Social Issues In Wicked

In the book Wicked Elphaba is a misunderstood teen who unfortunately was born green. She is bullied for most of her life and has a hard time making friends. Nobody really wants to help her out when she has done nothing wrong. Where Glinda is the exact opposite and is thought of that way in the book. “Whereas Elphaba is considered unattractive, Glinda relies on her physical beauty to get ahead.

E. In Hughes Allison story, “Corollary”, there were several similarities between race and class in the story. All the villains of the story were darken skin tone and poor, stealing the

Throughout the span of the novel, The Other Wes Moore, the two Wes Moore, unfortunately, weren’t the only characters that suffer from society’s oppression. As a matter of fact, one can argue agree that most characters’ social class did impact their storylines. Take, for example, the other Wes Moore’s mom, Mary Moore, who due to the termination of the Pell Grant had to leave behind her education at Johns Hopkins University. Having already been socially isolated from her peers because of the “color of her skin”, Ms. Moore at this moment lost her opportunity to succeed. She lost the ability to earn a degree and henceforth, her ability to reach social mobility.

Throughout the novel it is apparent that everyday instances of racism occur, causing people of color to feel outcasted. There are two very obvious occasions where this happened. In the first instance two African American woman are in a workspace of primarily all white co-workers. When a woman they worked with got these two names mixed up, it was stated that she had a “fifty-fifty chance of getting it right” insinuating that these two women are the only black ones working here. Later, the woman who had the mix-up with the names wrote an apology note; however, in the note she stated it was “our mistake” and seemingly put part of the blame on the to women. This is a primary example of how African Americans can be thrown against a white background making them seem different than everyone else.

In the reading, Jones explores the relationship between class, race, and gender. She states that African Americans, in general, are oppressed, however, black women

This gives the audience many altered ways that they, personally, can interpret the play from. Allowing for many different opinions on a single passage whether they may be relevant or not. Out of many different perspectives, Marxist, has an important part within the play, separating the ‘upper’ and ‘lower’ classes, creating a divide between the stereotype white people and the archetypal black culture. This perspective plays a vital role, beginning at the very start of the play right through till the closing stages. It sets the scene, making the divide between the two ‘different’ cultures, in which over the course of the play, slowly gets bridged with the uncovering of the forgotten stories, told by the Aboriginal Ex-servicemen. Bringing men closer together through the hard times that they had endured together. As the text starts, it begins with an easy to spot, element of Marxism, pushed by the white Vs Black component in the early stages of the book, with name calling and bullying. As the text continues, the element of Marxism is still present but less obvious, with the uncovering of lost and untold stories which bring the segregation between the two cultures of white and black, stereotype and archetype to an

The black characters in the novel are all victims of this “separate but equal” mentality; the younger characters yearn for real equality and the older characters have settled in to their lives by accepting their “fate.” The existing structures of society in Bayonne, Louisiana prevent black characters such as Grant Wiggins and Vivian from ever breaking out of their social class; both are forced to remain in their lives as teachers of young black children who will also grow up to live limited lives. Wiggins says of his classroom, “I’m the teacher... and I

At the start of the book a naïve, young and innocent African American girl lived life almost oblivious to the socially constructed issue of race. She did not see the difference of skin color and believed it was perfectly normal to socialize with whites. As far as she was concerned raced did not exist. This view was quickly altered and changed as the little girl named Essie-Mae Moody grew up fast in a society dominated by racial boundaries involving whites, blacks and a hierarchy of people who had parts of both. Essie’s first encounter with race which initiated her first change, from being oblivious to being confused, occurred early in life. When she was young, she was friends with and often played with white children. This all changed

She makes it clear that although we say that our society has come far from the old forms of discrimination we have not truly ended racial caste in America and that we have merely redesigned it. Looking at racial inequality from a Marxist lens, race is used to oppress individuals in order to capitalize on wealth. Furthermore, Marxism looks at race as a byproduct of the human desire for lucrativeness. In other words, certain groups want to accumulate as much wealth and material, and in order for them to do that they need to mitigate competition. Competition is reduced through oppressive tactics, certain groups of individuals establish themselves as the essential subject whilst making everyone else around them as the inessential object. By identifying a separation factor, like skin color, one group can thus establish itself as the subject while establishing the other as the object. Tying this back to the play, we can see the correlation between white people and supremacy, and black people and inferiority. Color Blindness comes from a lack of awareness of racial privilege conferred by Whiteness. Due to the fact that White individuals have never encountered difficulty pertaining to issues of race, they are unable to sympathize and acknowledge that the condition exists. Rebecca, as

Mrs. Turpin perceives herself as a spiritual, grateful, hard-working, and respectable woman; however, thanks to the point of view, the reader is able to identify Mrs. Turpin’s true personality because the reader is only able to comprehend the way Mrs. Turpin thinks. As Mrs. Turpin walks into the waiting room, she carefully examines and categorizes the people inside into social classes mentioning that “on the bottom of the heap are the most colored people…then next to them -- not above, just away from -- were the white-trash” (6). This statement shows Mrs. Turpin’s view of her high social status as a “home-and-land owner” since she acknowledges her superiority over the “colored people” and the “white-trash.” Additionally, from

Anne was immediately confused by their presence because they seemed to be just like her except for skin color. On one occasion all the children were playing together in the lobby of a movie theater. Anne was with some local white children playing, but when it was time to enter the movie lobby the white children went in one direction and Anne went in after her friends. Her disapproving mother quickly stopped Anne and they left the theater. Before this instance Anne had never considered the coincidence that all the white children watched the movie from the bottom terrace and all the African America children from the top terrace. While thinking about the difference Anne realized that the bottom terrace and side entrance was much more luxurious than the raggedy top terrace, where she and her mother usually sat (38-2). After this the difference in skin color became much more apparent to her in everyday life. Anne was motivated to find the answers as to why she was treated differently because of the color of her skin.

Throughout the entire world there are issues with our societies brought upon by the lack of clear thinking and/or compassion. Many of these issues may not be problems necessarily but just topics discussed when the word “issue” is brought up. One can clearly compare our society to the society described in Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave New World. In this novel the society Huxley has created is meant to be a utopia, made up of a hierarchy known as the caste system. Social classes in both societies create issues due to the fact that everyone has always had different standings in society.

The stereotypes in the story, makes it difficult for the readers to conclude the race of each character. People assume that the African American character would be illiterate and uneducated and the white character to be well-educated. During the time period of the story African Americans did not have access to a decent education; making it harder for them to learn just the basics. Whites had access to good education, making it easy to believe the white character is more educated. It is also believed that a person that is well educated will have a better lifestyle when they are older. A well-educated person will have a better job, paying more, and have a better opportunity to afford the means of a luxurious lifestyle. An under educated person will most likely live in poverty, struggle for their basic needs, or live in a declining neighborhood. Behavior is a harder stereo type to use to distinguish a race. Many assume that whites have an entitled attitude toward life. Whites had access to a good education and jobs, they had a “I’m better than you” attitude. On the other hand, many think African Americans were upset because of how easy it was for whites to have better access to the basic necessities such as education and housing.

In the story as cited previously, social class was significant in demonstrating dehumanization of blacks but also demonstrating differences in the rich and the poor. Miss Emily is judged for a having romance with a low class, poor citizen of that society, Homer baron. The following sentence affiliates towns’ people response towards Emily’s one and only intimate relationship with Homer. “Poor Emily”, the whispering began. “Do you suppose it’s really so?”, they said to one another, (Faulkner, p.23). The townspeople felt pity upon her relationship with Homer, as in the eyes of the townspeople a barrier of status was set up, only the deserving or the affluent ones were allowed. Homer was a labor whereas; Miss Emily belonged to a respected rich family. Distinguishing their class differences, Homer was way beyond Miss Emily’s league, an image set in the eyes of the townspeople.

‘The Incredibles’ is an animated Pixar movie that focuses on two of Metroville’s superheroes who are married-- Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl (add more) The government creates a law stating that ALL superpower activities are prohibited. Consequently, they are obligated to conform to a “normal life” in their society and wind up assimilating to suburban life with their children Violet, Dash and Jack-Jack. After 15 years of living as a civilian and insurance claims specialist, Mr. Incredible decides to take advantage of the opportunity to live the life of a superhero proposed by a mysterious informant. However, it turns out to be a set-up by an adversary who once idolized him in his years as an adolescent. It’s up to his family to save him and the world from any danger that stands before them. In the movie, there are numerous ways the characters are portrayed as based on their ethnicity and power. The film ‘The Incredibles’ depict and display societal issues through the family’s inherited super powers, stereotypes in the movie, and what society defines a hero as.