The social social immobility in China and Six Degree of Seperation

During the 1980s, China entered one of its greatest eras and began its new journey under the market ecconomy. The new opening policy lead to an incredible economic growth: the number of people live under the property line (1 dollar per day) dropped from 750 million in 1974 to 70 million in 1998.

Though most people had a much better life than before, the revolution caused the immense inequality in China and led to a social immobility.




Here is a video about the China after the opening policy.

Two major reasons caused the social immobility in China : the huge difference between rural part and urban part and the conflict between the working class and upper class.

The rural and urban

The difference between the rural part and urban part of China become much bigger than before because of the opening policy. In 2010, there are 600 million people live in rural China and more than half of them never have access to get on the internet. 90 percent of people who lived under the property line are from rural part or come from rural part. On the other hand, in some large cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, the average personal income is around 15000 dollars a year, which is remarkably close to some developed countries. The in equality is not limited in economic life. According to an investigate made by the Beijing University, the best university in China, 90% percent of its students in past five years came from urban part which had been only 60% in 1980s.
















It is extremely hard for people to imagine the children from the pictures above lived in the same country. It is also very hard for people who live in the rural part take a part in big cities because they lack the modern ideas to live in urban area and they cannot afford the cost of living in large cites. Moreover, the Hukou system, a household registration system in China, limits the immigration from a rural area to urban area. Though it doesn't limit urban factories hire cheap rural workers, Hukou system prevent rural people translate from farmers to citizens of these great cities. In conclusion, the rural part of China is left behind during the industrialization and urbanization.






"The ash-gray men swarm up with leaden spades and then stir up an impenetrable cloud, which screens their obscure operations from your sight." (23 Fitzgeraldj)





The valley of ash in the book the Great Gatsby is parallel to the rural part in China. These people build and support the urban cities like Shanghai and New York. The fancy and luxury life system of the citizens in big cites are built on their poorness. The people lived in the valley of ash and rural China supported the large cites but these cities forgot them. They did not share the modern lifestyle of the cities.

Lower class vs. Upper class

The difference between lower class and upper class in China is also very big. In this country, the top 10 percent of people controlled 90 percent of wealth, and they build social hierarchy which causes social immobility. The children from upper class could have a much better education than these from lower class. For example, the cost of an English tutor is the same as a worker's salary. Moreover, in china, children often do the same thing their father did. Doctors children became doctors, officers children become an officer and farmers children were still farmers, workers children are still workers. In conclusion, it is extremely hard for Chinese to improve their social status.

“Everything we are in the world, this paltry thing --- our life– he wanted it. He stabbed him self to get there”. (116 Guare)







The envy of Paul to Flan and Ousia is the same as the lower class to upper class in China. These people find their inferior compare to others and they try to level up their social class. But the society did not give them a chance. Paul because he is black and homosexual, for the Chinese is because the social immobility.

American Dream in China

Like Americans, Chinese also want to improve their social status though hard-working and self-improvement.1980s was a time period which made these dreams come true. A lot of Chinese made them rich and became "the first generation of rich". In fact, my father's generation is also called the "golden generation" because that generation was not only full of idealism but also reached their "American Dream".



China's Durable Inequality: Legacies of Revolution & Pitfalls of Reform



It is hard to believe that a young businessman is come from a poor rural family.



Like American Dream, Chinese also began to realize that it become harder and harder for them to achieve their dream. Though they were hard-working enough, they still could not win the competition with people from rich families--- "the second generation of rich." The second generation of rich hugely benefits from their fathers. They had better education, wider social-network and more opportunity. Chinese begin to find their dreams are paralyzed.







"The boy can't function. And at the end, before he can run away and start a new life. It begin to raining and he folds".(33 Guare)



The paralyzed of Holden in the Paul’s speech was the same as the paralyzed of the dream of these Chinese. They want to change something though their hardworking but they can hardly change anything. Holden want to prevent his sister from the real world and these Chinese want to improve their social class though their hard-working. They dream were so brittle compare to the real world. When it facing the cruelness of reality, it fell apart and nothing left

Welcome to The Jungle

Welcome to The Jungle

America: The Land of Opportunity  

     We all want to believe that our precious homeland of America is truly a place where dreams can become a reality if you work hard enough, but in reality, that just isn't the case. We are sold on hope every day by those who believe in the integrity of the American capitalist system, such as politicians, advertisements, and even our own teachers in school; but what's it really like out there? From the viewpoint of housewives, children, students, and anyone who is financially supported by someone other than themselves, the capitalist system seems to be working out pretty nicely. But for those who put capitalism to the test, such as the breadwinners, the interns, and the less fortunate among us, the American Dream isn't quite so easily attained; capitalism seems to be an intensely competitive system, to the point of downright hostility. Guns N' Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle" is the epitome of an introduction to the sphere of the rat race of the American capitalist system. As the title shows, the song appears to "welcome" you to the vicious "jungle," where dreams come to die in a cutthroat struggle to reach the top of the food chain. Through Guns N' Roses' hard rock atmosphere, and Axl Rose's distressed yet passionate voice, the nature of some harsh environment is embodied through their raw, unaffected, and severe tone.

     The general concept of the American Dream exaggerates the number of rags-to-riches stories that seep through the strainer that separates the "closers" from the "losers," while those who get left behind are completely excluded from the equation in patriotic discussion. In fact, those who are filtered out of the success story are the majority of those who chose to participate in this rat race, and end up being circulated through a corrupt system that only awards the good leads to the closers, while tossing the dead leads to those who hadn't been able to make a close. This would seem fair, yet closing a deal is almost completely left to luck, as a salesman can only convince a customer to purchase if they have the means and motives to purchase properties. As Claudia states in Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, "it was the fault of the earth, the land of our own, of our town. I even think now that the land of the entire country was hostile to marigold that year. This soil is bad for certain kinds of flowers. Certain seeds it will not nurture, certain fruit it will not bear, and when the land kills of its own volition, we acquiesce and say the victim had no right to live," which parallels to the impervious nature of the boundaries between businessmen and their success as breadwinners (Morrison 206).

     David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross is all about the jungle of the workplace; a savage rat race to the top, in which the characters relentlessly chase the unreachable pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Mamet's play can be best described by Guns n' Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle," as the song describes an introduction to the domain of the cutthroats, applicable to the situation in which Roma, Levene, Aronow, and Moss find themselves. "Welcome to the Jungle" parallels Glengarry Glen Ross, as it describes the same unattainable goal that is at the end of the rainbow of the American Dream; you're always chasing after that ideal of success, but you can never quite get there before the game changes on you. In Glengarry Glen Ross, the hot leads are given to the closers, and the cold leads are given to the losers, securing the caste-like system, so that the winners keep winning, and the losers keep getting fired and losing their sales. This disproves the American Dream, as it maintains the same system of the social hierarchy, smothering equal opportunity in the work field, so "the rich get richer, and the poor get children" (Fitzgerald 95). 

Welcome to the jungle we've got fun and games

We got everything you want honey, we know the names

We are the people that can find whatever you may need

If you got the money honey we got your disease

     The Jungle, an increasingly enticing environment as seen from the outside looking in, seems to be a setting in which the thrill of life flourishes through a constant stream of adrenaline. By "we got everything you want honey," Axl Rose seems to lure the victim into the grip of The Jungle, just as the salesman from Glengarry Glen Ross most likely joined the business as young men with big dreams. It seems almost a direct reference as "we know the names" could be interpreted as the leads from Glengarry Glen Ross, as the company was in control of a solid list of good and bad names that could lead to possible sales. The sales team seemed to be in constant demand for the leads, as it was their way of betting on themselves to be able to make a successful pitch to the customer. Their obsession with the leads turns into an addiction, which leaves them dependent on the company, which took advantage of their "disease" in exchange for "the money" through sales of properties, and even leads themselves.  

Welcome to the jungle we take it day by day

If you want it you're gonna bleed but it's the price to pay

...

You can taste the bright lights but you won't get there for free

     In the office, success is measured "day by day," and the salesmen get a chance to prove themselves through the board. One day, Roma might be a closer at the top of the board, yet he might end the day by losing a sale with Lingk, as he did in the play. Luck plays a large factor in this success, as Levene defends himself for having a bad streak, "... and what is that, John? What? Bad luck. That's all it is. I pray in your life you will never find it runs in streaks. That's what it does, that's all it's doing. Streaks. I pray it misses you. That's all I want to say," which he later backs up, as he is able to break his "bad luck" streak with an $82,000 sale to Bruce and Harriett Nyborg (Mamet 16). "If you want it you're gonna bleed, but it's the price you pay," because the salesmen must ALWAYS BE CLOSING, which means that they must sacrifice everything else, their families, their social life, their own health, to maintain their records as salesmen. In the film adaption of the play, Alec Baldwin says, "And your name is you're wanting. You can't play in the man's game, you can't close them? Then go home and tell your wife your troubles. Because only one thing counts in this life," forcing the men to surrender everything else for the sake of the leads, closing, and, above all, money. 

Welcome to the jungle it gets worse here every day

Ya learn to live like an animal in the jungle where we play

If you hunger for what you see you'll take it eventually 

You can have everything you want but you better not take it from me

     In the hostile work environment in which Glengarry Glen Ross takes place, it becomes evident that the pressure to succeed grows greater and greater everyday, while the men desperately struggle to maintain a steady path to the top. "It gets worse here every day," as the chance that they will fail grows greater, since bad luck infamously runs in streaks, and at some point they know they will hit that streak that puts them out of business for good, unless they can quit while they're at the top. Learning to "live like an animal" is a huge part of life in the dog-eat-dog world of the office, as every man is for himself, and must fight for survival if he even wants the chance to rise above his peers. In this society of Social Darwinism, survival of the fittest is an essential part of life, yet only a few will be able to survive and make it to the top of the hierarchy, while others are left at the bottom, oppressed by their own misfortune and the authority of their former peers. If you "hunger for what you see, you'll take it eventually," as Levene demonstrates his hunger for money, power, and success through his desperate plea to Williamson for a shot at the good leads. "I got to eat. Shit, Williamson, shit," he pleads, but to no avail (Mamet 17). Levene gets backed into a corner, and through his helpless desperation to be successful again, he breaks into the office and steals the leads, as he sees it as his only way to achieve greatness again. 

Wall Street (1987)

Wall Street (1987)

While you are reading my Blog, you can listen this song as a background music. "Money" by Pink Floyd. 

Wall Street is a classical business crime movie. The movie talks about how Wall Street really looks like. A young man just graduated from New York University named Bud Fox, he is a stock salesman. He has to repay all the loans for his studying. Although he is extremely hard working, he struggling a the bottom of Wall Street. In the movie, every successful people can find their previous lives on Bud. By chance, he uses his intelligence to talk with Gekko. Gekko is a typical capitalist, all he cares is about money. Gekko says if Bud wants to join his company, Bud should do something which can interest him. Bud gets lots of information from his father, his college friends and his associates. These information are available for Gekko to do the inside trading. Although inside trading is illegal, it can make easy money. After Bud works with Gekko, he got everything he wants, money, luxury house and beauty. But when Gekko ready to dissolve and contradict the promise to sell the Blue Star, which is company that Bud’s father works there, Bud feels full of guilt. Finally, Bud got his conscience and justice again. He fought against Gekko and saved the Blue Star. He is also arrested by police because of the inside trading. 

Napoleon said that a successful man only exists in two places: on horseback and on woman. In the peace era, there is no war. People cannot ride the horse and kill the enemies. But on the stock market or the financial market, you can find the feeling. Through the computers and networks, you could be flight in an invisible battlefield. You could be a general or a commander. Dispose all the money in the stock market is like you are managing thousands of troops. This is a zero sum game. There would be people who get lots of profit, and there would be people who lost all the money. 

As Gordon Gekko said, “You see that building? I bought that building ten years ago. My first real estate deal. Sold it two years later, made an $800,000 profit. It was better than sex. At the time I thought that was all the money in the world. Now it's a day's pay.” 

  

Bud Fox: How much is enough? 

Gordon Gekko: It's not a question of enough, pal. It's a zero sum game, somebody wins, somebody loses. Money itself isn't lost or made, it's simply transferred from one perception to another.

This implies how they desire for the money. People cannot earn all the money in the world. There should be a limited. But for Gekko, he is so greedy that he thought earning money should not have a limit. He said the stock market is a zero sum game. But for him, it is an unfair game. He uses his information to control the stock. Although it is illegal, and many people has chance to report Gekko, they didn’t do so. Because they are also “greedy”.  

Define Zero Sum Game

Conflicting among greedy, money and humanity happens every second in movie. In reality, it also happens. Even though people work so hard and they are full of ambitions, they are struggling on the edge of survival. Those people do not work; however, they have inside information. They make tons of money every day. At this moment, those poor people may change their beliefs and principles of justice. 

This is like what Gekko said to Bud, “Hard working? I bet you stay up so late to analysis those stocks that you want me to buy, right? What’s the advantages? My dad is a salesman for electronic components. He worked so hard everyday, but died of a heart attack at 49. He also owned lots of taxes which is not paid.”

“Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures, the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge, has marked the upward surge of mankind and greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the U.S.A.”

This is what Gekko said when he was at the shareholder’s meeting. I thought it’s pretty meaningful. In the Wall Street, “greedy” is not a negative vocabulary. The greedy is a spark which can provoke people doing better. 

This is about the Gekko's Speech. 

I feel this movie has the common point with Glengarry Glen Ross. Both of the main characters are so greedy on money, though Bud changes his mind at last. And both of them use a cheating way to earn illegal money. I think this could be a familiar phenomenon in 1980s society. People expect the imaginary American Dream too much. In their dream, the standard American Dream should be lots of money, a nice house which is described in The Bluest Eye, and the mother takes care of her children. But all those things are based on money. If you have no money, then the dream would be collapsed. So people start to earn money in a immoral way. 

This is a standard American Dream, a nice house, the gorgeous front yard and a married couple. That is what exactly described in The Bluest Eye. 

In the Wall Street, Gekko wants to purchase the Blue Star, which he can make a huge profit on that. But he knows the result, if he do so, he would destroy the whole company. Thousands of works would be employed. This would create starving among the civil. Gekko doesn’t care about anything but money. 

Gekko said, “It’s all about bucks, rest of the conversation.” 

In the Glengarry Glen Ross, there is one part that Moss tries to ask what's the name of the Blake, because they never meet before. Blake said "F*** you" to Moss. He doesn't even refer to them by their names. All he cares is about money. The way that he provokes those people to work is brutal. He made a huge "class difference" in the office. It just like the difference between Blake's BMW and Moss's Hyundai. He doesn't care how much time and energy that salesman put in, the only thing he cares is profit. There is no sympathetic relationship between Blake and the salesmen. 

If you are interested in economy, I recommended you to watch this movie. 

The Rush: From Glengarry Glen Ross to China's Education System

We are the victims, but this is the only chance.

National College Entrance Examination

        National Higher Education Entrance Examination, known as Gaokao in China, is the annual nationwide exam that almost every high school undergraduates must take in order to be admitted to colleges. It is considered as the toughest test in China.

Well, the SATs are child’s play compared to the Gaokao. If the SATs are the academic equivalent of, say, a brisk footrace, the gaokao is an Iron Man triathlon. Across a minefield and through a piranha-infested river that ends in a waterfall. With people throwing ninja stars at you the whole time! Freaking ninja stars.

        For Chinese high school students, there is almost no way to go to colleges academically without a NCEE score. Throughout the nation, Gaokao is the most significant event for each teenager because their career and future depend heavily on this exam, which directly determines which college they go to. It is controversy in China nowadays because it gives students too much pressure and generates unfair opportunities based on different regions. 

       The normal study time for a high school senior in school is 10 hour, and they are supposed to work until midnight. In order to compete with others, many schools have Saturday classes for all high school undergraduates, and extra classes on some courses on Sundays for some of the students. When becoming an undergraduate, there is almost no time for entertain or extracurricular. In addition, opportunities are exceedingly unevenly distributed among the nation by Gaokao. As people are rushing to the universities in Beijing, and Shanghai, in which the best universities are located, universities in these cities set strict baselines for each province, which favor the local Gaokao takers a lot because the universities admit local students a lot more than outsiders.

How many students are wearing glasses in this video? Why? :)

Most recently, photographs emerged of a classroom in Hubei province, showing students taking energy-boosting amino acids from intravenous drips hung from the ceiling. --BBC News.

The Machines and Academic Hierarchy

        Under the great pressure of Gaokao, more and more high school students become "study machines". Sixteen-hour study time is normal to most of the students. Gaokao takers are categorized by Arts and Science. Arts students will have six subjects: Chinese, English, math, politics, history, and geography; science students have six as well: Chinese, English, math, physics, chemistry, and biology. In the first year of high school, they will learn all of them, and at the beginning of the second year they will choose or "be chosen" to be categorized, and they can not switch for the remaining two years. Such extensive range of courses requires plenty of effort and time, and it keeps making students "study machines". Furthermore, there is little time available for high school students to do sports, activities, clubs, and games. More and more people become fat or weak not because they eat a lot, but because they don't move at all. 
        Such machines can be found in Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet; the salesmen say that they are machine. They are so disappointed at the world because they keep trying to sell people the land that they don't want. 

Aaronow: Shelly, the Machine, Levene (Mamet, 64).

Roma: It's not a world of men, Machine... it's a world of clock watchers, bureaucrats, officeholders... what it is, it's a fucked-up world... there's no adventure to it. We are the members of a dying breed (105).

These "study machines" in China will have more than ten mock Gaokao exams during their last year in high school, and their ranks are always told for estimation. In some school during the first two years, students have almost as many exams as they will have in the last year. Some of the exams are designed to categorize students. This system makes different levels of class available to students at different ranks. The high level classes, consisting of the top-ranked students at the same grade, will have the best teachers in school and different treatment, including teaching and homework; they learn things at a faster speed and have some "extra accessibility" of knowledge. The low level classes, however, will take a relatively slow pace and are less productive. This classification of students can be found at not only in high school, but also primary schools, middle schools, and colleges everywhere in China.

Levene: Get the chalk and put me on the board. I'm going to Hawaii! Put me on the Cadillac board, Williamson (63).

Such classification is similar to the board system in Glengarry Glen Ross. The salesman who close the leads, get on the board, and the more they close the better leads they will get, which gives them better opportunities to close again. This unfair system will result bigger distinction among people.

Education Inequality and Social Mobility

        Gaokao has a strong influence in China society. Many children are under strict care of parents about their academics at a young age. For parents, in order for their kids to have a better education in high school, they have to get the appropriate middle schools and primary schools, as well. Since the admission for high school and middle school are also based on one exam similar to Gaokao, children have pressure at a unusually young age. In addition, this system allows bigger and bigger gaps among students since the better ones get the much better education while the lower ones keep getting the lower level education all the time.

        Education inequality happens also in rural and urban areas. Rural areas have an extreme difference from urban areas in economics, and such distinction results a broad range of education levels in different regions. To a family in rural areas, the only hope that they could one day be rich and move to the big city is relied mostly on their children. However, it is way harder for a kid to get to university because the school can not afford higher-educated teachers or advanced facilities. Early in 21st century, there would be a celebration in a town if one were admitted by a university. They see this as a chance of social mobility. Unfortunately, such fortune had rarely happened to poor families. To some extent, education is a key reason why the poor get poorer and the rich get richer in China.

Sources not linked:
Mamet, David. Glengarry Glen Ross. New York: Grove Press, 2012. Print. 

The Beat Goes On

Not only can you feel the beat of the music but you can also hear it. Im not talking about the deep Bose sub woofer base but the physical human abuse. A lot of the songs out on the Internet contain lyrical content that dipicts physical violence and abuse. Usually it's a man beating on a woman. Could be a wife, girlfriend or even a daughter. The lyrics in the song reflect a culture that is surround by physical abuse. This doesn't promote violence but presents a tough subject in a more approachable way.

In the songs Too Deep For the Intro by J. Cole and Runaway Love by Ludacris ft. Mary J. Blige, represent how rap music looks at violence towards women.

As J. Cole says,

"He beat you and you went back

Who's officially stupid

......

Cause 20 years from now your daughter probably get her ass whooped"

Ludacris continus this by when he talks about a little girl getting beaten and raped when he says "She tries to resist but then all he does is beat her, tries to tell her mom but her momma don't believe her".

Both of these songs are deep yet in an artistic way highlight a tough, sensitive problem. The music drawers the listener in but then the lyrics tell the harsh reality of life for many people in the world.

This topic also came up in Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. For Pecola, she is raped by her father and her mother denies it ever happened. The mother and father's relationship is so abusive that she says, "I started to leave him once but something came up. Once after he tried to set the house on fire. I was all set in my mind to go"(Page 129). Both the mother and the daughter are caught up in the cycle of violence. Until theres an answer for why we beat our women, it will continue to be a topic brought up in movies, songs and books.

The Reflection in the Mirror: When the "Inferiority Complex" of Modern Day America Meets The Bluest Eye

When you look in the mirror, what do you see? Obviously, no one is able to see what they really look like, because only flat mirrors will produce a true reflection, and due to even the slightest manufacturing errors, household mirrors are never perfectly flat. However, the reflection that is reciprocated when you look in the mirror is extremely close to how everyone else sees you. Even so, some people perceive their reflections in a mirror from minute to far fetched exaggerations of how their reflections appear. People who deal with anorexia or bulimia fall on the extreme and "far fetched" side of this spectrum, but on the opposite end of the spectrum, there are people who are consumed with the thoughts of an imperfect appearance. Where does this insecurity come from? There is no evidence that people are somehow born with insecurities of their appearance or behavior, so what continues to perpetuate this "condition" in today's society? For one, the media plays a monumental role in declaring what is perceived as "beautiful" and what is not through photoshopped photos of supermodels gracing magazine covers, and the idolization of  handsome or beautiful actors and actresses who appear to have it all. As a result, many people end up altering their identities and personalities to fit society's standards.

Barbie Dolls: Is this how we define beauty?

From an early age, young American girls are exposed to these "socially constructed ideas of 'beauty'" through Barbie Dolls. Barbie's perfect body shape, accentuated curves, beautiful complexion and blonde hair impress a certain idea of "beauty" upon the minds of children. An awareness of this dangerous impression on the minds of young girls has led to the manufacturing of different races of Barbie Dolls, and even a variety of Barbies characterized by respectable occupations, but ultimately, Barbie's constant state of "perfection" has left America with two questions: how do we define beauty, and what are the consequences of this definition? To this day, it seems as if America is bought into the "Barbie Doll" definition of beauty; however, the answer to the second question has become a controversial one. Many campaigns have originated as a result of the population's cry for change. The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty beginning in 2004 and continuing to the present day arose through an awareness that society's definition of beauty "had become limiting and unattainable". The destructive effects of this definition has left only 2% of women in the world claiming to feel beautiful and another 98% with a lack of confidence characterized by Alfred Adler's "Inferiority Complex". In short, this complex instigates a low self-esteem, which consists of feelings of "intense insecurity", or a fear of not measuring up. This sense of inferiority can be intensified to a degree in which a person believes that they can never compensate for the aspects that make them "imperfect" in comparison to society's standards of beauty, or it can be acted upon through exaggerated aggression in trying to overcome the complex.

Michael Jackson in 2005

Michael Jackson circa 1970s

Contrary to the popular belief that teenage boys are unaffected in the same way that girls are by the media with regards to the definition of beauty, 54% of girls and 41% of boys ages 13-19 are dissatisfied with their appearance. One of the most popular male icons of modern day America, Michael Jackson, severely augmented his physical appearance through plastic surgery and skin bleaching, leaving him almost unrecognizable. Although Michael claimed his reasons for surgery to be medically based, many people believe that there was an underlying "Racial Self-Loathing" of his "inferiority complex" that influenced his transformation. Although his dermatologist and others close to him supported his claim that he suffered from "vitiligo", which Michael claimed as his reason for turning his skin white, race cannot be completely separated from the equation. He went as far as getting rid of his wider nose, characteristic of many blacks, to choosing a skinnier, more defined nose, characteristic of many caucasians. Furthermore, a certain "Afro-denial" as the comic, The Boondocks illustrates, is demonstrated in Michael's longer, straighter, black hair circa 2005.

Similarly, Toni Morrison demonstrates the detrimental effects of socially constructed ideas of beauty and what is acceptable in The Bluest Eye. Many characters suffer from an "inferiority complex" that leaves them struggling with their own identities apparent through their questioning of and conformity to socially constructed ideas of beauty. 

In receiving the stereotypical gift of a "big, blue-eyed, Baby Doll" for Christmas, Claudia MacTeer begins to question the legitimacy of society's social construct of perfection and beauty. 

I had only one desire: to dismember it. To see of what it was made, to discover the dearness, to find the beauty, the desirability that had escaped me, but apparently only me. Adults, older girls, shops, magazines, newspapers, window signs-- all the world had agreed that a blue-eyed, yellow-haired, pink-skinned doll was what every girl child treasured (20).

Like the adolescents of today's society, Claudia's family is affected by the perpetuation of society's standards of   beauty. They bought Claudia the baby doll because they were enchanted by the idea that this baby doll represented a way for Claudia to fit in to society's definitive standards. However, Claudia's "inferiority complex" forced her to investigate the origins of the standard of perfection manifested through the doll. She claims the "desirability had escaped her" illustrating a consciousness of her worthlessness according to society's standards, and acknowledges the influence of the "shops, magazines, newspapers, and window signs" in formulating society's definition of beauty. However, as soon as she dismembers the doll, she discovers the fake, manufactured facade of this baby doll demonstrated through "a mere metal roundness", or the battery, that keeps the doll functioning (21). When Claudia looks in the "mirror" she sees a girl that refuses to believe the socially constructed ideas of beauty, but she also sees that any attempt to counter this stereotype would be futile because of her race. She is left with conflicted feelings and a state of mind that refuses to let her believe she is worth anything.

Contrarily, Geraldine deals with her "inferiority complex" in the opposite way. Geraldine conforms to the standards set by society because she is attempting to overcome her "inferiority complex" through compensating for it in the only way she knows how: bourgeois respectability. Geraldine's attempts are illustrated in Morrison's words characterizing Geraldine's lifestyle.

Here they learn the rest of the lesson...how to behave. the careful development of thrift, patience, high morals, and good manners. In short, how to get rid of the funkiness (83).

Geraldine longing to get rid of the so-called "funkiness" that represents her rich African American heritage, parallels the skepticism that surrounds the reasons for Michael Jackson's nose job and drastic skin color transformation. Geraldine's "racial self-loathing" consumes her, and she longs to conform to American society's definitions of beauty and what is acceptable in order to eradicate the "inferiority complex" from her life. However, despite her various attempts, she is unable to measure up to the unattainable standards of perfection and is left broken when she ends up "in the second row, her white blouse starched, and blue skirt almost purple from ironing" (82).

The Relationship of Marriage and Social Hierarchy

Old Wealth

Nouveau Riche

Although most people are inclined to believe in the American Dream, or the idea that everyone has the same chance to improve their social status, the vast majority are restricted by their family name and reputation. A person’s heritage has always played a significant role within the social hierarchy, even as it pertains to marriage. Early Europeans sought to outlaw morganatic marriage, or intermarriage between people of unequal social rank, as a way of preserving the traditional social structure. Despite the progress made over the past few centuries, social distinctions and exclusions still exist and have a tremendous impact on an individual’s life. F. Scott Fitzgerald and Emily Brontë, authors of The Great Gatsby and Wuthering Heights, respectively, accurately identify the rigid social ranks between individuals, and the factors contributing to their distinctions. Jay Gatsby, the protagonist of The Great Gatsby, comes from a farming family and tries to improve his social status so that can fulfill his personal ambition and marry Daisy. Even though Gatsby gains immense financial wealth, he is still excluded from Daisy’s social class, or “Old Wealth,” because he is limited by his background and lack of education. Similar to Gatsby, Bronte’s main character, Heathcliff, is unable to enter Catherine’s social class because although he too achieves financial wealth, he lacks the true heritage of an aristocrat and a formal education.   

Social hierarchy 

Gatsby’s ambition to be a social elite began during his early adolescence, when he began to concentrate his energy on obtaining economic success. For instance, in his old book where his daily schedule is listed, he devotes an entire hour towards practicing “elocution, poise and how to attain it,” and reminds himself abstain from smoking and chewing (Fitzgerald 173). His devotion to improving his public speaking and mannerisms clearly represents his desire to become a member of the upper class because he must have the ability to pass as elegant in order to fit in. Accordingly, his refusal to smoke and chew tobacco illustrates his determination to differentiate himself from the vulgar activities of the lower classes. Although the real reason Gatsby wants to improve his status lies with his ambition, the abandonment from Daisy also constitutes a significant reason, as well as an excuse. Gatsby recalls the first impression of Daisy as “the first ‘nice’ girl he had ever known,” because they did not have an “indiscernible barbed wire” that separated them (Fitzgerald 148). To Gatsby, Daisy represents an entrance into the exclusive aristocracy, which is demonstrated by the absence of “barbed wire.” Although Gatsby considers the intermarriage of Daisy and him as a shortcut to make the dream of wealth true as the propose chase Daisy in the beginning, he truly falls in love with Daisy after he is in the relationship with her.  However, the failure of his romantic relationship which is result in Daisy abandon him because the pressure from society, made he realized it’s impossible to a man from lower class, like him, marry a upper class woman, no matter how deep their love is. Meanwhile,  it also stimulates him to enhance his status while he feels the humiliation and inferiority of his poverty, which  made the great gap of social status between Daisy and him.

Daisy 

               Gatsby introduces his background to Nick as “[he is] the son of some wealthy people in the Middle West-all dead now. [he] was brought up in American but educated at Oxford, because all [his] ancestors have been educated at Oxford” (F. Scott Fitzgerald, 65). Fitzgerald utilizes that to emphasize Gatsby propose that made other people believe he has potential abilities to be a upper class as well as old wealth member as he was born in a old and well-known family and graduated from a noble college, not just a new wealth. 

"One night, we can build a nouveau riche, three generations to cultivate an aristocrat."
-- Williams  Shakespeare

                Despite that  he tries to defend that he is the Old Wealth, his statements and actions expose his feign. Nick as a gentleman comes from a blue-blood family and his family went to Yale from generation to generation, but he modestly said he went to college in “New Heave”. And it is feigned that Gatsby show him the picture which he took in Oxford and the “Orderi de Danilo”.

Gatsby's party
His house and parties, the symbols of fortunes, were  utilized by Gatsby as measurements to flaunt his riches since he lacks of a background as Old Wealth.

             
                    While Daisy inclined to Gatsby’s position as she condemns Tom reveals Gatsby’s education background, Tom emphasizes the division of Old Wealth and Nouveau Riches as he says: “Nowadays people begin by sneering at family life and family institutions, and next they’ll throw everything overboard and have intermarriage between black and white. “ (F. Scott Fitzgerald, 130).  It illustrates the intermarriage between different social class could not accept by moral  as it insinuates the absurdness of the intermarriage between black, which represent Nouveau Riche, person who born in poverty  and White, which refers to person who inherit money from blue-blood family, represents Old Wealth. Furthermore, Tom emphasize the ideology of social hierarchy to deride Gatsby’s background by improve his own status as a warn to Daisy that it would broke the social order if she chooses a Nouveau Riche. And after Tom reveal Gatsby’s illegal deal, Daisy’s sentiment has changed dramatically as she felt remorse about she tried to go away with Gatsby as she “looked at Tom, alarmed now.”after Tom said, “you two start on home, Daisy, in Gatsby’s car” (F. Scott Fitzgerald, 135). Because the illegal deal, which not only could be consider as the testimony of his corrupt but also deny his background as his fortune was not obtained by inheriting and that made Gatsby lose the potential possibility of enter upper class. “In Gatsby’s car” symbolized Gatsby’s social class, Nouveau Riche.  If Daisy chooses to go with his, then she could not keep her position among upper class any more and would be degenerated into Nouveau Riche as Gatsby.

                  In Wuthering Height, Emily Brontë demonstrates how social status acts as the factor to impact the Catherine’s choice between true love and class.  Compared by the love from Catherine to Heathcliff, which is considered true love, the love to Edger is based on materiality because it seems to be the pursuit of high-quality life under the factors like class, status, wealth, and family, which exerts a subtle influence on Catherine’s values as she explains the different of those two: “My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods: time will change it, I'm well aware, as winter changes the trees. My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath: a source of little visible delight, but necessary” (Brontë, 80). To Catherine, marrying Edgar doesn’t mean she will love Linton more than Heathcliff,  just because she follows the society hierarchy, as she describes Edgar “because he is handsome, because he is young. And he will be rich, and I shall like to be the greatest woman of neighborhood”(Brontë, 76) which means Catherine prefers Edgar for his handsome , young, wealth and status which is laid on external circumstance and is changeable, so Catherine to his love also will be changed with that external things, and her marriage with Edger never means she will leave Heathcliff as she plans “if I marry Linton, I can’t aid Heathcliff to rise, and place him out of my brother’s power”(Brontë, 79), she would like to enhance Heathcliff’s status by her husband’s power, as well as help him get rid of Hindley’s control, though Heathcliff does not like to accept her too much care. Furthermore, it also illustrates Catherine doesn’t satisfy Heathcliff’s current status who is not only living in poverty and also is treated as a slave by his brother, has a great gap from him. Heathcliff is to her what a slave of the lower class is to a lady of aristocratic class. As Catherine once tell her maid that “It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now” (I’ll find the page no. ch.9), which means if Catherine marry him, she would degrade in to lower class but marry a upper class men like Edger would make her stay in the aristocratic class.

In a nutshell, both of Gatsby and Heathcliff have similar experiences as they are abandoned by the upper class woman who they love while those women made the choice between the hierarchy of social order and true love.  After they realizes the cruelty of reality of social hierarchy, they obtained wealthy through assiduous working. Similarly, their persistence of love-pursuing is praised and sympathized  by readers. However, their fate are determined while they are born, the love emerges between different social class will not to be end in a happy outcome, wherever how much they did for trying to improve their status. 

More stories about social hierocracy and marriage

Arhduke Franz Ferlinand and Countess Sophie Chotek von Chotkwa

Morganatic marriage  is the marriage between people of unequal social rank, which prevents the passage of the husband’s title and privileges to the wife and any children born of the marriage. The marriage of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and Bohemian aristocrat Countess Sophie Chotek von Chotkowa is a famous example. Despite that  Archduke who was the heir of Austria-Hungary, finally overcame the great pressure form his royal family and other European upper class to marry Sophie, their marriage, which was a morganatic one, did not gain any esteems from society. Their children took their mother’s family name and rank, and were exclude from imperial succession. Countess Sophie serves as a aristocrat could not be accepted, it is less impossible to Gatsby and Heathcliff  to marry higher status women.

Deposed Queen Yoon

Queen Yoon

Experience of Deposed Korean Queen Yoon is another famous example of  the intermarriage between two extreme social classes. Her husband who served as  King of Korean, in spite of oppositions from royal family and ministers, marriaged with her, the maid who he loved.   Without a powerful upper class background, Queen Yoon treated disrespectful by King’s other concubines who were born in a aristocratic family.  And the envy and resentment of concubine triggered the struggle in palace. As a result, Queen Yoon was repealed and exiled because the traps from other aristocratic concubines. Queen Yoon’s son, Yeonsangun of Joseon, inherited Korean throne after his father’s death. However, the blood purge he emerged a in order to revenged the people who calumniated his mother, brought the rise of a coup caused he was overthrown by aristocrats. 

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Unlink sources:
Fitzgerald, F. Scott, and Matthew J. Bruccoli. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2004. Print.
Brontë, Emily. Wuthering Heights. New York, NY: Signet Classics, 2011. Print.