Tony Harrison adresses the class divide between the bourgeois and proletariat in the poem 'Them and (uz)'. A marxist may believe that a capitalist society is a divided society in which the upper class are viewed as superior to the working class and also that your social background will determine your future. Tony Harrison's uses his working class background and regional dialect to emphasize how the people using dialect or 'slang' which was more common in the north, were seen as less intelligent as apposed to people in the south who would use standard english and received pronunciation more commonly.
Harrison presents his vast knowledge on literature and language when he uses the greek speech such as 'αία' and then the english translation 'ay, ay'. Here Harrison is isolating the non-greek reader to mock those who cannot speak greek and emphasize how he was mocked for his regional accent. This also highlights Harrisons knowledge of culture which goes against the stereotype that people from a working class background may be less cultured.
Harrison recalls his 'nicely spoken' class mate in the second stanza. When he refers to the other student as 'nicely spoken' it suggests that the child speaks 'correctly' using standard english. The word 'nice' connotes positive meanings which demonstrates how those who speak using standard english and received pronunciation were praised on their speech as speaking in this way would suggest a upper class upbringing. On the other hand Harrisons regional accent was condemned - 'can't have our glorious heritage done to death'. This suggests that Harrisons accent was mocked by a teacher as it did not up hold the 'glorious' heritage of literature. From a marxist perspective this may suggest that there is a strong class divide between those who are seen to keep the 'glorious heritage' (usually the bourgeois) and those who tarnish it (the proletariat).
Harrison demonstrates a common idea that highly regarded literature can only come from someone well spoken. This is presented when he says 'Poetry's the speech of kings. you're not one of those', this suggests that respected literature generally comes from the bourgeois and people who did not speak in the 'correct' way were seen as unintelligent. Standard english would be spoken by people of high importance such as politicians, people working at BBC and other member of high social ranking which means that people would associate standard english with intellect and non standard english with stupidity. A king would use standard english and received pronunciation which indicates that those who did not were not seen as able to write great literature. This highlights a stereotype that people who don't speak using standard english and RP would be from a working class family. When Harrison says 'you're not one of those' he's mocking standard english speakers for thinking he is unworthy of writing great literature. This highlights how it was believed that the social background of a person determined how well they could do in life because Tony Harrison was from a working class family in Leeds and his accent portrayed this. Therefore it was believed he would not be able to write well because of his class and upbringing.
The proletariat are presented as victims in part one of the poem 'Them and (Uz)'. Tony has separated the poem in to part one and part two which may have been done to highlight the class divide between the proletariat and the bourgeois. However in part two, Harrison demonstrates how his speech and accent is out of choice and does not determine his intelligence. He describes how 'we'll occupy your lousy leasehold poetry' to mock the upper class who believed that all great literature had come from people who spoke 'correctly'. However that is not the case as presented by Harrison when he describes great writers such as shakespeare who may have had a regional accent. By describing the poetry as leasehold 'poetry' Harrison is highlighting how the upper class would steal work from people who didn't speak as they did and claim it as there own.
To conclude Harrison demonstrates how social class does not determine the intelligence of a person. He demonstrates how even though he comes from a working class northern background he is still well cultured and intelligent.
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