LONG LIVE KARL MARX, and the Marxist Lens

Karl Marx, a philosopher well known for his philosophy promoting social, economic and general equality for all, and his great facial hair

I decided to view the book Beloved through the Marxist lens. This lens is of great interest to me because I enjoy looking at the politics and the interactions between social classes and those in power. A lot of my views about power and social structure are unconventional and I would like to see if there are any similar views in the novel. Furthermore, while there is a lens that looks at race and ethnicity, I believe that the Marxist lens will allow for more in depth analysis of the interactions between the enslaved and the slave owners. I have very little experience with this lens, which is another reason why I choose it. I have had a lot of experience looking at the psychoanalytical lens and the topics covered by it, so it would be relatively easy to find information relating to this topic and it, I think, too easy for me. I want something that I haven’t had any experience with before. I personally believe in a more equal distribution of power between the classes, rather than the upper class having more power and influence than those well below the poverty line. I also believe that there is a vast amount of inequality between certain groups of people and that there is an under representation in the government of certain ethnic groups and social classes. I am hoping to gain a deeper understanding of how the different classes interact and how power is distributed, something that can be applied to our lives today. I am also curious about the author’s perspective on the issue of power distribution around the time she wrote her novel and whether she agrees with the consensus of the time that there was a significant push to create equal rights for people of color. I did some careful consideration before choosing this topic, and nearly went with psychoanalytic, but at the last minute I decided that I would rather work with a different lens. Part of the reason I was so interested in psychoanalytical is because knowing what makes a character or person tick has always been one of my passions and interests. Furthermore, I thought it would be interesting to look at what was driving the characters to stay in the house, even though it was haunted, this was from a  section of the text we wrote before choosing our desired lens.