Alienation and Social
Class
Elajah, Cristian, Rachel and Javier
Power Quotes
" It does this only by giving rise to the proletariat as
proletariat-this poverty conscious of its own
spiritual and physical poverty, this dehumanization
that is conscious of itself as a dehumanization and
hence abolishes itself.
“Alienation and Social Class” By Karl Marx
This quote is trying to convey that the rich class gains wealth through the hard labor of the poor class
and its workers, but it also tells us that the rich class wants the poor class to feel they have no
meaning and that they have a human less life, almost similar to a symbiotic relationship.
"
“
It does this only by giving rise to the
proletariat as proletariat-this poverty
conscious of its own spiritual and physical
poverty, this dehumanization that is conscious
of itself as a dehumanization and hence
abolishes itself.
“Alienation and Social Class” By Karl Marx
”
This quote is trying to convey that the rich class gains wealth through the hard labor of the poor class
and its workers, but it also tells us that the rich class wants the poor class to feel they have no
meaning and that they have a human less life, almost similar to a symbiotic relationship.
Power and connection to The Great Gatsby
Alienation and Social Class
The Great Gatsby
Karl Marx
F. Scott Fitzgerald
"The possessing class and the
proletarian class represent one and
the human self-alienation"
-("Alienation and Social Class" By Karl Marx, 4
paragraph)
Connection to
The Great Gatsby
This quote is saying that the rich and the
poor have a symbiotic relationship, with
out the other they would not be able to
survive.
In The Great Gatsby, the rich (West and
East Egg) and the poor (Valley of Ashes)
need each other. They work together,
without each other they would not be
able to live. Tom needs Wilson to fix his
car.
"'Like to buy it?' 'Big chance' Wilson
smiled faintly. 'No, but I could
make some money on the other'"
-(Fitzgerald, 123)
“ But the former feels satisfied and affirmed in
this self-alienation seeing in its own
impotence and the reality of an inhuman
experience.
“Alienation and Social Class” By Karl Marx
”
This quote from Karl Marx article about alienation can describe the character Tom in the great Gatsby
because as Tom learns about the relationship between Gatsby and his wife Daisy he is powerless to
make Daisy his, as well when he learns that Myrtle his mistress is planning on moving away with her
husband Wilson giving Tom no power to change the outcome.
Continued...
Alienation and Social Class
The wealthy class "experiences the
alienation as a sign of its own
power"
-(Alienation and Social Class, Karl Marx paragraph 4)
The Great Gatsby
"His wife and his mistress, until
an hour ago secure and
inviolate, were slipping
precipitately from his control"
-(Fitzgerald, 125)
This quote is talking about power
and how people are different than
others due to power or money.
Even tough rich people might have a
lot of power, it can easily slip away as
it did with Tom Buchanan
Continued...
Alienation and Social Class
"The latter, however, feels
destroyed in this alienation, and
seeing in its own importance and
the reality of inhuman existence"
-(Alienation and Social Class, Karl Marx paragraph 4)
This is talking about people who are poor
and do not have a lot of power. They
know that they are worth something but
people think otherwise so it is a big
internal conflict.
The Great Gatsby
In The Great Gatsby Mr. Wilson
is poor and he has no power. He
knows that he is worth
something but he doesn’t really
know what it is. He is having
this mental power struggle.
Gender
What we found very interesting as we read Alienation and Social
Class by Karl Marx, is that Marks does not mention gender at all. We
think that he is trying to keep his writing gender neutral.
“Both the proletariat itself and its conditioning opposite-private
property- disappear with the victory of the proletariat.”
“Alienation and Social Class” By Karl Marx
American Dream
"The proletariat...is compelled to abolish itself and thereby its
conditioning opposite-private property-which makes it proletariat"
“Alienation and Social Class” By Karl Marx
This quote is trying to show that the poor social class is hurting
itself and there by leading to the cause of making the rich poor too.
The American Dream then becomes less possible.
“ This is a negative side of the antagonism, its
disturbance within itself, private property
abolished and in the process of abolishing
itself.
“Alienation and Social Class” By Karl Marx
”
The quote shows that when private property having a conflict it could lead to the process of
abolishing itself until it has completely been abolished. Then the American Dream is hard to achieve
because without money there's no chance of living in a nice house, owning a new car, having a good
life style without any worries.
“
The proletariat, on the other hand, is
compelled to preserve its own existence, and
thereby the existence of its opposite, the
proletariat. This is the positive side of the
antagonism, it's disturbance within itself,
private property satisfied with itself.
“Alienation and Social Class” By Karl Marx
”
This quote relates to both the American dream and Gatsby because the quote is trying to say that the
rich class is protecting his wealth rather then spending it since the wealth came from hard work and
freedom.