Tag Archives: Rich vs. Poor

Why are you right?

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“Social Classes“ – Steven Carvajal

Social class plays a major part in “Tartuffe”. Madame Pernelle starts off, takes off, and goes off on everybody that has any say or disrupts her. She is a person of power because she is Orgons mother. She seems to be the mother or grandmother that nobody likes and everyone just deals with because of her social class. What I got from this story sounds like a conversation anybody could have till this day. What makes a person with power or a certain social class right? Why do we have to listen to a person because they have power? Why can’t a person without power or a great social class have a good opinion or be right about an issue?

Dorine, a maid was trying to give an opinion on how the house is run. Her first word was “but” and Madame Pernelle interrupted with “See? A servant with an opinion. You’re the former nanny, nothing more.” She didn’t even let her talk. Who is to say that this former nanny couldn’t have just solved the problem with what she was about to say? Just because she was a former nanny doesn’t mean that her opinion isn’t valid or it won’t contribute into the conversation. Madame Pernelle shut Dorine up by bringing up and reminding her of her social class. It seems here that the less money you have or who you are in society makes u less of a person. But why is that? Tartuffe, a religious hypocrite seems to be the one who calls the shots in this house because he seems to be a religious saint. This act makes Madame Pernelle and Orgon who are top of the household listen and abide by his say. Damis who is Orgon’s son opposes to this and says “Yet I should tolerate this trickster who has become the voice we answer to. And im to be as quiet as a mouse about this tyrant’s power in our house?” I couldn’t agree with Damis more. Just because you have this power over people and people listen to you doesn’t me u have the spell on me. He will not let social class decide whether who is right and who is wrong. People decide a certain person is right just because of who they are in society and not what they actually do. You have to let a person explain themselves and prove to you what is right and what is wrong. Their actions will say it all.

A Modest Proposal

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In the last few years there is a growing concern on the divide between the rich and the poor, the lack of understanding and compassion they show and even when they do show some compassion they can’t really relate to the poor because they are not in the same circumstances as the poor. In the essay “ A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift, he proposes a solution to the problem that there are too many incompetent poor mothers and child beggars, how much they cost for the Irish kingdom and how they can lower the number of the poor or make them useful to the kingdom.

In his argument Swift uses some advantages that he thinks this proposal will add and solve. “it will prevent those voluntary abortions, and that horrid practice of women murdering their bastard children” (315). While reading this, I thought that the author would suggest some new phenomenon on how to keep the kids alive and render them useful; instead he proposes just the opposite. Using the element of surprise to capture the reader’s attention is great, however I got the feeling the author is pro life.

Swift proposes to kill two birds with one shot, lets make the babies of the poor a commodity, this will eliminate some beggars and help the poor earn some money. Either have mother’s sell their children on the market for the rich so the poor can earn some money, or since the baby has value it can be taken away from the mother as collateral for a debt they owe. However he isn’t suggesting to have them sold for labor, no, he wants the kids to be sold for food to the rich. As Swift writes in his essay, “I believe no gentlemen would repine to give ten shilling for the carcass of a good fat child… as I have said will make four dishes of excellent nutritive meat” (317) the author justifies cannibalism by quoting one of his friends that stated that in other places they sell the dead bodies of those who are killed for committing crimes.

The author is contradicting himself, in the beginning it bothers him that kids are being aborted, but in his proposal he suggest killing the kids for food. the biggest problem is that his proposal doesn’t affect him as he writes in the end of the essay that “ I have no children by which I can propose to get a single penny; the youngest being nine years old, and my wife past child bearing.” (320). To convince the reader that he has nothing to gain from this proposal. He also states that, ask any adult person, if they thinks that they would want to be sold for flesh when they were young, so they don’t have to suffer living poor. Even though the author thinks this is a modest proposal, this shows how far apart the mind of a well off person is from the poor.