In many societies, wealthy people are seen as hardworking, deserving, and above everybody else. However, poor people are portrayed as undeserving, uneducated, and useless. In modern-day America, these characterizations have switched. Gene Simmons once said, “Live and think like a poor man and you’ll always be okay”. In some cases, poor people are the ones that work long, boring day, where rich people are drinking imported wine on a yacht. When reading, Snow White, by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, the authors write from a marxist point-of-view. They also use characterization of the evil queen and the dwarfs to describe the socio-economic classes of modern-day society. The authors positively characterize the dwarfs, who represent the lower class. It is known that the lower class is primarily underprivileged. However, this group is seen as innocent, hardworking, kind, and fair-minded. The Grimms use the seven dwarfs to positively portray the lower class. They don’t live in a castle with gold jewels and unlimited meals. In fact, they live in a house where, “everything was small” (Grimm, Jacob, and Wilhelm Grimm). When Snow White, a young girl from the upper class, comes to the house, she is allowed to stay only if she works around the house. In the piece, the dwarfs say, “If you will keep house for us, and cook, make beds, wash, sew, and knit, and keep everything clean and orderly, then you can stay with us, and you shall have everything that you want” (Grimm, Jacob, and Wilhelm Grimm). It can be assumed that these are the common chores around the dwarfs’ house. In contrast to a king or a queen, there are much more tasks that need to be completed. A king or a queen has maids, cooks, and butlers. This proves that the dwarfs’ are very hard working. When Snow White comes along, the dwarfs give some of these jobs to her. While the dwarfs warmly welcome Snow White into their house, they cannot let her presence derail them from their daily, complex lifestyle. Having Snow White move into their house is a big change to them. For some, drastic changes can take a while to mentally process. For the dwarfs, however, they have to continue to work hard in order to survive. According to John Sanders, a fairy tale analyst, “They [the
Few people can grow up within today's society without knowing the tale of Snow White. From the Grimm Brothers to Disney, it has been told and retold to children throughout the ages. However, what is often overlooked are the true meanings within the story. Fairytales typically have underlying messages that can be found written between the lines, generally in terms of the key themes. Snow White discusses the themes of envy and beauty, and shows how humans' obsessions can lead to their own downfall as well as the harm of others. When focusing on the relationship between Snow White and her step-mother the Queen, it is evident that the combination of these two themes results in a power struggle in which beauty
In the article, "Stupid Rich Bastards", the author, Laurel Johnson Black, gives an insight on her life and upbringing in a "poor" family, the effects it had on her, her life goals, and dreams. Black’s article was published in the book This Fine Place So Far from Home: Voices of Academics from the Working Class in 1995. Throughout the article, Black gives an explanation of the conditions in which she and her family lived in, which include her parents having to take on various jobs such as her father being a plumber, junk man, car salesman and her mother—a cook, school crossing-guard and a McDonald 's counter worker as well. With all these jobs, Black also mentioned that the income was still inadequate. Being that her family 's way of living was not the best, her parents decided that one of their children has to make it or go to college, and Black was the one who was going to be the one to do that. She did this with hopes that she would earn more money, be able to make a better life for her and her family, maneuver along with the "stupid rich bastards", talk like them, learn their ways but not be like them, and explain to her family about the lives of the same "stupid rich bastards", people who had or made more money and had better lives or felt better than others. Along with her telling her story, the main purpose of Black’s story is to bring to our attention that she is trying to “keep the language of the working class in academia” (Black 25).
Snow White is a fairytale that never gets old. Countless young children know the tale by heart: A young, beautiful girl tries to live a happy life while her mother tries to kill her due to Snow White being prettier than her. Snow White, though, has a much more profound, unexploited history. There are many versions of this story that not a lot of people read. Two texts that were particularly fascinating were Gold Tree and Silver Tree as well as Nourie Hadig. In Gold Tree and Silver Tree, Silver Tree becomes jealous with Gold Tree’s beauty and tries to kill her newlywed daughter, but Gold Tree made a new friend, and she helped take care of Silver Tree. In Nourie Hadig, Nourie is left in the forest by her father because her mother wants to kill her. There, she takes care of a prince all the while her mother is trying to find her. Both these stories have amazing similarities and striking differences, but the similarities significantly outweigh the differences. The stories are astonishingly similar many ways, but their characters are the most standout thing about these stories. While these figures have their differences, the similarities are much more eye-catching. These characters are similar because their personalities follow a similar rhythm throughout the stories and their actions also stay the same.
There has always been a class system since the beginning of civilization and it was extremely difficult to get to a higher class. A person could not choose what class they were born in and the majority were lower class-man. As before the only way to become wealthy is by education and it was hard for lower class-man to get one. One way was for girls to get married like Johnny’s mom did or Mrs. Lapham marring Mr. Tweedie. For boys to become a higher class they need to be educated or have great skill at a craft which is usually only born with like Johnny. As these kids have little to no money they are picked on by arrogant adults, an example is Dove as the horseman for the British. These lower class-man children were given brute and labor intensive jobs. The children’s jobs are unimportant so they are given the least money for their work. Some children with low pay would be accused of theft if they had a valuable object. When court action is taken the upper class-man are listened to, unless undeniable evidence, like in Johnny vs Mr. Lytes case. A common stereotype for these children is that they are sick and thieves. The class system has created rough jobs for the lower class children and most jobs are extremely
Supposedly, both the individuals with ascribed statuses with hereditary wealth and the poor and homeless have equal chances to become successful although, Orestes Bronwnson in The Laboring Classes, pointed out that this is not true. “Do the young man inheriting ten thousand pounds and the one whose inheritance is merely the gutter, start even?” (219). As a result, the harsh separation of the rich and the poor, where capitalism thrives and,” the division of the community into two classes, one which owns the funds…the other provides the labor” (216). The inhumane apprehension of a capitalist society that keeps its workers “in a permanent system, [has] given preference to the slave system” (214) says a lot about the evils of capitalism corresponding with the false American Dream. An outcome of capitalism is the frustrating rivalry between the poor. “There’s more people! That’s what’s ruining the country. The competition is maddening”
It always shows that the poor have a more honest-to-goodness side than the rich. Why? Probably because they’ve been through the rough patch and understand the concept of karma and virtue. They become a better person! A living example of this would be Jeannette Walls. After living with her parents and their lax idea of being poor, she learned that wasn’t the right way to live; Walls first realized this in Welsh when her mother refused to get up for work. She was tired of Rose Mary’s childish behavior and scolded her for it, which Rose Mary took offensively and threatened to tell her father; Rex found out, warned Walls to watch her mouth, and when she refused to apologize, he spanked her, something that’s never been done before. It dawned on her then on how ignorant her parents were; as a result, Jeannette took up a job at a local jewelry store to support her family, since neither of her parents were willing to. This proves how poverty can change a person morally as you can see that due to their living condition, Walls had to find a job. She could have left the family and lived out on her own, but ultimately, she decided to play out the virtue, charity, against the sin, Selfishness. This wasn’t her only time using virtuous powers;
Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby, and Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn all explore the effects of wealth and class on society. On closer inspection, a common strand seems to form between these three classic novels. The idea that wealth (and the social class that comes with it) determines a person is refuted via the use of deep characterization. In the end, it seems, wealth and class don’t determine a person’s moral integrity and value, but rather how they interact those two things. Ultimately, Twain makes a case for the lower-classes, that even the poor (and enslaved) can be truly good, setting a better example than the wealthy. Fitzgerald, on the other hand, shows that rich aren’t entirely superficial, rather, that they can be great men. Bronte’s Jane Eyre is a bit more of an oddball than the other two novels, focusing instead on a protagonist that leaps from riches (under the supervision of a cruel aunt), to rags, then back to riches once again. Still, this common strand holds true between the three books: no class, poor or rich, is entirely exempt from moral bankruptcy. A poor person like Pap Finn can be morally corrupt, while a rich man like Jay Gatsby can be good. All character-based judgments in these books lay solely on the person they are judging, blind of the class and wealth that surrounds them.
In the article “The Myth of the Culture of Poverty,” by Paul Gorski he explains and challenges all the myths surrounding poverty and the mentality of the poor. Gorski argues that “poor people do not have weaker work ethics or lower levels of motivation than wealthier people” (33). This way of thinking is called the culture of classism. A culture that leads us to have low expectations from people who have low-income or come from low-income families. Classism are what people who are financial stable use to define poor people and their characteristics. I choose this article because Gorski provides sufficient evidence on why we should not fall victim to myths that people use to depict poor people and their
Snow White is the head in charge who runs a town called Fabletown. She still needs to run things by the Mayor but overall, she is the face of Fabletown. Others come to her with their problems in hopes of a solution. Contrary to the Snow White we know from the original fairytales where Snow White is not in charge of anything and no one comes to her for solutions. Instead, she has the seven dwarfs looking out for her. For example, when the queen tried to kill her they said, "It must have been the queen who tried to kill you, take care, and do not let anyone in again” (Germany, Jacob, and Wilhelm Grimm). This shows pity on the dwarf’s behalf because they knew she was unable to care for herself. However, in Fables, Snow White is now the one looking out for others. For example, Beauty and the Beast come to Snow White for help with their marriage. Although, Snow White was not able to give them a solution, she was now on the opposite end of the table unlike the young and naïve Snow from the fairytale who sought others for her problems.
Take everything you know about racism, sexism, and religionism and toss it out the window, because there’s an impediment to prosperity that is often underlooked: Classism. Classism is a suppression which always has and always will continue to affect our everyday lives. The disparities that presently exist between the lower and higher classes form a condition where it is unlikely to allow for equality for anyone. The short stories “A Rose of Emily,” written by William Faulkner, and “Desiree’s Baby,” written by Kate Chopin, offered several depictions of classism within a society. “A Rose for Emily” recounts the life of an isolated, aristocratic woman named Emily Grierson who symbolically represents the demise of the old Southern society. Similarly, “Désirée’s Baby” portrays classism present in mid-nineteenth century Southern society in conjunction with the inequalities that exist between race. Class prejudice plays an important role as it was behind the emergence of the characters’ unspeakable actions. In “A Rose for Emily” and “Desiree’s Baby,” classism is emphasized and provokes arrogance, denial, and the demise of others.
Every person can be identified as rich or poor regardless of their other status be it in terms of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation or age. The author explained even in the most predominant White race, there were class divisions and the least fortunate were the so
The original story Little Snow White uses the stereotypical idea that women cannot go out and make money for their families. For example, in the story when the dwarfs first find Snow White living in their home, they make a deal with her in return for her to be able to stay with them: “If you will keep the house for us, and cook, sew, make beds, wash, and knit, and keep everything clean and orderly, then you can stay here.” This agreement isn’t fair. They go out and make money while she does the chores. The stereotype they have shown is that all women can do is stay home and clean. Snow White is forced to stay home and clean the entire house everyday while the men go out into the world and make money. This is how Little Snow White incorporates gender roles and labels into the personality of the female protagonist.
In chapter sixteen, “Social Class and Inequality” the essays show different cases in which being rich, poor, smart or middle class can affect a person. In the writings of Angela Locke in “Born Poor and Smart” (338-339) Angela summarizes her life of what it was like growing up with a poor, yet smart mother. However, in “When Shelter Feels like a Prison” (374-376) Charmion Browne writes about being poor, and living in homeless shelters. Somethings in life, are no more than learning experiences, and only you can change it.
The lower class, also known as the “working class”, were those individuals whom partook on the strenuous and dangerous jobs. These individuals were expected to work each and every day for multiple hours as a time and without a break. Although they worked extremely hard, the lower class was not paid well for their effort. Instead, they received the very minimum wage that one could, and were expected to live off of this (Allingham, 2002). Because the people of this class did not have as much money, their material items such as; housing, clothing, and food were very minimum. Even with the small amount of income that they received, the “lower section of the society was also burdened with numerous taxes that made their life miserable.” (Bishal, 2008) Lastly, the working classes remained shut out from the political process, making these individuals in reality separated from the rest of society (Allingham, 2002).
Throughout the Industrial Revolution, the lower class’s population continued to increase as more and more people became poor and fell into poverty. Although the upper class was prosperous and wealthy, they failed to assist the struggling population; this only made the problem worse. As the issue of poverty became more critical, it became a topic that authors commonly wrote about. George Orwell, Charles Dickens, and Jonathan Swift were authors who presented the problem of a poor community and a neglectful upper class to the people through the use of allegory and satire. This helped to easily convince and influence their readers. Through the use of satire and allegory, George Orwell, Charles Dickens, and Jonathan Swift effectively address the pressing issue of the upper class’s ignorance and mistreatment towards the lower, struggling class.