marx dobie_ ann - theory into practice - marxist criticism

8/6/2019 Marx Dobie_ Ann - Theory Into Practice - Marxist Criticism

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the water or ship that takes Ulysses awaywhen he speaks of death; therefore,water',es his eternal fate. In the beginning of the poem, he speaks of being an idle king'lg these barren crags," suggesting that his life now is without water, dying, desolate,,less. Without water he cannot live, just aswithout duty and adventure he refuses to,ut i t is the water that continually sails him off to death. The duty, or the water of histhe very thing that gives him life.Ilysses also makes many references to the elements of the sky. He mentions rain, sun,moon, and sunsets, all of which are in reference to light in some kind of darkness. First,\'S, "and vile i twere / For some three suns to store and hoard myself, / And this graylearning in desire / To follow knowledge like a sinking star." Hiding behind the sun'lt following his dreams and pursuing further knowledge are repugnant to him. Just asfall, his knowledge will also fall from his memory. He also uses the image "The longmes; the slow moon climbs" to indicate the approach of death. Each ofthe refer-to elements of the sky is a description of Ulysses' inevitable end, his final adventure.

\Ifred, Lord Tennyson used many elements in his approach to the topic of death in his"Ulysses." Not only does the voice of Ulysses echo the three parts of the Jungian

'W, anima, and persona, but i t also uses references to death as water and sky to speaklth. Ulysses argues with himselfthat despite age and fate, the truly heroic spirit never( is through these universal symbols that Tennyson is able to completely capture theJig soul of a dying hero. The memory of him will always be present, just likethe water,loon, and stars.

5MARXIST CRITICISM

The Marxist analysis has got nothing to do with what hap-pened in Stalin's Russia: it's like blaming Jesus Christfor theInquisition in Spain. TONY BENN, British Labor politician

A comment thathas made the rounds of many English departments over the past fewyears is that since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent opening of Russia tothe West, Marxism has died a quiet death-except in English departments, where itis still alive and well. Even if it weren'tfor China and some otherplaces in the worldwhere Marxisttheory is securely in place, the remark wouldbe inaccurate, but it doespoint to the lasting viability of Marxist literary criticism, which continues to appealto many readers and critics. It is interesting to note, however, that the principles ofMarxism were notdesigned to serve as a theory abouthow to interpret texts. Instead,theywere meanttobe a set of social, economic, andpoliticalideas thatwould, according to theirfollowers, change theworld. They arethe basis of a systemof thought thatsees inequitable economic relationships as the source of class conflict. That conflictis the mechanism by which Western society developed from feudalism to capitalism,which, according to Marxism, will eventually give way to socialism, the system thatwill characterize world economic relationships. Since its inception, Marxist theoryhas provided a revolutionary way of understanding history.

H I , ~ T O R I C A L BACKGROUND.Marxism has a long and complicated history. Although it is often thought of as atwentieth-century phenomenon, partly because it was the basis of the socialgovernmental system of the Soviet Union, it actually reaches back to the thinkingof Karl Heinrich Marx, a nineteenth-century (1818-1883) German philosopher andeconomist. The first announcement of his nontraditional way of seeing things appeared in The German Ideology in 1845. Init he introducedthe conceptof dialectical

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80 CHAPTER 5 MARXIST CRITICISM READING FROMA MARXIST PERSPECTIVE 81

m a t e r i ~ l i s m , argued that the means of production controls a society's institutionsand belIe.fs, and contended that history is progressing toward the eventual triumph of~ o m m . u ~ I s m . WhenMarxmet the political economist FriedrichEngels (1820-1895)II I Pans II I 1844, and they discovered that they had arrived at similar views independent of each other, they decided to collaborate to explain the principles of communIsm (latercalled Marxism) and to organize an international movement. These ideaswere expounded in the Communist Manifesto (1848), in which they identified classstruggle as the driving force behind history and anticipated thatit would leadto a revolution in which the workers would overturn the capitalists, take control of economicproduction, and abolish private property by turning it over to the government to distribute fairly. With these events, class distinctions would disappear. In the threev o h l I : U ~ workDas Kapital (1867), Marxargued thathistoryis determinedby economiccondItIOns and urged an end to private ownership of public utilities, transportation,and the means of production. Despite the variations and additions that have occurredin the c ~ n t u r y t ~ a t follo,:ed, on the whole, Marx's writings still provide the theory ofecononucs, SOCIOlogy, hIstory, politics, and religious belief calledMarxism.

AlthoughMarxism was not designed as a method of literary analysis, its principles were applied to literature early on. Even in Russia, where literature was sometinles accepted as a means of productive critical dialogue and at other times viewedas a ~ h r e a t ~ i.t did not promote party ideology, literature was linked to the philosophIcal prInCIples set down by Marx and Engels. Although its place was uncertainand shifting-culminatingfinally in theSovietWriter'sUnion,founded (and headed)by J?seph Stalin. to make certain that literature promoted socialism, Soviet actions,and ItS heroes-It was apparentthatMarxismprovided a newway of reading and understanding literature.The first major Marxist critic, however, appeared outside of Russia. He was

Georg Lukacs (1885-1971), a Hungarian critic who was responsible for what hasbecome known as reflectionism. Named for the assumption that a text will reflectthesociety that has produced it, the theory is based on the kind of close reading advocated by formalists but now practiced for the purpose of discovering how charactersand t h ~ i r relationships typify and reveal class conflict, the socioeconomic system, orthe POlItICS of the time and place. Such examination, goes the assumption, will in theencllead to an understandingof that system and the worldview, theweltanschauung,o the author. / ~ l s o k n ~ w n ~ vulgarMarxism,reflectiontheoryshouldnot beequated:"Ith the tradItIOnal hIstorIcal approach to literary analysis, for the former seeks notJust to find surface appearances provided by factual details but to determine the nature of a given society, to find "a truer, more concrete insight into reality" and lookfor " t ~ e ful! process of l i f ~ . " In the end, the reflectionists attribute the fragmentationand alIenatIOn that they dIscover to the ills of capitalism.

Another important figure in the evolution of Marxism is the Algerian-bornFrench p h i l o ~ o p h e r Louis Althusser (1918-1990), whose views were not entirelyconsonant WIth those of Lukacs. Whereas Lukacs saw literature as a reflection ofa s o c i e t y ' ~ consciousness, Althusser asserted that the process can go the other way.In s h o ~ t , l I t e r a t u ~ : ~ n art can affect society, even lead it to revolution. Building onAntOnIO GramscI s Idea that the dominant class controls the views of the people by

many means, oneof which is the arts, Althusser agreed that the working c l ~ s s is manipulated to accept the ideology of the dominant one, a process he .called m t e ~ p e l .lation. One way that capitalism maintains its control over the working classes IS byreinforcingits ideology throughits arts. Althusser went on to point?ut, howeve.r, : ~ a tthe arts of the privileged are not all the arts that exist. There remams the possIbIlItythat the working class will develop its own culture, which can lead to revolution andthe establishment of a new hegemony, or power base. Althusser's ideas are referredto as production theory.Marxism established itself as part of the American literary scene with the eco-nomic depression of the 1930s. Writers and critics alike began.to useMarx.ist interpretations and evaluations of society in their work: As new J o u ~ n a 1 s d e d I ~ a t e d topursuing this new kind of social and literary analysIs sprang ~ p It b e c ~ m e mcreasingly important to ask how a given text contributed to the solutIOn of SOCIal p r o b l e ~ n sbased onMarxist principles. Eventually the movement grew strong enough to brmgpressures to bearon writers to conform to the vision, resulting in a backlash of objection to such absolutismfrom suchcritics as EdmundWilson in "Marxism and Literature" in 1938.Currently two of the best-known Marxist critics are Fredric Jameson and T e r ~ ' yEagleton. Jameson is known for the use ofFreudian ideas in his p r a c t i ~ e ofMarx.lstcriticism. Whereas Freud discussedthe notion of the repressed unconscIOUS of the mdividual Jameson talks about the political unconscious, the exploitation and oppressionburied in a work. The critic, according to Jameson, seeks to uncover thoseburiedforces and bring them to light. Eagleton, a British critic, is difficult to pin down, ashe continues to develop his thinking. Of special interest to critics is his examinationof theinterrelationsbetweenideology andliterary form. The constantin his criticismis that he sets himself against the dominance of the privileged class; Both JamesonandEagleton have responded to the influence of poststructuralism, andin the c ~ s . e ofthe latter, it resulted in a radical shift of direction in the late 1970s. (For defimtIOnsand a discussion of poststructuralism, see chapter 8.) . .In some ways Jameson and Eagleton are typical of the mixture of s c h o o ~ s I.n lIterary criticism today. For instance, it is not uncommon to find p s y c h o ~ n a l ~ t 1 c Ideasin the writing of a feminist critic, or postcolonial (see chapter 10) notIOns Illfluencing a Marxist. As groups that share an active concernfor finding new ways of understanding what we read and the lives we live, their i n t e r a c t ~ o n is not s u r p r i s i n ~ . Theborrowing back and forth may make it difficult to define dIscrete s c ~ o o l s of lIt.eraryanalysis, but in practice it makes the possibilities for literary analysIs all the ncher.

READING FROM A MARXIST PERSPECTIVETo understand the discussion thatfollows, you will need to read the short story"The DiamondNecklace," by Guy de Maupassant, which begins on page 243.Many of the principles of Marxism and the approach to l iterary cri ticism that i tspawned have already been mentioned in the brief historical survey you just read.


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82 CHAPTER 5 MARXIST CRITICISM READING FROM A MARXIST PERSPECTIVE

Now it will be helpful to examine them inmore detail and to see how they canbe applied to literary texts.

ECONOMIC POWERAccording toMarx, themoving force behind human history is its economic systems,forpeople's lives are determined by their economiccircumstances. A society, he says,is shaped by its "forces of production," the methods it uses to produce the materialelements of life. The economic conditions underlying the society are calledmaterialdrcumstances, and the ideological atmosphere they generate is known as the historical situation.This means that toexplain any social orpolitical context, any eventor product, itis first necessary to understand thematerial and historical circumstancesin which they occur.

In Guy de Maupassant's short story "The Diamond Necklace," we are given aclear picture of a society that has unequally distributed its goods or even the meansto achieve them. Madame Loisel has no commodity or skills to sell, only her youthand beauty to be used to attract a husband. Without access to those circles where shecan find a manwith wealth and charm, she is doomedto stayin a powerless situationwith no way to approach the elegant lifestyle that she desires. The material circumstances of her society have relegated her to a dreary existence from which she canfind no exit. Her husband is so conditionedto acceptthe situation that he does not understand her hunger to be a part of a more glamorous and elegant world. He is content with potpie for his supper because he has been socially constructed to wantnothing else.

The way in which society provides food, clothing, shelter, and other such necessities creates among groups of people social relations that become the foundation ofthe culture. In other words, the means of production structures the society. Capitalism, for example, divides people into those who own property, and thereby controlthemeans of production, the bourgeoisie, and thosewho are controlled by them, theproletariat, the workers whose laborproduces their wealth. (Although in Americansociety today we have come to use the term bourgeoisie to mean "middle class," itoriginally designated the owners and the self-employed as opposed to wage earners.)Because those whocontrol productionhave a power base, they havemanyways to ensure that they will maintain their position. They canmanipulate politics, government,education, the arts and entertainment, news med ia-all aspects of the cul t ur e- t othat end.

The division of thebourgeoisie andproletariatin the societydepictedin "TheDiamond Necklace" is firmly established and maintained. Mme. Loisel's husband is a"lowly clerk," and although she has a wealthy friend from her convent days, she hasnone of the accoutrements that would fit her to attend a reception to which herhusband has (with some manipulation) managed to be invited. The haves are separatedfrom the have-nots in this story by what they own and what they lack and by theirample or limited opportunity to acquire wealth and power. The division grows moreapparent and unbridgeable as the couple works at increasingly demeaning jobs to

acquire themoney to payoff their loans. Because of the debts owed to the bourgeoisie, incurred becauseof the loss of the necklace ownedby Mme. Loisel's well-to-dofriend, they sink lower and lower in the social scale, losing what little hold they oncehad on social position or physical comfort. In the end, Mme. Loisel has become oldand unkempt, unrecognizable to her friend. And in the most unjust irony of all, shelearns after ten years that her efforts have been in vain. The bourgeoisie has trickedher once again by lending her a necklace not of diamonds but of cut glass.Marx saw history as progressive and inevitable. Private ownership, he said, began with slavery, then evolved into feudalism, which was largely replaced by capitalism by the late eighteenth century. Evident in small ways as early as the sixteenthcentury, capitalism became a fully developed system with the growing power of thebourgeoisie in the mid-nineteenth century. At every stage it had negative consequences because it was a flawed systemthat involvedmaintaining the power of a fewby the repression ofmany. The result was ongoing class struggle, such as the onedepicted the "TheDiamondNecklace"between thebourgeoisie and theproletariat. TheMarxist, then, works to revealthe internalcontradictions of capitalism so that theproletariat will recognize their subjugation and rise up to seize what is rightfully theirs.As he sta tes in a famous passage from The Communist Manifesto, "Let the rulingclasses tremble at a Communistic revolution. The proletarians have nothing to losebut their chains. They have a world to win. Working men of all countries, unite!" AlthoughMme. Loisel makes nomove to create arevolution, she iskeenly aware of thesource of her sufferings. As she tells her affluent friend, who is "astonished to be sofamiliarly addressed by this common personage," "I have had some hard days sinceI saw you; and some miserable o n es-an d all because of y o u - " . The fall of thebourgeoisie and thevictory of theproletariatMarxdeemed to be "equallyinevitable,"and the new systemborn of such a revolution would be a classless society in whicheveryone had equal access to its goods and services, such as food, education, andmedical care.Some ofthe damage caused by the economics of capitalism, accordingto Marx-ists, is psychological. In its need to sell more goods, capitalismpreys on the insecurities of consumers, who are urged to compete with others in the numberand qualityof their possessions: a newer car, a bigger diamond engagement ring, a second house.The result is commodification, an attitude of valuing things not for their utility (usevalue) but for their power to impress others (sign value) or for their resale possibilities (exchange value). BothMme. Loisel and her wealthy friend are victims of theirsociety's emphasis on sign value. The former is so dazzled by the glitter of jewelsand gowns and fashionable people that she can find little happiness in the humbleattentions of her husband-clerk, and her friend's interest in the necklace apparentlyextends no further than the fact that it is impressive evidence of her wealth, for shesubstitutes glass for the real thing. When the acquisition of things that possess signvalue and/or exchange value becomes extreme, an individual canbe said to practicing conspicuous consumption.Because the economic system shapes the society, themethods of production areknown as the base. The social, political, and ideological systems and institutions it


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CHAPTER 5 MARXIST CRITICISM

g e n e r a t e s - t h ~ values, art, legal processes-are known as the superstructure. Be-cause the dOimnant class controls the superstructure, they are by extension able tocontrol themembers of the working classes. There is not complete agreement amongM8IXIstS as to whether the superstructure simply reflects the base or whether it canalso affect the base. The group known as reflectionists, who subscribe to what isc a ~ l e c l vulgar Marxism, see the superstructure as formed by the base, making litera-t U J ~ (an? other s u c h , p ~ ' o d u c t s ! a rmrror of the society's consciousness. In a capitalistsocIety It would exhIbIt the alIenation andfragmentation that, according to theMarx-Ists, t.he .economic s y ~ t e m produces. Controlled by the bourgeoisie, texts may, at leastsupel ficJally, glamonze the status quo in order to maintain a stable division of powerand means. R e a d e r ~ may notbe aware ofmanipulation, especially when it appears inthe form of enter:talllment, but it is no less effective for its subtle presentation.

O.ther ~ a r x r s t s , :Vho assume that the superstructure is capable of shaping thebase, J e c ~ g m z e that lrterature (and art, entertainment, and such) can be a means forthe worlang class to change the system. By promoting their own culture, they canCI e a ~ e a new superstructure and eventually a different base. Even Marx and Engelsadmrtted that some aspects of the superstructure, such as philosophy and art are "rel-atIvely autonomo.us," m a ~ ~ ~ it pos.sible to Use them to al ter ideologies . ', The economIc base II I The Dramond Necklace" is significant to all that is de-

P l c t ~ d II I t ~ s t o ~ y M ~ e . Loisel's , h u s b ~ n d is a clerk whose employers have powerovel IllS plofessronal lIfe and therr socral relationships with him also reflect thatp O \ ~ e r . They lead vel:y di.fferent kinds of lives. The bourgeoisie give elegantpartieswhIle the clerk and l11s wIfe eat potpie. He is not expected to fraternize with his bet-tees except by the r ~ r e i ~ v i . t a t i ~ n (so eagerly soughtafterby him) that comes his way.A.I?d on such. occaSIOns rt IS. WIth difficulty that Mme. Loisel can achieve the appro-puate a p p ~ a r a n c e - d r e s s , Jewels, wrap. As they take on less attractive jobs to paybackwhat IS owed, t l ~ e y ~ r ~ v e n less acceptable in the corridors of wealth and power.In the end, Mme. LOIsel s fnend does not even recognize her.MATERIALISM VERSUS SPIRITUALITYAccording . t Marx, reality is material, not spiritual. Our culture, he says, is not basedon sO:lle d l v ~ n e essence or the Platonic forms or on contemplation of timeless ab-stractIons. It IS not our philosophical or religious beliefs that make us whowe are for,,:e are n,ot spiritual ~ e i n g s but socially constrncted ones. We are not products of di-vme deSIgn but creatIOns of our own cultural and social circumstances., To understand ourselves, we must look to the concrete, observable world We live111 day by d a ~ . T ~ material world will show us reality. It will show us, for example,that people ~ I V e 1 social groups, making all of our actions interrelated. By examin-m the r e l a t I O n s ~ l p s ~ m ~ n g s?cioeconomic classes and by analyzing the superstruc-tme, we can ,achIeve Illslght Into ourselves and our society. For example, the critic\ ~ h o looks at Illstances of class conflict or at theinstitutions, entertainment, news me-dIa, legal, and other systems of a society discovers how the distribution of economicpower undergirds the society. Such analyses uncover the base, the economic system,

READING FROM AMARXIST PERSPECTIVE

and the social classes it has produced. Since the base and the superstructure areunder the control of the dominant class, the worldview of the peopleis likely to be afalse one, and the obligation of the critic is to expose the oppression and consequentalienation that has been covered over. TheMarxist is rarely content simply to exposethe failings of capitalism but also desires to arguefor the fair redistribution of goodsby the government.

It is the material world that has created Mme. Loisel, for example, and it is thematerial world that destroys her. Her desire for expensive objects and the circleswhere they are found, generated by the capitalistic system she lives in rather thanby any character flaw, leadher to make a foolish request of a friend. When she losesthe "diamond" necklace, she too is lost. Her relationship with her friend, as well asany hope for a return to the gli tter ing world of the recept ion, is shat tered. She isdestroyed not by spiritual failure but by an economic system that has created a su-perstructure that will not allow her a better life. She is trapped by material circum-stances, and thefinal revelation about thefalse jewels deepens her sense of alienationand powerlessness.

CLASS CONFLICTOne of the basic assumptions ofMarxism is that the "forces of production," the waygoods and services are produced, will, in a capitalist society, inevitably generateconflict between social classes, which are created by the way economicresources areused and who profits from them. More specifically, the struggle will take place be-tween the bourgeoisie, who control the means of production by owning the naturaland human resources, and the proletariat, who supply the labor that allows the own-ers to make a profit. The conflict is sometimes realized as a clash ofmanagement andlabor, sometimes simply as friction between socioeconomic classes. They are twoparts of a whole thatstruggle againsteach other, notjust physically but also ideologi-cally. Marx referred to this confrontation as dialectical materialism. Actually theterm includes more than class conflict, for it refers to the view that all change is theproduct of the struggle between opposites generated by contradictions inherent in allevents, ideas, and movements. A thesis collides with its antitheses, finally reachingsynthesis, which generates its own antithesis, and so on, thereby producing change.

TheMarxist is aware that the working class does not always recognize the sys-temin which ithas been caught. Thedominant class, using its powerto make thepre-vailing system seem to be the logical, natural one, entraps the proletariat intoholdingthe sense of identity andworth that the bourgeoisie wants them to hold, one that willallow the powerful to reIr;.ain in control. MonsieurLoisel, forin,stance, is content withhis lot. He aspires to no more than he has and has difficulty understandinghis wife'sdreams. As forMme. Loisel, she longs forthings that "most other women in hersitu-ation would not have noticed." She believes herselfborn for luxuries-that is, a mis-placedmember of themiddle class. Theyboth experience the consequentdebilitationand alienationdescribed by Marx. Before the loss of thenecklace, M. Loiselis givenlittle credit for what he does. As a "minor clerk" he has little personal connection to


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CHAPTER 5 MARXIST CRITICISM

his labor and is given no credit for what he produces. After the loss the situation isi ~ t e n s i f i e d , for the couple are finally shut out of all social contact w i ~ h bourgeois soCIety. In the end Mme. Loisel moves to carry out what Marx calls upon the proletariatto do. She realizes that her life has been controlled by others. Freed of the debt shehas owed her wealthy friend, she determines to free herself of the social enslavementto her by speaking openly and honestly at last. In doing so, she becomes painfullyaware of the unsuspected depth of the control the latterhas had over her. The neckl ~ c e is false. She has been stripped of her dreams and forced to suffer for nothing.Fmally, by speaking clearly she engages in revolution by refusing to want any longerwhat the bourgeoisie values.

ART, LITERATURE, AND IDEOLOGIESIdeology is a term that turns up frequently in Marxist discussions. It refers to a beliefsystem produced, according to Marxists, by the relations between the different~ l a s s e s in ,a s o c i e t ~ , classes thathavecome aboutbecauseof the modes ofproductionm ~ h socIety. An ?deology can be positive, leading to a better world for the people,or It can,be n e g a t I v ~ , serving the interests of a repressive system. The latter rarelypresents Itself as an Ideology, however. Instead, it appears to be a reasonable, natural~ ~ r l d v i e w , because it is in the self-interest of those in power to convince people thatIt IS so. ~ v e n a flawed sys.tem must appear to be a success. An ideology, dictated bythe dommant class, functIOns to secure its power. When such cultural conditioningleads . t h people ~ accept a system that is unfavorable for them without protest orquestIOmng, that IS, to accept it as the logical way for things to be, they have develope? a false consciousness. Marxism works to rid society of such deceptions by exp o s l ~ g the ideological failings that have been concealed. It takes responsibility formaking people aware ofhow they have unconsciously accepted thesubservient, powerless roles in their society that have been prescribed for them by others.

Marx himself was a well-educated, widelyread German intellectual who coulddiscourse on the poetry, fiction, and drama of more than a single culture. He enjoyedthe theater and frequently made references to literature of all kinds. He was aware,h o w e v e ~ " that art a ~ literature are an attractive and effective means of convincing theproletanat that theIr oppression is just and right. Literature is a particularlypowerfultool f o maintaining the social status quo becauseit operates underthe guise of beingentertamment, making it possible to influence an audience even when its membersare unaware of being swayed. Because it does not seem to be didactic, it can lead?eople to accept an unfavorable socioeconomic system and to affirm their place inIt as the proper one. By doing so, it serves the economic interests of those who arein power. Marx points out that control ling what is produced is not difficult, because those who create art must flatter (or not offend) their clients who pay for it-the bourgeoisie.

Although Marxist views about literature coexist comfortably withthe principlesof some other schools of criticism, they stand in direct opposition to the concerns ofthe Formalists, for Marxist critics see a literary work not as a n aesthetic object to be

READING FROM A MARXIST PERSPECTIVE

experienced for its ownintrinsic worth but as a product of the socioeconomic aspectsof a particular culture. Marxists generally accept, then, t ~ a t critics m u ~ t d? more t h ~ nexplain how a work conforms to certain literary conventIons or examme ItS aesthetIcqualities. Marxist critics must be concerned with identifying t ~ i d e . o ~ o ~ y ofa workand pointing out its worth or its deficiencies. The good MarXIst cntIc IS careful toavoid the kind of approach that concerns itselfwith form and craft at theexpense ofexamining social realities. .Instead, she will search out the depiction of inequities in social classes, an Im-balance of goods and power among people, or manipulation of the worker by thebourgeoisie, and shewill point out theinjustice of that society. If a text ~ r e s e n t s a society in which class conflict has been resolved, all people share e q u ~ l . l y m po,,:er andwealth, and the proletariathas risen to its rightfulplace, then the c n t ~ c can,pomtto atext in which socialjusticehas taken place, citing it as a model of soCIal actIOn. In theformer instance, theMarxistcritic operates a warning system thatalerts readers to social wrongs; in the latter, he is a mentor to the proletariat, pointing outhow they c,anfree themselves from the powerless positionin which they have been placed. Themtent ofboth approaches ishighly political, aimed as they are atreplacing existing systems with socialist ones. The function of literature is to make the populace aware ofsocialills and sympathetic to action that will wipe thoseills away.The ideology that a text inevitably carries canbe found in either it,S content or i ~ form. That is, a text has both subjectmatter and a manner of presentatIOn that can eI-therpromoteor criticizethe historical circumstance in which itis s e ~ . TomanyMa:xists, it is content thatis the more significant of the two. The "what" IS more revealmgthan the "how."The "what" is important because it overtly expresses an ideology, a particularview of the socialrelations of its time and place. It may support the prevailing ideology of the culture, or it can actively seek to show the i d ~ o l o g y ' s shortcomings andfailings. It can strengthen a reader's values or reveal then' flaws through charactersand events and editorial comment.

I f the subject matter is presented sympathetically, it depicts t ~ so?ial relationships-laws, customs, and values-that are approved by that SOCIety, m a way thatlegitimizes them and, by extension, the underlying economic system that.has produced them. If, on the other hand, it criticizes the prevailing ideology, It can .beequally powerful and persuasive. By depicting ~ h n . e g a t i v ~ aspects of a SOCIO-economic system-injustice, oppression, and ahenatIOn-hterature can awakenthose who areunfavorably treated by it. It can make them aware thatthey are not free,that they (the working class) are controlled by the oppressive bourgeoisie, a selfappointed elite. It can be ameans of changing the superstructure a n thebase becauseit can arouse people to resist their treatment and overthrow unfaIr s ~ s t e m s . At thevery least, it can make socialinequities and imbalances of powerpubhc knowledge.

What is the ideology expressed by the content of "TheDiamondNecklace"? Itis doubtful that deMaupassant wrote the story to foment revolution amonghis c o ~ ~ trymen, but in it the destructive power of thecool lack of concern ~ t h bourgeOIsIefor the proletariatis umnistakably depicted. The minor clerk and hisWIfe are almost


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beneath notice to those who employthem, andthe lower the couplefalls in their ability to livewell, orcomfortably, orto surviveat all, thelessvisible orrecognizable theybecome. The denial of beautiful clothes and jewels to Mme. Loisel (while they areavailable to others nomore deserving than she), and the sufferingthat such inequitiescause her, carry with them a clear social commentary. Such a society is uncaring andunjllst. It exists on assumptions that allowthepowerful to keep their comfortableposi tions only if the powerless remain oppressed and convinced thatit is right thattheyare oppressed.Themanner ofpresentation (the "how") can also be instrumental in revealing theideology of a text, especially when it brings thereader close to the people and eventsbeing depicted. Forthatreason, realistic presentations that clearly depictthe time andplace in which they are setare preferable to manyMarxistreaders because they makeit easier to identifywith an ideology or to objectto it. However, othersfind inmodernand postmodern forms evidence of the fragmentation of contemporary society andthe alienation of the individual in it. The narrative that is presented in an unrealistic manner- that is, through stream of consciousness or surrealism, maymake a lessovert identification with the socioeconomic ills of capitalism or with socialistprinciples, butit can nevertheless criticize contradictions andinequities found in the worldthat capitalism has created. The effect of forms on the development of social commentary in a text can be understood by imagining how "The Diamond Necklace"would be changed if instead of being a realistic depiction given by an omniscient narrator, the story were presented as an internal monologue taking place in the mind ofMme. Loisel or that of her husband or even that of her convent friend. In the latterform, the ideology would shift with each one's perception of what the social systemis and should be, as well as what eachhas to lose or gain by changingit.

Believing that all products of a culture, including literature, arethe results of socioeconornic andideological conditions, theMarxistcritic musthavenot only an understanding of the subject matter and the form of a work but also some grasp of thehistorical context in which it was written. He must alsobe aware of the worldview ofits author, who wrote not as an individual but as onewho reflects theviews of a groupof people. Such grounding helps the reader identify the ideology that inevitably exists in a text, so that she can then analyze how thatideology supports or subverts thepower structure it addresses.

To make a Marxist analysis, then, you can begin by asking questions such as thefollowing:.. Who are the powerful people in the society depicted in the text? Who are thepowerless people? Are they depicted with equal attention?.. Why do the powelfulhave thatpower?Why is it denied to others?.. Do you find evidence of class conflict and struggle?.. Do you find repression and manipulation of workers by owners?.. Is there evidence of alienation and fragmentation?.. Does the bourgeoisie in the text, either consciously or unconsciously, routinelyrepress and manipulate less powerful groups? If so, what are the tools they use?News?Media? Religion? Literature?

88 CHAPTER 5 MARXIST CRITICISM WRITING AMARXIST ANALYSIS

What does the setting tell you about the distribution of power and wealth? Is there evidence of conspicuous consumption? . Does the society that is depicted value things for their usefulness, for theIr poten-

. 1 ?tial for resale ortrade, orfor their power to convey SOCIa status. . . Do you find in the textitself evidencethat it is a product of the culture m whIchit originated?

What ideology is revealedby the answers to the preceding q u ~ s t i ~ n s ? ?oesit support the values of capitalism or any other "ism" that i n s t l t u t l O ~ a h z e s t ~ edomination of one group of people over another-for example, raCIsm, seXIsm,orimperialism? Or does it condemn such s y s t e ~ s ? .

Is the work consistentin its ideology? Or does It have mner conflIcts? Do you find concepts from other schools o f l i t e r a r y . c r i t i c ~ s m - - : - f o r example, cul-

tural studies, feminism, postmodernism-overlappmg WIth thIS o ~ e ? . Does this textmake you aware of your own acceptance of any socIal, econoll11c,or political practices that involve control or oppression of others?

Your answers should lead you to an understanding of the ideology e x p ~ e ~ s e d inthe text and perhaps to insight into your own. Does the work accept ~ o c l a h s m ashistorically inevitable as well as desirable? Does it criticize the r e ~ r e s s l v e s y s t e ~ s ?Or does it reject socialism and approve of another system that eXIsts ?y p r o ~ O t 1 ~ gone group of people at the expense of a n o t ~ e r - e . g . , a particular ethmc ~ l l 1 1 n o n ~ ygroup. Where do you see similar situations m your ownworld? ~ o w . that Ideology ISexpressed through the form of the work, the characters,.the settmg, Imagery, and allof its other literary elements is the content of the analysIs.

WRITING A MARXIST ANALYSISThereis noprescribed form for writing aMarxist analysis. Doing sois simply a matter of applying Marxistprinciples in a clearly ordered manner. As a result, ~ n . s u ~ hwritten critique may look quite different from another but be equally MarXIst m Itscontent.PREWRITINGI f you have thoughtfully answered the questions listed. above, you w i l ~ have m ~ t e r i a ~to begin yourprewritin&: If you take those items that Y I e l ~ e d the m o s t } n f O r m a t l O ~ o generatedyour strongest'opinions anduse them as the baSIS of a freewnte, your thmking will begin to develop along some identifiable lines. It may be that you need onlysee where the responses you made to some of the questions are e : i d ~ n t in the text.Those passages shouldprovide you with examples ~ your general.Izatrons.

Some questions that will require you to go ou.tsIde the. text. f01 a ~ l s w e r s , but thatcan be rewarding to pursue, are those that deal WIth the hIstoncal, CIrcumstances ofthe writer and his text. You may wantto takethetime to do some lIbrary work to examine the following topics:


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The Body!h e ~ e n ~ r a l p ~ r t of your essay will demonstrate the presence or rejection of MarxIst PIlllClples 1I1 the text you are analyzing. It is in this part that the organizational

DRAFTING AND REVISINGThe Introduction~ n a t ! " l a t ~ ~ s t analysis. it c ~ be effective to announce the ideology of the text and itsIe a lOns dIP ~ MarxIst VIews at the outset . Because the res t of your essay will beconcerne WIth where and h th 'd I .. ow e 1 eo ogy IS worked out it is important that .leader share your understanding of the stance taken by the'text I f you find thO yoU!

p ~ ' o a c h . to be too dry, b O ~ ' i n g , and didactic, you might begin with 'a summar O f : ~ ? ~cldent rn ,the work that Illustrates the social relationships of the h t : nother SocIOeconomic a t f th . c arac elS or someoverall worldview. spec a e SOCIety as preparation for your statement of its

'IVhat are the values of the author's time and place? Where are they reflected I'nt le text?" What ~ i o g r a P h i c a l elements of the author's life can accountfor his ideology? For

exahmp e, t.a what social class did he and his family belong? Where is that eVI:dentIn t e text?

" "!f1hat are.the socioeconomic cbnditions of the writer's culture? Where are theyIe ected rn the text?" ~ h o . ~ ' e a ? d t ~ e work when it was first published? Howwas it initially received?as I WI, e y r e ~ d ? Banned? Favorably or unfavorably r eviewed? .

~ h a . t wele the CIrcumstances of its publication?Was i t quickl acce ted wi~ I s t . r r b d u d t ~ d , ~ i g h . l y promoted? Or was it difficult to find a pUblisher? \vas'it g ~ ; ; Y nnnIte Istrrbutron? .

91LOSSARY OF TERMS USEFUL IN MARXIST CRITICISMprinciples will be of your own design. That is, you may choose to discuss each of themajor characters, assess the nature of the socialinstitutions depicted, or point out thestruggles between groups of people. The approach you take will in large partbe dictated by the work itself. Forexample, an analysis of "TheDiamond Necklace" couldbe built around the decline of the power and place ofM. and Mme. Loisel as they areforced to repay the cost of the necklace, could illustrate the unjust treatmentthey receive from those in thepowerful, controlling classes of society, or couldcompare andcontrast the differences between their lives and those of the rich and powerful. Ofcourse, these are overlapping issues, and it is difficult to focus on one without theother. Once you have addressed any such topic, you will quickly find yourself withcomments to make about others that are related to it.

Because there is not a particular form to follow in writing a Marxist analysis,you may fall back on some of the techniques discussed in chapter 2 (Familiar Approaches). It mightbe helpful to think about the usefulness of explication, comparison and contrast, and analysis. In any case, during revision you will want to be surethat each ofyourpoints is equally developed and that all are linkedtogetherin a logical sequence. Making an outline (after drafting) to check on whether you have managed to provide adequate coverage and coherence is helpful because it can give youan overview of what you have done. I f the parts are not balanced in length, depth, orcontent, you will need to make adjustments.

+++GLOSSARY OF TERMS USEFUL IN MARXIST CRITICISM

Base The methods ofproductionin a given society.Bourgeoisie The name given byMarx tothe owners ofthe means ofproductionin a society.

Theconclusionof aMarxistanalysis often takes the form of an endorsement of classless societies in which everyone has equal access to power and goods or criticism ofrepressive societies in which that is not the case. It may once again make a case forsocial reform, pointing out where the literary work under consideration has eithersupported or rejected social change. In either case, to write the conclusion you willneed to consider how the ideology in the text affirms or conflicts with your own.

That assessment may lead to a second possibility for your conclusion. That is,you may find it interesting to reflect onwhat the workhas revealed to you about yourown ideology. Perhaps you discovered thatyou have uncritically accepted the principles of socioeconomic-political movements that are in themselves controlling andoppressive. Perhaps your analysis has made you aware that principles that you tookas "given" or "natural" or 'just the way things are" are actually socially constructedand can be changed in ways that make societymorejust and balanced. If so, explaining yourrealization can, provide a powerfulending to your analysis.

The Conclusion

CHAPTER 5 MARXIST CRITICISM0

, Regardless of which topics you ultimately decide to develop the our most lffi 'pOl tant aoals of y , . . . ' of w o r k ~ ( 2 ) t 'd O ~ ? I ~ W n ~ r n g are (1) to clarrfy your understanding of theideology, I' a 1 en I y t . e e ements of thetext thatpresent theideology' (3) to deter-mme lOW they promote It th t . . ,. - a IS, convrnce the reader to accept it and (4) to assess~ ~ s ~ m f ~ t h e t I c or opposed it is to Marxist principles. It is impo;tant to rememberin< ,8 e o ~ not ~ a v e to be .Marxistin its orientation to yield itselfto an interestc a ~ e a ~ : ' : f t ~ ~ m this ~ e r ~ p e c ~ v e . Ev.en one t ~ a t is capitalist or sexist in its outlookideology. y examrne to etenmne how It attracts the reader into accepting itseach I ~ t ~ e ~ ~ s ~ ~ ' e ~ s s u r i n g t recognize that Marxist critics do not always agree with

.t s Ieadrng of a gIven text. I f your interpretation differs from others it is notnecessat:r y. ~ r o n g , because no singleMarxistreading of a workresults even ~ h e n the~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ; ~ n c l p e,s are a p p l i e d . } ~ t.he s a ~ ~ ma.nner, Marxism lends itself to combina-. otheI schools of cIltlclsm, gIVIng It even more possibilities for variation.


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92 CHAPTER 5 MARXIST CRITICISM

Commodification The attitude of valuing things not for their utility but for theirpower toimpress others or for their resale possibilities.

Conspicuous consumption The obvious acquisition of things only for their signvalue and/or exchange value.

Dialectical materialism The theorythat history develops neither in a randomfashion norina linearone but instead as struggle between contradictions thatultimately find resolution ina synthesis of the two sides. For example, class conflicts lead to new social systems.

Exchange value Anassessment of theworth ofsomething basedon what it can be traded orsold for.False consciousness People's acceptance of an unfavorable social system withoutprotest orquestioning, that is, as the logical way for things to be.

Historical situation The ideological atmosphere generated by material circumstances. Tounderstand social events, one must have a grasp of the material circumstances and the historical situation in which they occur.

Ideology A beliefsystem.Interpellation A term used byLouis Althusserto referto the process by whichthe workingclass is manipulated to accept theideology of the dominantone.

Material circumstances The economicconditions underlying the society. To understand social events, onemust have a grasp of thematerial circumstances and the historical situationin which they occur.

Production theory The name given to Louis Althusser's ideas about the ability of literatureand art tochange thebase of a society. By creatingand celebrating its owncultural artifacts,the proletariat can produce a revolution that replaces the hegemony of the dominant classwith its own.

Proletariat The name given byMarxto the workersin a society.Reflectionism A theory that the superstructure of a society mirrors its economic base and,by extension, that a text reflects the society that producedit.

Sign value An assessment of something based on how impressive it makes a person look.Superstructure The social, political, and ideological systems and institutions-for example, the values, art, and legal processes of a society-that are generatedby the base. Somedisagreement exists amongMarxists about themanner and degree of influencethe base andsnperstructnre have on each other.

Use value An appraisal of something based on what it can do.Vulgar Marxism Another name for refiectionism. Those whopracticeit tryto determine thetnJe and complete nature of a given society.WeHallschauung The worldview of the author.

RECOMMENDED WEB SITEShttp://home.mira.net/ ~ d e n e r / m e l t /

A site forprimary works ofMarx, Engels, Lenin, and Trotsky, withinformation onHegel, Stalin, Lenin, Trotsky, and Engels and the philosophies of each.http://csf.colorado.edu/psn/marx /

Marxists Internet Archive is an extensive database of Marxism.

MODEL STUDENT ANALYSIS 93

h t t p : / / w w w . t r i n c o n . e d u / d e p t s / p h i ~ / P ~ i 1 o / p h i l s / m a r x . h t m lProvideslinks to otherMarXIst SItes.

h t t p : / / l i s t s . v i l l a g e . v i r g i n i a . e d u / ~ s p o o n s / . m a r x i s ~ _ h t m l / i n d e x . ~ t m lA list of nineteen email discussion hsts dedIcated to MarXIsm.h t t P : / ~ ~ ~ ~ : ~ : : ~ ~ ~ : : : ~ : : ~ e ~ ~ ~ ~ i ~ ~ ~ h : : ~ : ; ~ ~ a r x ~ s t theory, ideology, and criticism sites.It alsoincludes listings forjournals devoted to MarxIsm.

SUGGESTED READINGAhearn Edward J. Marx andModern Fiction. NewHaven, Conn.: YaleUni.v. Press, 1989.Arvon Henri.Marxist Aesthetics. Trans. H. Lane. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell u n ~ v . : ~ s ~ , 1 9 i ~ a l i _E a g l e t ~ n , Terry. Marxism and Literary Criticism. Berkeley and Los Ange es. mv. 0

fornia Press, 1976. . . N Yi k' Schocken,___. Criticism and Ideology: A Study in MarXIst LIterary Theory. ew o r.. 1978. . Th G t Tradition NewYork: Biblo and Tannen, 1967.HIcks, G r a F n v d I n ~ . Me . : e ~ and Dorm'. Twentieth-Century Dialectical Theories of Literature.Jameson, re nco arXlSlh I'< Princeton, N.J.: PrincetonUniv. Press, 1971.. . aNY ' Cor-___. The political Unconscious: Narrative as a SOCIally SymbolIC Act. Ithac, . ..nell Univ. Press, 1981. C I . W t . wLaing, Dave. The Marxist Theory of Art: An Introductory Survey. Boulder, 0 0. . es VIePress, 1986. . .. N Yi k' Longman 1992Mulhern, Francis, ed. Contemporary Marxist Literary Cntlclsm. e.w or. "

Slaughter, Cliff.Marxism, Ideology, and Literature. London: M a c ~ I n a n , 1 9 l 8 ~ 7 7Williams, Raymond.Marxism and Literature. Oxford: Oxford Umv. Press, .

MODEL STUDENT ANALYSIS

Marxist Criticism of Frank Norris's "A Deal in Wheat"Vickie Lloyd. , "A D I'n Wheat" presents the reader with a circularityFrank NOrriS s short story ea I

that shows the intimate economic relationship between the base (a capitalist economic sys-tem) and the superstructure (represented by a commoditytrading system that favors ~ r e e d Ymarket speculators oVEi'f!producers). This story comprises a p l a i ~ lesson to us ofthe Impacton our lives of the lack of morality and common decency ofthe affluent classes who are al-lowed to run our economic system. Norris also exposes the false consciousness of the pro-letariat who are subjugated bythis ruthless system.

The story begins with Lewiston. a man on the verge of losing the family farm becausea wealthy speculator has driven the price ofwheatdown so low that he cannot break even


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94 CHAPTER 5 MARXIST CRITICISMMODEL STUDENT ANALYSIS 95

on his crop. Lewiston leaves his panicky wife and travels to town to make one more attempt to sell his grain for a price that will cover the cost of raising and storing the grain.The grain dealer, Bridges, tells Lewiston that he can pay no more than 62 cents a busheland that it is the fault of the wealthy men who run the market. Bridges, who is upset, claimsthat the situation negatively affects them both, but it is obvious that Bridges is well off anddoes not stand to lose his very livelihood.

Lewiston forfeits his farm to creditors, and while his wife is sent to staywith relatives,he goes to Chicago to work. Lewiston's life spirals downward, and it is only near the endof the story that he is able to recover, but only through unskilled slavelike labor. As his fortunes dissolve, the wealthy wheat dealers who caused his decline seek to destroy one another with market speculations driven byfraud. These machinations are nothing more thanfun and games for the rich men but represent life-and-death struggles for the proletariat,which is negatively affected by the speculations.

When Lewiston arrives in Chicago, he has a job in a hat factory, but even that is takenaway from him when an import duty on felt is repealed and the home market is flooded bycheap imports. Here we see the adverse results to the workers when government refusest o pm tect t he jobs of its own citizens against incursions by foreign markets. Although Nor-I'is says no more about this situation, the reader is reminded thatthe government of a freemarket economy will always be run by the wealthy and for the good ofthe wealthy. In sucha government, the proletariat is powerless and has no say in the decisions that affect dayto-day liVing.

Tragically, Lewiston finds himself homeless and liVing a hand-to-mouth existence. Hislack of SUccess at keepinga job, coupled with the breakup of his family, lends a heartbreaking poignancy to his situation, which is repeated in any society where the ruling class is notanswerable t o t he working class.

Juxtaposed to the poor worker, Norris shows us the moneyed capitalists who areresponsible for the farmer's plight. The capitalists, Truslow and Hornung, are out t o do asmuch damage to one another as possible, and in their war of greed, the worker is ruthlesslyvictimized. In the course of the story, Hornung attempts to corner the market on wheat inorder to drive up the price. He sells a load ofwheat to Truslow but has second thoughts:although he is set t o make a fortune, hewonders if he should drive the price ofwheat sohigh that Truslow is forced into bankruptcy. He longs to destroy his great enemy, and inthis desire, Norris plainly shows us one of t he mor e immoral facets of capitalism, that ofthe need for the wealthy to climb to success by oppressing others, even of the same class.The selfish destructiveness of ruthless and powerful men affects all levels of a society.

Hornung's plan backfires because Truslow perpetrates a scam on Hornung. WhenHornung discovers the scam, he laughs it off, thus revealing that to both these men, theiravaricious machinations are nothing more than sport. Although the two have managed to

wreck the lives of untold numbers of families, they blithely go on playing their games. Unfortunately, their sport has caused the price ofwheat to be driven up even further, and theirgame has consequences thatare devastating. Many others like Lewiston are unable to makea go of the family farm, and thus another American tradition is destroyed by b ig business.

In a pivotal scene, Lewiston finds himself late at night in a long line waiting to receivefree bread from a local bakery. Many other men who also suffer the same plight are in theline, and Norris portrays this scene in imagery that calls to mind the deathlike stillness ofa cemetery. Norris describes the setting as being "very dark and absolutely deserted," withLewiston standing in the "enfolding drizzle, sodden, stupefied with fatigue." The weary menmerely stand without talking so that even their basic social need to communicate with eachother has been destroyed by capitalist greed. This powerful and heartrending scene standsout because it bluntly reflects the way materialism strips away the humanity of the workingclass. The author's use of the dank, depressing graveyard imagery constitutes a metaphorfor the death of working class people a t the hands of the society that should nurture it.

One evening, as the men are standing in line, a sign is posted on the bakery doorsaying thatthe price ofwheat has risen so high the bakery can no longer give away bread.Here, we seetha t even this small perquisite is taken away from the desperate men. Symbolically, Norris is shOWing us that the rapacious greed ofthe ruling class is stealing the verybread from the mouths ofthe workers.

Bread is the most basic of human food, and Norris's symbolic use of wheat speculation and the starving men awaiting handouts of free bread cuts to the very core of theeconomic dilemma of the worker and exposes its rotten marrow. This battle for the fundamental symbol of life is emblematic ofthe class struggle of the proletariatfor a fair shareof society's goods and services.

Also symbolically, Norris uses exchange market terminology to label Truslow as theGreat Bear and Hornung as the bull. In marketjargon, a bear speculator profits from a fail-ing market, and a bull profits from a rising market. Whether the market is rising or falling,the bourgeoisie will control the purse strings ofthe nation, and the bottom line for bothmen is profit, but onlyfor themselves. In the story, thetwo men display the worst characteristics of the animals they represent, recklessly attempting to destroy each other in a ter-ritorial fight with animalistic shortsightedness. The bull lords it over his herd, driving awayweaker males and thus mllking the social decisions. The ones driven away become isolated,and, deprived of the life-giving society of the herd, they starve to death. The bear is a largepredator that destroys other animals in order to survive. The bull and the bear control thepower base in their territories, ensuring the maintenance of their positions by the "wealth"of their strength and size. Theyalso manipulate their respective societies by enforcing a classstructure in which the weaker males are not allowed to breed, thus even establishing control over the genetic makeup oftheir societies. Hornung and Truslow, in their unchecked


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