Class Oppression The Key To Social Control. In Both The

Class Oppression: The Key to Social Control In both the film Metropolis (1927) and Brave New World, Fritz Lang and Aldous Huxley depict utopian societies where upper castes â€Å"are happy; they get what they want, and they never want what they can’t get† (Huxley 2006: 220). Each of these â€Å"ideal† societies has established some level of social control. In fact, in Brave New World â€Å"people were ready to have even their appetites controlled† (Huxley 2006: 228). These civilizations rely on and thrive because of the lower working class, â€Å"Standard men and women; in uniform batches† (Huxley 2006: 7). Through the comparison of these pieces, it is evident that Lang and Huxley are criticizing/commenting on the fact that for a society to maintain social†¦show more content†¦They stand at grueling machines all day, feeding the machines with their life force. Their jobs are imperative, as can be observed in the explosion scene where the ma n fails to complete his task, resulting in mechanical failure and the maiming of several workers. The city relies on the workers to provide them with power and probably many other vital aspects of the city’s infrastructure. Though these lesser members of each society are easily replaceable, like cogs in a machine, without them, the whole thing comes crashing down. Some may argue whether a lesser class is necessary or if every member of society could exist as equals. Huxley takes time to express his thoughts on this through the voice of the world controller. Mustapha Mond discusses an experimental island comprised entirely of Alphas. Most â€Å"lesser jobs† were left unfulfilled. â€Å"Low-grade work[ers] were perpetually intriguing for high-grade jobs, and all the people with high-grade jobs were counter-intriguing to stay where they were† (Huxley 2006: 223). Huxley is arguing that with no lower-class workers to do the grunt work, the laborious but necessary job s will go undone. A class of equals cannot thrive because they will all equally pursue the more prestigious work and neglect the keys to survival. Due to these lower classes being so crucial, the administrators in both Lang’s and Huxley’s pieces have implementedShow MoreRelatedThe Caged Bird : Microscopic And Macroscopic Perspectives Of Oppression1636 Words   |  7 PagesMacroscopic Perspectives of Oppression Alison Arberg Virginia Commonwealth University â€Æ' Abstract Oppression exists at varying levels and the way in which we choose to view it can have a significant impact on our ability to break down the barriers that continue to oppress disenfranchised groups. 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