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How The Grinch Stole Christmas Essay

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I have chosen to look at “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” by Dr. Seuss from a Marxist perspective. The Marxist school of criticism focuses on the clash between the dominant class and the lower class. This poem is about the Grinch, who is very different from everyone else in his society, making him an outcast that nobody wants to be around. The Grinch is the embodiment of the lower class because he does not get to make important decisions and he lives in isolation. The Whos are the complete opposite of the Grinch, as they represent the dominant class and they get to live together in their tight knit society without any worries. The Grinch wanted to destroy Christmas because nobody gave him a present, as they all viewed him as evil and as detrimental …show more content…

Furthermore, this is an example of the lower class trying to overcompensate by trying to overthrow and cause chaos to the dominant class. The people of that era were very adamant to accept people who were different from them because they wanted everyone to be the same and follow the same rules. The Grinch did not want to follow the rules and so he broke away from the town, to live somewhere where his voice was heard. Once the Grinch stole all of the presents, stocking and trees, he realized that the real value was not in the presents, but in the people celebrating together. This caused him to look past his hate and break the class system, by joining in with the Whos. As a result, he was no longer separated in a separate class, as he transitioned into the dominant class. I believe that this poem does not fully reflect the economic division or even the class division, as it is a children’s poem which mostly focuses on the message, instead of specific details. Although, we can infer that the Grinch was in a different class system, due to his attitude towards the other people of the village and his feeling of resentment and

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