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Jillian DiBlasi English 0701 Professor Gayle 16 Nov 2013 A Corrupted Class Structure In any given society, there is some type of class structure. Class structure is when a society is divided up and put in order depending on class. In other words, these structures are just a hierarchy of status. Class structure is still present today, and dates back to early human civilization. An example of a famous class structure that is often taught is the Egyptian class pyramids. The pharaoh is at the peak, which is followed by the descending classes, eventually leading to the slaves and servants. The pharaoh ultimately rules everything because he has authority. Just because there is class structure in a society, does not always mean that the order of classes are fair. Blind conformity and the misuse of power corrupts class structures. Class structure is supposed to define class as a whole and provide order or rank among a society. A normal class structure would be divided up into upper class, middle class, and lower class. A class structure may have other names for those particular phrases depending on the society they live in. For example, working class would be a term used for the people who typically share the same job, income, or educational value. In Class in America, Gregory Mantsios, the director of the Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies, insists that the United States tries to steer clear of phrases that deal with class divisions and how class distinctions are largely irrelevant today for the mere fact that everyone is supposed to be created equal and that class distinctions do not matter (699). It is assumed by most people

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in the United States that everyone has the same amount of chance and equal opportunity to be successful in life, but this is not always the case. George Orwells Animal Farm exhibits class structure in a critical way. He begins the novel introducing his characters in a peculiar fashion. The leader on Manor Farm is old Major the pig, one of the cleverest and wisest animals on the farm. In the beginning of the novel, the animals enter the barn for old Majors speech. Orwell purposely announces the more significant animals and provides the reader with a description, setting up a hierarchy structure of class among the farm animals. He even excludes the names of some animals, and refers to them by their animal groups (Orwell 1954). This is much like the Egyptian class structure, where people only know the names of the most important ones in the hierarchy. Inevitably, the order of class structure effects and corrupts a society. On Manor Farm, the pigs eventually abuse their power by forcing the other farm animals to conform blindly. Subsequently, the animals are forced into class structure, but it is unseen to everyone but the conniving pigs. They used their intelligence and cleverness to manipulate the animals to gain power and success. Power this strong in a society can and will corrupt class. Where there is power, there is tyranny, and there are several examples throughout the novel where the pigs lead the farm to a totalitarianism state. After old Major died, the farms responsibilities fell to the pigs, who are supposedly just like old Major, wise and intelligent. Right from the start, the pigs automatically thought that they ranked over everyone else. They created a set of commandments to inform the animals what they should and should not do, as if they followed them themselves. The pigs claimed that these rules would lead the farm to a victorious

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rebellion where all animals are equal (Orwell 19) as stated in their seventh commandment. Throughout the novel, the animals become more and more oblivious every day. The continue to repeat the phrases four legs good, two legs bad and sing the ode Beasts of England which both signify obedience to the pigs (Orwell 26). The ones on the farm who do not take part in the rebellion activity just ignore it or run away, which also divides them from the hypothetically equal society. The class structure in Animal Farm is flawed in many ways. Ultimately, the goal that the animals were trying to reach was equality, when in reality they were just creating another hierarchy to be dictated by the so-called equal pigs. Once class structure formed on the farm, the more and conformism and commanding took place (Orwell 1954). Authority and conformity are also shown in Dalton Conleys novel, Honky. Dalton was not your average middle-class white male. His family was considered to be middle-class, but they were not as financially strong as the typical middle-class family. As Dalton was tossed from school to school as a child, he was exposed to multiple class types. He was not quite sure where he fell on the class structure chart, and was eager to find out. Dalton wanted to know all about what it meant to be in upper, middle, and lower class, and was also curious about what made up each of the divisions and how people were classified into each. His experiences in different schools lead him to observe his fellow students and learn from them. In the chapter No Soap Radio, Dalton attends his junior year of high school, where the kids were a mix of all races and classes (Conley 121). At first, Dalton thought that because there was a variety of race and class that everyone would integrate, but he soon came to the realization that just because multiple races were placed in a setting, did not mean that they were going to

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assimilate. He explained how those who were poor sat inside, eating *their+ federally subsidized hot lunches, while the Village kids went out to the local shops for food (Conley 121). Dalton already noticed the divisions at his school and it was only the first day. As Dalton grew up, he comprehended that it was natural for teens to clique (Conley 2000). The separated group of the students who went to the local shops probably felt more superior because they had an option that other students did not have. With this option, they had control. They did not abuse their power, but it did create a division between the two groups. There was another time when Dalton felt the need to shadow his classmates. A joke was made by Daltons close friend, Marcus. When Marcus replied with the answer to the joke, the group of kids listening all laughed. Dalton felt as though he had to laugh with them, or else he would be left out. He tried to figure out what the joke meant, and finally came to the assumption that it was all about centers and peripheries, conformity and deviance, in -groups and outgroups (Conley 126). He knew now that race and class caused cliques to form. Even in a high school setting, class structure is present. In Honky, the power of cliques and the people who followed created a corrupted system of class structure in Daltons high school (Conley 2000). The misuse of power can really affect the public. Most people would not expect our education systems to abuse it, but in some cases they do. A program called Teach for America takes college graduates and allegedly turns them into teachers in a matter of a five-week span by placing them in an institution. After the five weeks, apparently they are prepared to take on any classroom setting. These college graduates never actually earn a degree in education. Because Teach for America is legal, college graduates turn to this program, where they feel as

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though they are helping the students, but some students believe otherwise. A student named Rachel Smith who attends a school in Chicago strongly believes that the TFA corp members: Only see them for 2 years because were just a stepping stone so they can get to their prep schools Its time we refute these self-proclaimed saviors and put our faith into the true educators, who demand Masters Degrees and double majors, and not the ones trying to do the black community a couple favors (An Open Letter 8). Students cannot stress enough that a teacher with an education degree deserves the position. The members of Teach for America are more often than not going to use this program to benefit themselves for their careers. Teach for America abuses the power to teach and essentially corrupts the education system structure (Osgood 2013). Class structure can easily be corrupted and flawed when certain aspects come into play such as conformity and power. Because there is class structure in every society, there is by no means ever going to be an equal society. Whether it is people or animals, nobody *shares+ the same life chances as those in the social class above them (Mantsios 709). In other words, no matter what class one falls under, they will never have the same equal opportunity that a person in another class has. Although many would like to believe that everyone is created equal, it is not true, and for the ones who think people should be treated equally, that will most likely never happen because of separation. This type of separation causes the upper class to feel as if they have more power and that the lower classes should conform to them. Too many factors come into play in a society that force division among the population. Mantsios proposes that spheres of power and oppression divide us deeply in our society (Mantsios 713). Unless people are in the same class division with, there will always be

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something different to set the classes apart causing a class structure to form. Unfortunately, it is impossible to have a one-class society, and as a result the multiple-class societies are corrupted by power and conformity.

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Works Cited Conley, Dalton. Honky. Berkeley: University of California, 2000. Print. Mantsios, Greg. "Class in America." The Norton Field Guide to Writing, With Readings and Handbook. 2nd ed. New York: W. W. Norton, 2010. 697-716. Print. Orwell, George. Animal Farm. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1954. Print. Osgood, Katie. An Open Letter to New Teach for America Recruits. At The Chalk Face. At The Chalk Face. 30 Jun. 2013. Web. 5 Nov. 2013.