The novel Peyton Place written by Grace Metalious was a book that was very ahead of its time. I honestly did not see any of this coming from the time period that it was written in and from the title of the novel. It was written in 1956 and it was very different from anything else at the time. It reminded me more of our time were we are more open with things like sexual abuse. Peyton Place revolves around three women who are not your typical women. Their stories alone are very different and they are outcasts because of it. Constance Mackenzie has an affair with a married man Allison Mackenzie and he dies a few years after the baby is born. So she moves back to Peyton Place and tells everyone that she is a widow with a new baby. The fact that she lies to people about this is because at the time it was inappropriate for women to have children out of wedlock and it was defiantly not acceptable to have an affair. Women at the time did not have the freedom that men did if a man had an affair people ignored this fact about him and pretended like it didn't matter. But for a women to do such a thing was unthinkable. This book reminds me of a soap Oprah. It is very dramatic and has many common things that are shown in todays shows. Things like abortion are emphasized in the book and sexual abuse. These women are very ahead of their time abortion is still a touchy subject today. I believe its a women's choice whether or not they should get an abortion or not. This book changed the way people saw women. Women make mistakes and terrible things can happen to them. The book was a hit but it was very different than anything at the time. It really changed the way people could write. They were able to write more freely and openly about these types of topics.
The United States is not a classless society. We have a major wealth gap between the wealthy and the poor. We live in a capitalist society. The wealth gap is growing more and more everyday. The middle class is shrinking and the gap between the rich and the poor is expanding. Class standing has a very big meaning in our society. It is the difference between a good education and a good job. Being apart of the upper middle class has many advantages things like SAT tutors. SAT tutors are extremely expensive not everyone can afford a tutor for this test. People who have SAT tutors are more likely to get a higher score on the SAT's and because of that are more likely to go to a better school then someone who can not afford a tutor. This small thing of just being able to hire a tutor can easily change your life. Kids who do not have this advantages suffer because of it. It's unfair but its the reality of the situation. Not everyone can afford the same things and because of that we are all unable to have the same lifestyles. All americans do not have equal opportunity to succeed. Inheritance laws ensure a greater likelihood of success for the offspring of the wealthy. It is all just luck of where you are born into. The wealth gap is a major problem in our country and we need to find some way to have equal opportunities for everyone.
I agree with Jaimee's post. The U.S. is most definitely a society of classes and it is apparent every single day. Along with students who are provided with tutors because their parents have money to afford it, like you had mentioned, advantages for the upper class are seen in politics as well. People who run for president often receive generous donations from those who are very wealthy, making it easy for politicians to be in favor for those who have more money. This trend of an increasing gap between the upper class and lower class is still continuing on because laws are being passed that favor the top 1-2 percent of people in this country. Although it seems unfair, I am not so sure if we will see a change in this on going trend in the near future.
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