First of all, I would like to focus on the story “The Man with the Twisted Lip” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The story is about Mr. Neville St. Clair, who has recently moved to the area. He rented a luxurious villa. Mr. St. Clair is happily married and had two children. His neighbors consider him to be a wonderful family man, and an excellent person. The character is engaged in commerce and seems to experience no financial difficulties.
However, one day Mr. Neville St. Clair disappears. His wife asks Sherlock Holmes to find him. She tells Mr. Holmes that on the day, when her husband disappeared, she had to pass by the port, where the poor usually gathered. One of the homeless, a lame cripple named Hugh Boone, gained special popularity. His had a repulsive appearance and was scarred. The man was selling wax matches and attracted buyers with his witty sense of humor. Eventually, Sherlock Homes managed to find out that the homeless cripple was actually the missing Neville St. Clair.
Therefore, a question arises: what made a respectful man pretend that he was homeless? Neville St. Clair received an excellent education. During his young years, he took up many professions. He was an actor and a reporter. One day he was assigned to write a newspaper article about the poor. In order to receive the necessary material, Neville made-up and sat down in a busy place to beg. By evening, he was surprised to find that he had earned a decent amount of money.
However, Neville forgot about this case, until he did not have to pay the debt. With the aim of getting the required amount, he took a leave from his work and went begging. When Neville St. Clair realized that begging would bring him more money, he quit his job. This secret was known only to the owner of a brothel and Neville generously paid him. All in all, Neville swears a solemn oath to give up this occupation. Sherlock Holmes summarizes: “But it is better to learn wisdom late than never to learn it at all” (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 244).
It can be said that in this story Sir Author Conan Doyle eliminates the gap between the rich and the poor. The author highlights interdependence between the two different social worlds. The main thesis is that the status and respect do not always bring the desired wealth.
One more example from the class readings, which I would like to analyze in this essay, is the story “The South of the Slot” by Jack London. The story tells us about Freddie Drummond, who is a professor of sociology in the University of California. Mr. Drummond conducts his field researches by pretending to be a man from the labor ghetto. He wrote several notorious books on the subject, including "The Unskilled Laborer", "Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch" and "Message to Garcia". His work “The Unskilled Laborer” is considered to be a valuable contribution into the progressive literature.
It should be noted that the professor, being deeply devoted to his studies, is entirely convinced that a good book requires living with the so-called “working class heroes”: “He endeavored really to know the working people, and the only possible way to achieve this was to work beside them, eat their food, sleep in their beds, be amused with their amusements, think their thoughts, and feel their feelings” (Selected Short Stories, 818).
However, in order to complete this task, the professor penetrates into the labor environment and conducts the so-called "participant observation". For that purpose, a new worker Bill Tots is invented. Initially, Mr. Drummond simply played his part as a good actor, but over the time, Bill Tots becomes his second personality.
Gradually, after certain adaptation, Mr. Drummond not only experiences the existing problems, but also becomes the leader of the labor movement. Nevertheless, this happens only when he pretended to be Bill. When Freddie returns to the classic atmosphere of the University, he regains the ability to calmly and impartially summarize the adventures, which occurred to him at the “bottom”. The professor is ready to write everything down on paper. He acts as a social scientist, by sincerely distancing himself from the problems of the labor class.
Suffering from the internal split, the professor decides to stay in the world of permanently secured and prosperous people. The moment of culmination comes, when the professor and his fiancée are visiting a new youth club in the labor district. The fiancée was involved in the construction of the club. On their way, they see the labor strikers, who are fighting with the police. Suddenly, a sense of solidarity awakes in the soul of Freddie Drummond; he enters the fight on the side of the workers. Eventually, he goes to live together with the workers. Thus, he makes a decision to return to the stormy life of the working class forever.
Overall, it may be said that the story underlines the importance of humanism in our life. Jack London encourages us to participate in every aspect of the human existence, without limiting ourselves. The author condemns sticking to certain models of social behavior and motivates us to broad our horizons by providing assistance to those, who need it.
Moreover, the idea of migration to the lower social class is often depicted in the popular culture. Judging from my experience, I should say that the example of Batman is the most suitable illustration of the process in question.
In the original version of his biography, Batman is the secret alter ego of a billionaire Bruce Wayne, who is also a successful industrialist and philanthropist. Bruce is extremely popular among young women.
However, as a child, he witnessed the murder of both his parents. Bruce vowed to devote his life to the eradication of crime and the fight for justice. Having prepare himself both physically and mentally, he puts on a bat-styled suit and goes to the streets to confront the violence. The stories about Batman take place in a fictional American city of Gotham. With the assistance of several supporting characters, Batman fight against the criminal community, corrupted politicians and authorities of Gotham, as well as against a group of villains, including The Joker, Poison Ivy and Penguin.
Unlike most superheroes, Batman does not possess any superpower. He uses his intellect, martial arts skills as well as knowledge of science and technology. Batman has the indomitable will. He is able to instill fear and to intimidate his enemies.
In my opinion, Batman demonstrates us how important are our choices. His example deeply inspires me, by providing clear evidence that money cannot shape our values and personality.
The last piece of culture to mention in this essay is the song “Working Class Hero” by John Lennon. The singer leads us to understanding that nowadays all the people are chasing money and ignore the idea of true happiness. He highlights that everyone is happy with being just an element of the system in the modern consumer society:
“A working class hero is something to be
Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV
And you think you're so clever and classless and free
But you're still f**king peasants as far as I can see
(John Lennon, Working Class Hero).
All things considered, I am entirely convinced that money and social class are the roots of the evil as long as people take them for granted without trying to change anything. However, when one gets involved into helping the others, he begins to see that all the people are equal and same in their essence.
Therefore, the realization of this equality is the main part of the process of critical thinking development. The next stage is tolerance towards the others and the ability “to think out of the box”. To certain extent, when you understand that your social status does not determine your personality, the political system can no longer brainwash you.
Overall, in this essay I have analyzed two classical stories (namely, “The Man with the Twised Lip” and “The South of the Slot”), a fictional superhero and a song from popular culture. This analysis helped me to prove that the social inequality does not make people differ from each other. Eventually, we are all the same in our essence.
Works Cited
Conan Doyle, Arthur. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Gloucester, Mass.: Peter Smith Publisher, 1965. Print.
Lennon, John. Working Class Hero. Web. 25 Mar. 2016.
<http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/johnlennon/workingclasshero.html>
London, Jack. Selected Short Stories. Airmont: Airmont Publishing Co., Inc., 1969. Print.
