Blog Post #1 - Atonement by Ian McEwan

Article: http://soaw.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=532

              The book, Atonement by Ian McEwan, discusses many issues about many different topics. However, the major social issue in this book would have to be classism, as the book is set in England in 1935, where society is greatly influenced by the social class system. From the beginning of the book, the third person point of view forces the reader to see that the story is not just about one family living in southern England, but the British society before it is changed by war. Classism plays a big role in Atonement as it builds up the background and helps to create a foundation for tragedy. Robbie Turner, who is at the lower end of the social class system, is imprisoned because of misunderstanding behind a crime he did not commit. Assumptions based on this stereotype contributes to him being arrested many times. What was most important was that the conviction against him was flimsy, and how people’s attitudes towards lower classes changed it into a very strong point.

              The article, ‘Confronting Classism’ by a school in America, talks about how upper class people are seen as more articulate and are smarter than those in the middle and working class. The article also talks about how different criteria are followed for different classification systems. One may include the workforce status, while the other may not. The article then goes to state that classism not only hurts on an economic, but on an emotional level as well. Being classified into a category is not something that everyone wants to happen to them, especially when the people above them have the power to make them feel bad about it. The stereotype behind the working class is that they are unintelligent and inarticulate, whereas others and that they are good listeners.

              This article relates to the book, Atonement, because it shows how classism has not changed from the mid- thirties to now. Just as people were classed in Britain before the war, they have continued to be classed after the war, seventy years later. This article shows how the “intelligent” people can have more power over the “unintelligent” people, and how they have more say, as they do more for their country than what the working class does. Just as Robbie Turner was accused of committing a crime, and the people who had more money were able to use their status as an advantage to sway the decisions of the court, even though he was not the one that committed the crime.

This video, shows how classism plays a role in today's world; through entertainment. We may not always realize, but we face classism everywhere, and fail to notice it happening.