A Marxist Reading of Native Son
In the Communist Manifesto Karl Marx states clearly that history is a series of class struggles over the means of production. Whoever controls the means of production also controls society and is able to force their set of ideas and beliefs onto the lower class. The present dominant class ideology is, as it has been since the writing of the United States Constitution, the ideology of the upper-class, Anglo-Saxon male. Obviously, when the framers spoke of equality for all, they meant for all land-owning white men. The words of the Declaration of Independence, also written by upper-class, Anglo-American males, are clear: "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" are rights necessary to each human
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The need for love and belonging is third and manifests in the drive to establish affectionate relationships or create a sense of community. Fourth in the hierarchy are the esteem needs, which Maslow divides into two parts: the need for the respect of others, and the need for self-respect (Boeree). The fifth and final stage in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs forms the pinnacle and is identified as self-actualization or "the desire for self-fulfillment . . . to become everything one is capable of becoming" (Green). According to Maslow's theoy, the order in which these needs appear in the hierarchy is the order in which humans must attain them. Needs higher in the hierarchy cannot be attained without first satisfying the more basic needs at the base (Boeree). When any level of these needs is not met, a deficit need is created, causing negative effects on the human psychology, a phenomenon seen in the main character of Native Son, Bigger Thomas. Maslow believes that in a "good" society each individual is free to accomplish his or her goals and move freely through the hierarchy (Boeree). But for a poor black man, like Bigger Thomas, who lives in a society where the dominant class ideology and the social structure hinder rather than support attaining self-actualization, it is almost impossible to reach the pinnacle of the hierarchy. The dominant class ideology has caged Bigger politically, economically, racially, and
Maslow believed that these needs are similar to instincts and play a major role in
If we look at Maslow Hierarchy needs, he looks at human needs he believed that love and belonging are very important to our self- esteem. If these needs are not met we may not meet self- actualization. (Milliken & Honeycutt)
According to Marx and the Communist Manifesto, history is the rich battling with the poor, also history has always been a history of class struggle. The Communist Manifesto calls for equality among all classes, therefore there would be no classes. Workers are paid different salaries according to the quality and the training of their work. "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."[iii] As Marx’s states here, he feels that society is splitting more and more in to classes, which is feels is wrong. He thinks that society should be one and everyone should belong to one class. Marx did not deny the close connection between personal freedom and property rights. "In this sense, the theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property."[iv] Marx thought that the role of every individual was for everyone to be a worker and to make an equal amount of money as everyone else. Marx even stated that having a capitalist society would therefore make that society fall, all because of the ongoing struggle between the rich and the poor. The Communist Manifesto states that communism would change a person’s role in life from being decided on the basis
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a structural progression of psychological and physical needs. Maslow hypothesized that there were two distinct types of needs: deficiency needs and growth needs2. The deficiency needs,
In 1943 Humanistic Psychologist Abraham Maslow proposed his Theory of Human Motivation. In this paper he outlines what he believes to be a humans hierarchy of needs. Maslow suggests in his journal that one must meet the needs of the previous level before moving on to meet the needs of the next one on the hierarchy. According to Maslow there are 5 tiers of human needs: physiological, security, belonging, self-esteem, and self-actualization. In Welch, West Virginia Jeanette and her siblings must adjust their lifestyles in order to meet their human needs according to Maslow’s hierarchy.
One of the things talked about in the Declaration of Independence is that everyone is created equal, meaning that your race, ethnicity, or religion does not matter. Now, we have evolutionized and finally understand that this does not determine our social class and we treat everyone the same. In the Declaration of Independence it is shown as “We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal.” The author, Thomas Jefferson, and Continental Congress put this in the document, not just because some people wanted it, but because it was something that they believed in. Sometimes, we see equality happening, but many times, people do not understand that they need to change their attitude because the Continental
Abraham Maslow’s theory, Theory of Hierarchy Needs, is a motivational theory in psychology that has a tier model of the five things a human needs. Maslow stated that people are motivated to achieve certain needs and that some needs take precedence over others. The five stages, from bottom to top, include Physiological needs( food, water, warmth, and rest), the second stage: Safety Needs ( security and safety), third stage: Belongingness and love needs ( intimate relationships and friends), the fourth stage: Esteem Needs (prestige and feeling of accomplishment), and finally the last stage: Self-actualization ( achieving one’s full potential, including creative potential). The five stage model can be divided into
According to Zinn, the Declaration of Independence assures the political or even the civil right only to white wealthy men. I think he argues for the universal equality. I know it is too late to criticize the revolutionary government for the denial of either political rights to Indians, women, slaves, and poor white men, or any notions of civic equality. He wants us to learn the actual history without admiring the leaders with a false face. I agree with him because I even did not realize those real facts before this assignment, thus, we should not teach our children the history of bad leaders.
The next level would include safety needs, personal and financial security health and well being. As you move up the pyramid the needs increase to love and belonging, self –esteem and the highest level would include self-actualization, reaching one’s full potential. The theory is that you can not reach the highest level without first obtaining the basics. (Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs, 10/20/10)
As has been noted before, when we look at the authors of The Declaration of Independence, we are quite aware that the 'document' was written in the interest of the people who were there. The wealthy, white, landowners make up the Constitution to fit their needs and exclude everyone else. The people most notably left without rights are African American's, Native American's and Women. These minority groups formed a bond with each other because they were outside the dominant group. These groups of people helped gain their strength and voice through speeches and conventions with each one using the very words of the Constitution as
As stated further by Maslow, there are five levels in the need hierarchy, which are physiological, safety, love and belongingness, esteem, and self-actualization and they are very often of unconscious nature and can be at certain times reserved. Unfortunately, there are not too many who are capable of reaching self-actualization and the ones who will are very creative and acknowledge the world very accurately. An individual however is always aware of the fact that he or she has possesses a choice and therefore he or she has the ability to influence their behavior and personality at anytime (Cloninger, 2008).
Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model is implemented off a hierarchal pyramid which is renowned as one the most motivational theories, it is mainly incorporated with business dynamics, and it can also be used when relating to cultural diversity. Maslow 's hierarchy outlines in a hierarchal order as drawn upon by (Patrick.A.G, 2003) quoted by Maslow that the needs are ' 'Physiological, safety, social, self-esteem, and self-actualization ' '. The physiological needs are the basis that an individual will attain such as, basic human needs which incorporate survival, food and shelter. After the physiological needs have been met, safety and security is the next priority need on the hierarchy,
(a) For the Hierarchy-of-needs Theory, Maslow has set up a hierarchy of five levels of needs.
Oppression and Racism what are they? The dictionary defines oppression as “A prolonged cruel or unjust treatment or exercise of authority”, and Racism as “A belief that a particular race or group of people is superior or inferior to another”. Both of these exist in many societies and take on many forms and have no respect of your gender, your race or your financial status. In the early 1900’s in many parts of the United States these forces affected the decisions of many and controlled many of the actions of the people in that era. These people were ignorant to the fact that all men were equal in the eyes of God. Richard Wright in his novel, “Native Son” introduces Bigger Thomas and details his life as a black man living in what he calls
I am going to be using Marxism to interpret the book, Native Son. When talking about Marxism, it generally deals with gender, class, and race. In the book, Native Son, there are many examples of Marxism that have to do with underestimating and unfairness. This was evident especially when dealing with Chicago in the 1930 's and 1940 's when Africans were treated unfairly and were demoted.