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Social hierarchy in western society
Under the lion's paw analysis
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The social hierarchy is something that is hard to escape wherever you are, but our society has made it almost impossible to ignore no matter how old you are or how good of a family you come from. In Hamlin Garland’s short story, “Under the Lion’s Paw,” there is a slew of social hierarchy and power for wealthiest man in the story; while the poor man is just looked at as nothing. This happens in our society everyday and it can hurt the people under ridicule so much, surprisingly nothing is ever done to fix it. Consequently letting the predicament continue to get worse. Furthermore, shouldn’t social hierarchy be based on more than just the amount of money you make? It is preposterous to not consider who that person is in society; like what they do to better our community, how they carry themselves and treat other people, and the history of their families. If we continue to base the worth or rank of the people in our world, we will continue to pass up people that could do so much for our world, but are never given a fair chance because of how we rank usefulness in this world.
In Garland’s short story we are presented with three different parties: the Council’s, the Haskin’s, and Butler. Mr. and Mrs. Council are a “lower-middle class” family that works hard for their money and does all the farming themselves to keep up their land. The Haskin’s are a family from out of town that are just coming into town and looking for a new place to stay and make a new life out of. Finally, there is Butler; who is one of the wealthiest landowners in the town and rents a piece of his land to the Haskin’s. Mr. and Mrs. Haskins may be down on their luck, but were always grateful and diligent in order to take advantage of the things they were given throu...
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...social classes that the world tends to put us in, we can sure make a difference by changing our view on them and taking more into consideration when grouping people into a class or ranking.
Works Cited
Baym, Nina, Arnold Krupat, Robert S. Levine, and Jeanne Campbell Reesman: Hamlin Garland. "Under the Lion’s Paw." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th ed. Vol. C. New York, NY: Norton, 2012. 736-46. Print.
Economist, The. "Wealth and Class." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 08 Jan. 2007. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. .
Kraus, Michael W. "Status Hierarchies: Do We Need Them?" Psychology Today: Health, Help, Happiness + Find a Therapist. Psychology Today, 2 Oct. 2012. Web. 17 Apr. 2014. .
Sklar, Holly. “The Growing Gulf Between the Rich and the Rest of Us”. They Say I Say. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, Russel Durst. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2009. Print.
(p1) Broadly speaking, class is about economic and social inequality… (p6) We have a tendency for groups of advanced people to congregate together, and groups of disadvantaged people to congregate so that inequalities persist from generation to generation.
Baym, Nina, and Robert S. Levine. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York London: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012. Print.
For millennia, there have been constant conflicts between the upper class and the lower class, characterized by the upper class’s sense of superiority towards those less economically prosperous. Mansfield, Gordimer, and Orwell describe these conflicts between the upper and lower classes to propose that completely transcending class prejudices is impossible and suggest that societal values have greater impact than individual values as they degrade both a person’s behavior and morality.
Social class is a group in society having the same economic status as one another. Class could
Social class often puts us in a group or community of people who share similar experiences such as, having a low income. People that come from upper class households, may have an advantage at
Reich, Robert. "Why the Rich Are Getting Richer and the Poor Poorer." Mountain View College Reader. Neuleib, Janice. Cain S., Kathleen. Ruffus, Stephen. Boston: 501 Boylston Street, Suite 900. 2013 Print.
Baym, Franklin, Gottesman, Holland, et al., eds. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 4th ed. New York: Norton, 1994.
Divisions within the social stratum is a characteristic of societies in various cultures and has been present throughout history. During the middle ages, the medieval feudal system prevailed, characterized by kings and queens reigning over the peasantry. Similarly, in today’s society, corporate feudalism, otherwise known as Capitalism, consists of wealthy elites dominating over the working poor. Class divisions became most evident during America’s Gilded Age and Progressive era, a period in time in which the rich became richer via exploitation of the fruits of labor that the poor persistently toiled to earn. As a result, many Americans grew compelled to ask the question on everyone’s mind: what do the rich owe the poor? According to wealthy
Social class is a subjective concept in social sciences and political theory where individuals are grouped into different classes. This set a hierarchy inside the society structure where the upper and lower class exist and contribute to the society. Understanding social classes and their effects on the people, as well as cultures and social behavior and lead sociologist closer to the development of an ideal society.
Belasco, Susan, and Linck Johnson, eds. The Bedford Anthology of American Literature. Vol. 1, 2nd Ed., Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. 1190-1203. Print.
In today’s society people are viewed as being in different classes depending on how much money they bring in. The categorization of people is known as classism. Classism is simply the prejudice or in favor of people belonging to a particular social class. Classism is known as one of the largest social problems plaguing the world today. Classes are formed according to how the rules of the following institutions; government regulations and economic status. It is held in place by a system of beliefs and cultural attitudes that ranks people according to their; economic status, family lineage, job status, and level of education. There are three major classifications to which people are titled. They include upper or high class which includes the people with the most money. The middle class who includes the people that brings home the average income. Finally, the class titled the lower class that includes the people who have only one income coming in or none at all (“What Is Classism.”). In the classrooms these classes still remain and the students within each class have different ways in which they learn, and view schooling. We as educators have to look passed their ways and address each class the same.
Baym, Nina et al. Ed. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Shorter 8th ed. New York:
The class system places the individual in the social system based on his achieved status. This status is earned or chosen. This includes educational level, careers, and spouses.
What is social class? It is a term used to describe a large group of people who share similar social or economic positions in society based on wealth, income, job status, education, skills or power in the political sphere. Class is not just about what you own or earn but also who you know. Class affects not only how we feel about ourselves, but how others judge and consequently treat us. Those at the top of the class structure, the elite, have more power than those in the middle and even more power than those at the bottom who are of lower class. Education is a highly valued commodity in our world. In his commentary on society Freud, claimed, “ No feature, however, seems better to characterize civilization than its esteem and encouragement