Oppression is a prologue of unjust and cruel control. It is closely associated with low socioeconomic statuses making the desire to escape it very scarce. In Donzoko, by Akira Kurosawa and The Lower Depths, by Maxim Gorky, characters are presented with low socioeconomic statuses. The absurdity and cruelness of having a low socioeconomic status is displayed as well as the characters’ persistent fight to escape it. The Lower Depths, by Maxim Gorky and the cinematic adaptation, Donzoko, by Akira Kurosawa portray the inescapable oppressed socioeconomic status of characters, however, the mean ways in which this is displayed vary as Gorky relies on dramatic conventions and Kurosawa relies on cinematic conventions. In Donzoko, Akira Kurosawa utilizes the cinematic convention of varying camera angles as it exemplifies the inescapable oppression and socioeconomic statuses by expressing a multitude of perspectives. Throughout the movie, a reoccurring angle was shot from below. The low angles intend for the audience to feel a sense of entrapment since only little sky and high walls are seen in the background. In one scene Sutekichi- whom is given a low socioeconomic status- walks outside. As a result of the low angle, the character is viewed from below and the audience perceive a sense of entrapment. This sensation is justified by the seldom appearances of sky and frequency of walls which expresses the impossibility of escaping this status. Additionally, the low angle provides the
In the Giver, oppression is crystal clear and none of the community’s citizens are aware of it. Having never known anything else, they are inattentive to what they are missing out, and thus appear to be happy. The oppression is not physical but exclusively psychological and appears to stem from a real concern for the
explicitly explains that there are five specific factors of oppression that affect many people in their day to day lives. Those five faces are exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness, cultural imperialism, and violence. Exploitation is the act towards the usage of labor of a specific social group to benefit another group. Marginalization is commonly the exclusion of people of a third world such as racially marked groups, unemployed, disabled, elderly, etc. Powerlessness is the concept how people of power often profit from the labor of others. Cultural imperialism is the idea of a dominant group becoming a norm of society thus making non-dominant groups behaviors as
Overall, this novel proved itself to be a story of hope and liberation. The way in which Equality 7-2521 repeatedly showed actions and thoughts of opposing the society, and how he finally came to the conclusion that the modern society is deprived and wanted to change it, shows that this story is not about despair. Although readers don’t truly know if Equality’s goal to make a better future for the world was achieved, his display of independence, want for freedom, and plans to change the world, left a feeling of hope. Equality 7-2521 sought liberation and a future in which humans were free to be independent. Likewise, a famous phrase in the real world says, “De oppresso liber”-- meaning to “liberate the
In the story “The ones who walked away from Omelas” by Ursula K, Le Guin, Le Guin provides a notion that the cycle of inequality with in a society is intergenerational. At young ages, the children in the town are conditioned to accept inequalities within their society. Although the children disagreed with the treatment of the child locked in the basement, they later assimilated with these harsh realities. Pathing the way for brutality and systemic oppression. With the full understanding that their privilege solely exists through someone else suffering.
The story’s settings of the novel, Anthem, greatly influences the plot. The novel’s setting takes in a Dark Age where there is no creativity, technology, progress, or optimism. The “society” is completely controlled and manipulated by a central group of leaders. The story primarily centers around a young man named Equality 7-2521 who is a street sweeper. This occupation does not offer him opportunities to expand beyond his small controlled world. Equality 7-2521 take his readers on an adventurous life journey as written in his own journal. Readers feel his oppression and personal desperation as they travel through the dark tunnel and live each day in the shoes of Equality.
The working class in this film are forced to endure agonising labour in extremely dangerous environments whilst the upper class, the ‘sons’ are free to live at their will. The dystopic setting of the ‘depths’ becomes evident through Lang’s use of symbolism when the dictator’s son, Freder, journeys to the depths and starts to see the workers being eaten up by the machines in the scene ‘Slaves of the Means of Production” (14.58-17.52). This symbolises the dystopic society in which workers do not have the right to be safe. This idea forms a contextual connection to the 1920’s Weimar Republic where there were two distinct classes, the conservative elite, who were free to live at their will, and the workers who were forced to endure labour with no guarantee for safety. Through the contextual connections of political reform and the shared perspectives of dystopian societies the quote “the object of power is power” is strongly supported by George Orwell’s ‘1984’ and Fritz Lang’s ‘Metropolis’.
In both of these literary works, the low socioeconomic status of the main characters is made well known to the reader early on. This status is
Firstly, oppression is evident through various types of abuse through the main characters, Aminata and Celie. Both have faced several forms of abuse such as physical, emotional, mental and sexual abuse that have stripped away their identity and dignity. For instance, Aminata fights for her freedom throughout her entire life, only to suffer from physical abuse almost everyday on the slave ship and to suffer from sexual abuse on the plantations. Moreover, Aminata
From the start the novel is laden with the pressures that the main characters are exposed to due to their social inequality, unlikeness in their heredity, dissimilarity in their most distinctive character traits, differences in their aspirations and inequality in their endowments, let alone the increasingly fierce opposition that the characters are facing from modern post-war bourgeois society.
In today 's society, equality is a big deal, with many people still fighting for their rights. People all over the world are still being discriminated against, a topic that is not uncommon for a vast amount of dystopian novels. In fact, it 's a very common theme for multiple dystopian pieces. Scott Westerfeld 's Uglies, Joelle Charbonneau 's The Testing, Liam Hughes ' The Social Classes, Kurt Vonnegut Jr. 's Harrison Bergeron, and Wes Ball 's interpretation of The Maze Runner all have social discrimination integrated into their story lines. Despite the many problems in dystopian societies, authors also present the classic hero that rises above those issues and works to rebuild their government or community. However, a hero isn 't just born, they 're made through a series of events such as problems with social class discrimination.
In our Society, we deal with many form of oppression in our daily lives. Unfortunately, different groups of people are more oppressed than others. Oppression is the unjust treatment of a group of people. I believe, our government is a major culprit as they are responsible for oppressing most of society. This involves many groups, such as single mothers, the working class, African Americans, gays and lesbians. In my paper, my personal views will be addressed incorporating ideas from several readings pertaining to different forms of oppression. A summarization of each article will be provided as well.
In any case, individuals within society become oppressed as higher-ranked groups control their lower class counterparts. The five characteristics that pertain to human oppression become defined in Plumwood’s essay as: radical exclusion, homogenization, denial, incorporation, and instrumentalism. Radical exclusion refers to the separating of men as the “One” and women as the “Other.” Furthermore, this term means that the qualities of women become
“Five Faces of Oppression” by Iris M. Young tries to create an idea that we can critique the reality and stages of oppression of different groups. She argues that oppression is structural in the sense that injustices arise from systematic everyday activities, and not from policies or how people act. Since oppression is systematically reproduced and thus ingrained into culture, politics and economics, therefore it cannot be simply removed from our society. She separates the condition of oppression into five different forms: exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness, cultural imperialism, and violence. Young states that exploitation is where oppression occurs in the transfer of one social group’s products of labor to benefit the wealthier class. She also argues that women are also exploited to through this from of
The aim of this essay is to address the problem of inequality and oppression through three separate texts, The Second Sex, The Death of the Profane and Killing Rage. The Second Sex focuses on the woman and her role compared to man. The Death of the Profane and Killing Rage are both texts that describe experiences about the constant racism felt by blacks. To thoroughly examine these texts and how they are related to oppression and inequality it is important to first define what each mean. Oppression and inequality each have different definitions but they go hand in hand. Oppression is the state of being subject to prolonged unjust treatment. While inequality is defined as lacking equality, equality is the state of being equal especially in status,
Supporting the idea of the conflicting concepts of the powerful and the powerless, this piece of literature mirrors the “master- slave” theme of the world today. In a sense, the novel portrays that those who have power and wealth were able to deprive the inferior groups of their rights and can easily manipulate them. Similar to the shortstory, Don Teong represents the dominant force in the society. He can control anyone