In Our Time Marxist Analysis

Throughout the novel In Our Time, written by Ernest Hemmingway, there are many criticisms that are present in each chapter. Specifically, the Marxist theory is prevalent throughout the novel. The Marxist theory is based upon the economic and cultural values of Karl Marx, but it focuses on the social classes that are present in a novel. As well, the Marxist theory focuses on the historical changes that have taken place between these social classes. Many of the short stories within In Our Time contain aspects that have to due with social classes but the two chapters that portray the Marxist theory the best is On the Quay at Smyrna and Doctor and the Doctor’s Wife. On the Quay at Smyrna contains many aspects of the Marxist Theory. In this …show more content…
To begin, the conflicting force within this chapter is race. Nick and his father, the doctor, are white individuals. The other two men in this chapter are Dick and Eddy. These two men are Indians and they have been hired by the doctor to cut up a log that had washed ashore. The social classes are not equally sketched in this chapter either. One example of the social classes not being equal is when the narrator talks about how the doctor only hires Indians to cut up logs for him. This shows that Nick’s father thinks less of the Indians based on their race. He chooses to hire the Indians because they are cheaper than other folks most likely. Another example of the difference between social classes is when Dick and Nick’s father are arguing about whom the logs belong to. Dick says that the logs belong to White and Mcnally, and then he proceeded to give Nick’s father a hard time about stealing the logs. Unfortunately, Nick’s father does not think this joke is very funny and he proceeds to tell Dick and the other Indians to leave the beach. While telling the Indians to leave the beach he gets very angry at them and starts to threaten the Indians. This encounter shows that Nick’s father does not care about the Indians because he threatens to knock their teeth out if they do not leave his property immediately. If these men had been white and the same social class of Nick’s father, the doctor would have acted with more respect because they would have been white. Instead he can insult the Indians without feeling bad because they are of a lesser social class than him. Another example in this chapter of social inequality is when the doctor talks about how Dick, the Indian, owes him. The doctor helped Dick’s tribe defeat an outbreak of pneumonia, so therefore the doctor believes that Dick and the other Indians owe him. This again shows that nick’s father looks down