given so much importance if they don't change what is essential.'' (Esquivel) This quote shows that no matter how high or low you are in society the essentials should be more important than the materialistic items. By analyzing Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel from the Marxist lens one can better understand more about how the economic lives of the characters affect the outcome of the book.
Set in a futuristic society in 2081, the protagonist, Harrison Bergeron, has a goal of letting the world know what is really going on. He was taken away from his family years ago - but his family was “brainwashed,” so they can’t remember any sad things that have happened - so they have forgotten about what has happened to him. This part of the short story relates to the critical lens essay because it makes the reader feel sympathy and become emotional about the troubled world where everyone is equal. This story helped my quote because it produces sadness, sentiment, and response. This literature is great and it substitutes for something I, myself, have never experienced.
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is based on a utopian society with unique social, psychological, political, and cultural features. The novel hinges on the idea of an all-powerful state that controls almost all aspects of life and makes citizens ignorant problems occurring in their society. Bernard Marx is an Alpha male who fails to fit in the structure created by the World Controllers of his society due to his inferior capabilities. His discontent in society leads him to hold unorthodox ideas about many aspects of life and shapes him as an individual. Through Bernard’s exposure to John the Savage and his heightened need for social acceptance, Bernard Marx is shaped from an admirable character who yearns for more out of life than given in his
In “Harrison Bergeron”, the author shows us that in a dystopian future where everyone is equal, people would have to where handicaps, restrictions, to keep all people equal. Set in a living room where George and Hazel are watching the scene unfold on television, the story reveals that the protagonist, Harrison Bergeron, has chosen to break free of the bondage that forces him to walk slower, lose his good looks, and make him lose his train of thought. This part of the story relates to the critical lens because hopefully, we will not be able to live in a society where people have to weaken themselves, or bring themselves down, in order for equality for all to rise above. In this part of the story, the
Shattered Dreams: A Marxist analysis Of Mice and Men According to Idowu Koyenikan, a highly recognized financial consultant and frequently quoted author, “It takes nothing to stay in poverty, but everything to break free from it”(Koyenikan). Idowu emphasizes how people can not expect to change their economic state easily without a mindset of desperation to succeed. Poverty stricken people in the United States need to feel empowered to overcome their economic struggles. Clinging to a goal provides hope, but hope only endures if the goal is attainable.
Marxism is the idea of social science that studies how economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes. Social processes are the way individuals and groups interact, adjust and reject and start relationships based on behavior which is modified through social interactions. Overall marxism analyzes how societies progress and how and society ceases to progress, or regress because of their local or regional economy , or global economy. In this case, Marxism’s theory applies to the novel, Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, where a society where mass satisfaction is the instrument utilized by places of power known as the Alphas in order to control the oppressed by keeping the Epsilons numb, at the cost of their opportunity to choose their own way of life. Marx thinks that an individual had a specific job to do in order to contribute to their community and that is the only way to do so; There is no escaping your contribution either.
The author of the Friar’s tale, is Geoffrey Chaucer and the poem is constructed of classist values, capitalism, the socioeconomic conditions of the proletariat and the bourgeois, and the organization of religion. The significance of the Friar’s Tale, is the plot and the grim behavior of the Summoner, as well as the evil that he commonly exhibited. In the poem, there are many marxists values, the biggest being classism and economic power. People in the church held higher power and often oppressed those in lowers socioeconomic status. For example, in the Friar’s Tale, the heated discussion between the widow and the Summoner, would have panned out much differently If the devil wasn’t present in that moment.
Andre Abi Haidar PSPA 210 INTRODUCTION It is always difficult to write about and discuss Karl Marx, or more importantly the applications of Marx’s theories, due to the fact that he inspired and gave rise to many movements and revolutionaries, not all of which follow his theories to the point. Although Marx tends to be equated with Communism, it might not seem righteous to blame him for whatever shortcomings occurred when his theories were put to the test; Marx passed away well before the revolution in Russia, and he played no role in the emergence of the totalitarian regime at the time. When discussing Marx, however, Vladimir Lenin is one of the biggest highlights when it comes to studying the outcomes of Marx’s theories.
A Marxist Analysis of The Kite Runner In Afghanistan, the Hazara people were formerly a majority ethnicity at about 67 percent of the population, however once the Pashtuns began taking political actions, the Hazaras were massacred until they only formed about 9 percent of Afghanistan’s total population today (“Afghanistan-Hazaras”). Because of their minority status, the Hazara people face much prejudice in Afghan society as shown by the book. Similarly, Afghani people compose 3 percent of America’s population, wherein they also face prejudice. In Khaled Hosseini’s
Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror is modeled as a classic television series like The Twilight Zone, Amazing Stories or Tails of the Unexpected in that it tackles an array of social phenomena and societal problems. Brooker describes the show as being about “the way we live now and the way we might be living in 10 minutes time if we are clumsy”@. Most of the episodes focus on how digital technology is altering our lives and not always for good. The entire history of the episodes “you be right back” White Christmas, 15 million merits, and nosedive all include plots or subplots involving internet culture but the last two go beyond critiquing Facebook, augmented reality, pop-up ads and the surveillance state that is making it all possible. In “15
Nowadays, the Government has taken on more and more control, and not a lot of people have noticed it, maybe there really is a technique or there is some sort of mind control wherein they manipulate us in different aspects. Mind Control means subverting by the other means of control, psychologically, such as hypnosis, but in the book 1984 it’s somehow similar but there is something that makes it different, George Orwell wrote a lot about totalitarianism, According to Encyclopedia Britannica, totalitarianism is a form of government that theoretically permits no personal freedom and that seeks to subordinate all aspects of personal life to the authorize the state, which is clearly shown in the book. In 1984 the people are slaves, force them to go to war, even though the don’t know what or who they are fighting for, hence the mind control, and if you disagree or not follow the government’s orders, you are embarrassed and exposed to everyone because of what you did, and afterwards you are taken to room 101 which is a torture chamber which was said during the climax of the story, where the Party
Political Marxism At the turn of the 21st century, China, Cuba, Laos and Vietnam remained the only officially Marxist–Leninist states remaining, although a Maoist government led by Prachanda was elected into power in Nepal in 2008 following a long guerrilla struggle. The early 21st century also saw the election of socialist and anti-imperialist governments in several Latin American nations, in what has come to be known as the "Pink tide". Dominated by the Venezuelan government of Hugo Chávez, this trend also saw the election of Evo Morales in Bolivia, Rafael Correa in Ecuador and Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua; forging political and economic alliances through international organisations like the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas, these
Marxist Within the Mockingbird Today the world is open to people of all races, economic classes and much more, but in the 1930’s the world was not as accepting. To Kill A Mockingbird, is a book by Harper Lee which takes place in the 1930’s. Throughout the story there are issues with feminism, racism, and injustice. It starts with a young girl and her family, and as the book progresses the reader gets to find out some of the things that go on in their life and around them. Such as a stressful case which includes, a black innocent man who is accused for something he did not do.
Marx and Engels studied the materialistic history. Capitalism is an economic and cultural system according to the week 1 video by John Green. Dialectical materialism was the problem, according to Marx and Engels, of the world's problems. The conflict of social forces is because of material needs. The needs were not met because of the workers not being paid what the material goods they produced were worth in labor.
Karl Marx introduced the theory of class struggle during the industrialisation period that emphasised on one’s financial status. However in this contemporary society, Marx’s monolithic theory fails to encompass other aspects of social life. Building upon Marx’s theory of class struggle, Pierre Bourdieu sets out to rethink the factors involved in the stratification of classes. The addition of cultural capital to economic capital was amongst the many capitals Bourdieu suggested in determining the class of an individual in this society where ‘capital’ is interpreted as a “set of actually usable resources and power” (Bourdieu, 1979, p.114) that allows one to invest and gain returns. Economic capital is wealth and income one accumulates, while cultural
