Comparative analyses exploring the film V for Vendetta and the song Get Up Stand Up by Bob Marley and how they relate to the social context of Marxism.
One of the themes that influenced many artists in the past is standing up for your rights. ‘V for Vendetta’ (2005) and ‘Bob Marley’s Get Up, Stand Up’ (1973) has been chosen because the author supports these works fit into the social context of Marxism.
From the outset, Marxism will be examined in terms of the historical aspect and materialistic ideology. Moreover, the study will look at how these elements were manipulated by the powers that be. There follows a short synopsis of the film ‘V for Vendetta’ and an analysis of specific scenes that relate to the Marxist theory. Subsequently, the discussion will focus on Marley’s influence on Jamaican politics and consequently an analysis on how Marley’s Get Up Stand Up (1973) lyrics relate to Marxism. Lastly, by implementing appropriate approaches there will be a critical comparison on how these works relate to Marxism (explanation).
History of Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was born in Trier, Germany in 1818 (bbc.co.uk, 2015). Marx joined the University of Bonn in 1835 (doube check, duel stuff) to study in the Faculty of Law (Kreis, 2000). In 1836 (find out what happened), Marx moved to Berlin to enrol at Berlin University as a law student and soon after he became a member of the Young Hegelians (Engels, 2015). Which was/is an idealist movement (find out what it was) in
Karl Marx was born in Prussia in 1818. Later in his life he became a newspaper editor and his writings ended up getting him expelled by the Prussian authorities for its radicalism and atheism (Perry 195). He then met Fredrich Engels and together they produced The Communist Manifesto in 1848, for the Communist League. This piece of writing basically laid out Marx’s theory of history in short form (Coffin 623). The Communist Manifesto is mainly revolved around how society was split up into two sides, the Bourgeoisie and Proletariat. I do believe that the ideas of the Communist Manifesto did indeed look educated on paper but due to the lessons of history communism is doomed to fail in the past, present, and future. Communism did not prevail in many different countries, two of them being Berlin and the Soviet Union.
The parallels between the theme of the film and rising fears of communism and related topics of concern during that time are captivating. Communism was an ideology originating in the Soviet Union with the ideas of establishing a
Karl Marx was born in Prussia on May of 1818 to a middle class Jewish family. As an adult, Marx attended school in Berlin where he discovered the philosophy of G.W.F. Hegel. Hegel’s main concept was the idea of dialect, which can be explained as the process of logical argumentation and refutation. Marx was greatly influenced by Hegel, which is shown in Marx’s belief that history evolves through a series of predictable conflicts (A+E Television Networks, LLC. 2013). Marx also believed social divisions and civil unrest were due to the increase in industrialization and the widening gap between rich and poor.
In the words of Karl Marx, the founding father of Marxism, Marxism principally believes that “the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.” In essence, Marx asserts that every day is a tale of conflict between society’s upper and lower class. While controversial in the real world, this notion is not far-fetched in the realm of literature. For example, Alice Walker’s short story “Everyday Use” shows prominent signs of tension between classes. When examined from a Marxist perspective, Walker’s characters in “Everyday Use” highlight how each class values items and how survival needs and societal expectations differ among classes.
The first communication concept relates to empathy and empathic communication, both Bob and Ziggy Marley display this throughout their music. Empathy defined by Julia T. Wood, “is the ability to feel with another person, to feel what she or he feels in a situation. Our feelings tend to be guided by our own emotional tendencies and experiences” (78). In the fullest sense, this implies putting yourself into the other person’s shoes, to experience their life, so that you really understand and feel; pain, anger, frustration, joy, spiritual uplift and happiness. Bob Marley is empathetic in nature, he is “someone who appears to speak for the people. It is his music, his life story, his worldview and the way he carries himself -- he seems like an extension of the people and their leader. He seems like a sort of Cultural Senator, a man who represents his people” (Toure 2017). Bob Marley expresses empathy throughout his song “Get Up Stand Up,” by giving us examples of what life was like in the 1960’s in Jamaica. Paying close attention to the words and the connotations associated with those words, we can get an idea to what was going on during that era. From the beginning, reggae was political, as the work of Bob clearly attests. When he chants, “Get up \ Stand up \ Stand up for your rights!” you can feel how important this issue is to him. By translating this one lyric, you can imagine the details of his experiences and the emotions associated with them. The lyrics of this song relates to the struggles and inequality of the society and the harsh realities of a post-independent Jamaica. Nearly the entire song has a political slant to it in some shape or form. The political unrest which was taking place at the time was extremely intense, this song urged people to raise and stand up and fight for their rights and to be proactive.
A Visit from the Goon Squad is a relatively new literally masterpiece that won the Pulitzer Prize. As it is a new literary work, there has not been a lot of analysis done on it to date, in other words there is a gap in the literature and this essay will attempt to close some of that gap. Through Marxist ideologies, an article by Jeremy Gilbert and a book by Terry Eagleton, this essay will begin to dissect some of the broader topics from a few chapters in the novel as well as the connection it has with Marxism.
The song “Get Up Stand Up” was released in 1973.The social context of this period has a major impact on the choice of lyrics in this song. This song became a huge part of the human rights movement in Jamaica. The lyrics are politically motivated and wanting change. The song talks about the necessary actions that need to be taken to avoid the current oppression in Jamaica. One of the more important topics of the song was the fight for everyone to have their unalienable rights and to say that they are not just reserved for the upper class. Another point of view was the song defending the commonly misunderstood Rastafarian religion. The three people that worked on the song Tosh, Marley, and Wailer were all faithful advocates of the reggae and Rastafarian movement.
First of all, before analysing the theme, it is necessary to clarify the notion of “dynamic of power”. In fact, this denotes the dialectic interaction between the subject possessing the power and the object which is influenced by this power. In literature, this liaison is expressed by the relations between a master and a slave. For instance, the Russian writers Dostoevsky and Tolstoy explored the theme of the relations between a master and a slave, an oppressor and an oppressed in their works. Since this theme has stirred the imagination of many writers, it is not surprising that the possibility to expose this type of relations has attracted the filmmakers for the decades.
Derived from opinions and views of the Father of Communism and adapted to fit literature both modern and classic, the Marxist lens is a particular way to view literature in relation to a powerful bourgeoisie that abuses a less powerful or economically prevalent proletariat. Upon viewing a text through this lens, common themes such as said abusement and commonly struggles for power become commonplace. Through these lens, one can view Shakespeare’s Hamlet and find social classes set in the book and desires for power within and between them. While viewing Hamlet through the Marxist lens, one could identify the tragedy as a struggle for power and a lesson on retaliation and violence overall.
Through the theoretical approach of Marxism, The Beauty and The Beast (2017) is a Disney film that depicts the divide between class structures in a traditionally oriented society. The Marxist theory is used as a tool to analyze the film in order to have the ability to examine the core concepts of the theory and investigate the theme of the film in its entirety. The film depicts two class structures that consist of lower, peasant-like villagers and a middle-class structure. The film depicts various social hierarchy’s that attempts to challenge humanities perception of power through the theory of Marxism. This paper will describe how the theoretical approach of Marxism applies to the Disney film, The Beauty and the Beast (2017) through
It is important to realize how society works because it helps us to better understand how the film views the economic system that produces people like Travis. It also helps us to better understand what it is like to be like Travis who falls under the Proletariate category. For instance, the use of social structures and the idea of the lower class revolting. Taking this into account is important because it helps us to better understand how the film views the economic system that produces people like Travis. This paper argues that the film illustrates Marx's ideas in order to critique the capitalist
“Whoever controls the means of production in society controls the society.” (Martin) Marxism can be used to explain and inspect actions, characters, settings, and ideas in a multitude of texts. In the novel The Kite Runner written by Khaled Hosseini, the Marxist views on the class system, religion, and the ownership of goods are prominent and introduce an interesting and captivating perspective to the story.
“V for Vendetta" is a movie about freedom, about human struggle against the state, the government of the sacrifice of a symbol. V for Vendetta was born from the successful combination of a sudden, seemingly incongruous things: out of the comic’s conventions and the anti-globalization pathos. I think this movie is a combination of the of Lewis Carroll’s abstract absurdity and George Orwell’s totalitarian nightmare. Alice meets with Hitler. Evey dressed up and went out on a date, but instead of rabbit hole, she found the black "funnel". Once the British had already made a movie "It Happened Here," an alternative fantasy on the theme of the Nazi’s occupation of England - now the enemy did not come from outside but from the inside. In the near future, England is living under a power of tyrant, neurotic clown with flabby face. Supreme Chancellor autocratically governed the country. Bishops are concerned about the moral health of the nation. People are constantly live in fear of external threat after the tragic virus attacks a few years ago. Every person sentenced to death if he keeps a Koran. Same thing for the "unnatural" sex. There was nothing else to be executed for;
Arundhati Roy’s novel The God of Small Things presents the reader with the realities of Marxism. Roy gives the reader an impression of three possible manifestations of the ideology, rather than presenting a biased reading for or against Marxism. Through Roy’s novel the reader comes to understand Marxism as it appears through Velutha, the oppressed worker, Chacko the Marxist-in-name only, and Comrade Pillai, the corrupt politician.
Karl Marx was born on May 5, 1818 in Trier Rheinish Prussia (Germany). Although his family was