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SOCIAL CLASS (The Lottery (How can a random slip of paper determine a…

- - - - Magwitch: The Rags to Riches Tale :champagne:
        
        Magwitch was a criminal his whole life. From stealing turnips as a child to spending his childhood in and out of jail, he is by no means a gentleman. He is of the lowest possible social class of convicts. But, unlike many other people of his time, he gained wealth and became prosperous through dedicating his time and working hard. This exemplifies the theme of social class during the Industrial Revolution by highlighting the rarity of obtaining wealth through self sacrifice as opposed to lucky lineage.
      - Joe Gargery: Poor, Working, Satisfied :<3:
        
        Joe Gargery was the town blacksmith who worked hard all his life and never gained any fortune. His life was simple, static...and perfectly fine just like that. Joe Gargery was more of a man than any upper class gentleman in the novel because he worked hard, respected himself and all others around him, and made a sufficient life for his family: he was proud of his life, stayed true to himself, and earned the pleasant life he lived. Joe Gargery exemplified one of the most important themes of social class in the novel- no amount of gold can amount to the happiness obtained through wholesome living and honesty.
      - Havisham: Rich in Wealth, Not in Health :red_cross:
        
        Mrs. Havisham was raised as a spoiled only-child of a rich countryman-a prime example of hereditary aristocracy. She fell in love with a man who conspired against her, stole all her wealth, and left her alone at the altar. This completely devastated Havisham, and she dedicated the rest of her life to teaching her adoptive daughter to hate men. Havisham perfectly embodies not only the outcomes of inherited wealth, but also the role of women in the nineteenth century. Instead of getting herself back on track after her devastating loss, she went crazy and became an "immensely rich and grim lady..." because what else is a broken-hearted woman of that time to do besides mourn?
- - - - Chief Bromden: The Story of Stolen Selfhood :frowning_face:
        
        Bromden is a mixed Native American with a white mother and tribal father. His heritage taught him to love the natural world, but his mother traumatized him by forcing his father to sell his tribal lands to the government. This left Chief to deal with immense mental trauma, and he began to despise the government and society in general, for they were the reasons for the destruction of his childhood. This demonstrates the conformist nature of society and how certain races and social classes are able to manipulate the lower classes through bribery and false promises.
      - Harding: The Struggle for Self Acceptance :forbidden:
        
        Harding is well educated, married, and homosexual. He checked himself into the hospital and stays there voluntarily to escape the hardships that homosexuality brings. He has an extremely difficult time dealing with the social prejudices of being gay, and would rather suffer through the pains and strains of the mental hospital than face his own self. This illustrates how society oppresses people who differ from the norm and almost shoves them into a lower class due to said differences.
      - Ratched: Playing the Female Privilege Card :check:
        
        Ratched constantly belittles, frightens, and emasculates all of the men on the ward. She scares them into not challenging her authority. All throughout the story, she tries so hard to disguise her gender by concealing her very large breasts under a sterile, flat white nurse's uniform. The purpose of Nurse Ratched is to prove the castration of men by women, but an underlying theme of her character is a woman's desire to conceal her gender due to a woman's place in society being lesser than that of a man.
- - - - Beneatha: Return to Roots :fire:
        
        Beneatha is very ambitious and hard working. She will not stand for the mistreatment of herself just because of her gender and race. She never stops questioning gender roles and challenging her place in society based on her race. Beneatha represents social justice and class revival.
      - Murchison: Money Can't Buy Love :lock:
        
        Murchinson is a very wealthy, college educated black man from a well to do family. He is courting Beneatha, and her entire family encourages her to marry him for financial stability. Beneatha refuses because he is too "snobby." This snobbiness is a result of his desire to not be seen as a poor, lower class black, and therefore gain attention and acceptance from whites. Because, despite his wealth and education, he was still discriminated against for his skin color. This shows the importance of not just degree of wealth or education in social class, but also biological luck. And unfortunately, it is hard to be of a high social class with black skin.
      - Walter: What is Man? :!?:
        
        Walter is very concerned with being perceived as masculine, bit not in a superficial way. He wants his son to admire him and he wants to provide for his family and give them comfortable lives. He believes the key to masculinity is wealth, and he can only reach his goals through money. He is even willing to be belittled and degraded for this reason. This shows how strongly social class affects our minds, and how society's ideas of wealth and fortune have infiltrated even the most honorable of morals.
- - - - Hamlet: Patriarchal Prince :star:
        
        Hamlet is a high noble. He is boastful, well educated, and skilled. He treats women as a lower entity to him, a typical behavior of men at that time. This is historically evident in the middle ages. He also often contemplated the meanings of life and death, which were evident of his higher education. Hamlet is an example of hereditary aristocracy and being born into wealth-luck of the draw.
      - Ophelia: Not So Noble :pen:
        
        As a female "noble," Ophelia relies on men to determine her behavior. She is subservient to and dependent on them- as she is seen as an ideal figure in society, she must succumb to proper etiquette and behavior. Even though she is another example of inherited fortune, she is still seen as a lower entity than men due to the patriarchal society of the middle ages. She is abused by Hamlet and used as a spy by her father. The two men who should respect her the most in the world just use her as a pawn.
      - The Gravediggers: The Name That Says it All :beer_mugs:
        
        The gravediggers are not at all respected by society. Since they don't have the proper etiquette and education that the nobles do, they are given the most disgusting jobs and seen as pigs by the higher classes. This is very significant, because these people were judged and downgraded in society just because they weren't lucky enough to be born into nobility. And not only do they lack hereditary fortune, but due to their misfortunes, are refused any abilities to rise in the ranks- they are stuck forever as gravediggers and lowlifes.
- - - - The lottery involves random distributions of slips of paper that decide who lives and who dies. This represents money. We as a society have put so much pressure on these obscure slips of paper- dollar bills, just as the slips of paper in the lottery, can mean life or death for someone. These paper bills control our lives. Many are born into money, and many are born into poverty- it's all a game of chance. Just like the Lottery.
    - - In the Lottery, women have very little control over their own lives. The men run the lottery and hold government positions, and they even draw for the families. Also, when a woman marries, she is absorbed into the husbands family for the lottery. These are all common traits of typical patriarchal societies seen in history.
    - - Even young boys feel the negative pressures of the patriarchal society. They are the first to excitedly gather the stones which will soon murder a hopeless victim. This shows how even from a young age, boys feel pressured to be insensitive and tough.