Re: Plot Resolution: The Lady or the Tiger

On Tue, 13 Dec 2005 18:24:41 GMT, djheydt@xxxxxxxxxxx (Dorothy J Heydt)
wrote:

>In article <MPG.1e08a9d9c864d476989b7b@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
>Joann Zimmerman <jzimm@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>In article <febsp1t7cvldjru0ffvbgoarega7pduiio@xxxxxxx>,
>>jamesd@xxxxxxxxxxx says...
>>> --
>>> On Mon, 12 Dec 2005 12:10:12 -0600, Joann Zimmerman
>>> > Not a single solitary one. Not and continue to be even
>>> > remotely of the upper classes. Not and be someone who
>>> > could continue to speak on equal terms with her
>>> > friends, neighbors, and even family.

That sounds a little strong to me....

>>> You are projecting a vicious hate filled Marxist class
>>> war onto the past that I do not sense when I read the
>>> words of people who lived then.
>>
>>Marxist analysis is a useful tool for historians and sociologists.
>
>I wouldn't even go that far. But it may be a useful tool for
>understanding *the nineteenth century*, to which, look you, Marx
>and Maupassant both belong. In Europe, anyway. In the US the
>concepts are more slippery. Whatever we've got for a class
>system (I do not trust Fussell as far as I could throw him)
>depends almost entirely on how much money you have *now*, and
>every time I attempt to understand class structure in Europe
>someone says either "no, that's wrong," or "no, that's all gone
>now," whereupon someone else says "no, it isn't."

Well, 'upper classes do not work' is clear enough. What surprised me was
that a minor government clerk wouldn't be considered 'working' already. And
that toward the end of the story, she'd have any status left to lose, by
going from being a coarse loud woman of the people, to being a rich
well-groomed relaxed proprietor of the best sort of jewelry shop. Tho come
to think of it, I can remember it being a little bit awkward when someone I
knew (in church, say) owned a retail store ... I'd try to shop there when
she wasn't in.


--
RL at houseboatonstyx com (insert one 'the')
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Plot Resolution: The Lady or the Tiger
    ... >>> remotely of the upper classes. ... >> war onto the past that I do not sense when I read the ... >Marxist analysis is a useful tool for historians and sociologists. ... In Europe, anyway. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.composition)
  • Re: Plot Resolution: The Lady or the Tiger
    ... >>> Marxist analysis is a useful tool for historians and sociologists. ... In Europe, anyway. ... theories is by their predictions. ... He predicted an increasing inequality of income, ...
    (rec.arts.sf.composition)