social structure and class o.O (1 Viewer)

[abba86amy]

heyo just wondering if anyone can post some notes on
a) the elements that make up the structure of a society
b) what is class? how does class come about? how is class maintained?

we tried looking in books and searching online but nothing came up so if anyone finds anything PLZ post it up!!!!!

this is for brave new world btw
thanx heaps!!!

 

[M@C D@DDY]

yeh dis is important plz help

 

[Gregor Samsa]

To give a brief definition, 'Class' generally refers to social position, created through wealth or status over time.. However, 'class' is a flexible concept, and social mobility exists in most societies. (This may be seen in the many 'rags-to-riches' stories, people moving from poor to wealthy..)

In Brave New World, the opposite occurs, the class system being maintained indefinately through social stratification. This can be seen in the 'creation' of Alpha, Beta (I'm so glad to be a Beta..), Gamma, Delta and Epsilon citizens, through physical alteration, hypnopaedia, and 'Neo-Pavlovian Conditioning'. An example of the latter is seen in the 'Social Conditioning Centre', where babies are trained to fear books and the environment, for A love of nature keeps no factories busy". (p.17)

These class boundaries are also constructed literally through the symbolic use of walls. Huxley's depiction of an inflexible class system functions both to represent dystopia, and to satirise contemporary society.