Allison Greenle1

Allison Greenlee
Professor Vasquez
English 1
16 September 2014 A Hike through the Canyon: Social Classes Social classes in America have been a rising issue. Many People don’t think that social classes matter very much, they believe that you are either rich or poor: there is no real in between. Whereas there are really nine classes with top out of sight being the highest class and bottom out of sight being the lowest class. In between though there is seven other classes: upper, upper middle, middle, high proletarian, mid proletarian, low proletarian, destitute and bottom out-of-sight. This is made very clear Paul Fussell’s book Class: A Guide Trough the American Status System. Fussell makes these classes very clear and well defined. In the film Grand Canyon directed by Lawrence Kasdad, characters representing different classes come together and form relationships. The main one being the upper middle class lawyer Mack and a high prole tow truck driver Simon. The two meet and gain insight on how different classes behave and act. This gives one another a special look into another social class. The different classes expressed by Mack and Simon in the film Grand Canyon are shown by the clothing worn, Housing and job titles. Mack always wears clothing that is a dead giveaway to him being a upper middle class male. This can be expressed through the clothing that he wears. For example, Mack always wears a suit and tie to his office where he works. This is a sign of being in a upper middle class individual. This can be proven with Fussell’s comment on the matter of clothing. “Anyone with money can learn to be uncomfortable in anything but a Brooks Brothers suit”(Fussell 60). This shows that Mack is a higher class because he is always wearing a plain colored dark suit that is not very noticeable and modest. Many upper middles like Mack have fitted suits. Mack even says that he prefers fitted suits. Fussell says how fitted suits can show a sign of class “The distinction impointing to is not one between the tailored clothes of the fortunate and the store clothes of the others, for if you try to get a perfectly fitting suit collar off the rack or at least altered to fit snugly. The difference is in recognizing this as a class signal”(Fussell 63). This shows that Mack knows that by wearing a tailored suit he is showing off his higher class. We can conclude that Mack shows his class by his clothing. As we could see Mack’s attire showing his class we can also see this in Simon’s attire. Simon is a high prole and tends to dress like one. For example, Simon’s wardrobe mainly consists of jeans, tee-shirts, and baseball caps. This is a big signal that Simon is a prole. For example Fussell links wearing these types of clothing as being lower class, “if you gauge peoples proximity to prole status by the color and polyester content of their garments, legibility of their dress is another sign”(Fussell 56). This shows that with Simon wearing a pair of jeans and a tee shirt shows that he really is prole. But because Simon tends to not ware logos he moves himself up on the social ladder. When Simon goes on a date h also wares old out of date polyester clothing that really shows that he is a higher prole. Simon also has very worn clothing because he has a lobours job that makes it unable to ware nice fitted clothing. This shows that Simon can be placed in the prole class based on his clothing. We can also see how Mack and Simon differ in cases as we move into their homes. Mack lives in a modest sized home with a garage and a pool in the back yard. This shows that he is a higher lass than Simon because he actually has room to live in unlike Simon’s small apartment. For example Fussell states that living in a bigger home that is more set back from the street means that Mack has a higher social status “the upper-class version will be set back farther from the street”(Fussell 81). This shows that Mack’s house that has a driveway and a front yard shows that Mack is at a higher social class than Simon. Mack also has a pool showing that he can afford to have recreational things and has the time to enjoy them. The home itself is vry roomy and has a collection of furniture that match the trim of the doorways. This shows class because if you have money your furniture will match. This shows how Mack’s house shows his class. Simon’s home, unlike Mack’s, is a small apartment that doesn’t have as much room as Mack’s. The apartment is very small and cluttered. The furniture is all miss matched and the main attractment in the living room is the television. Fussell says that having the television as the main piece of furniture in the house is a sign of being lower on the social class scale. For example, Fussell says this in chapter four of class when talking about the home, “The principle is that the higher class you are, the less likely it is that you T.V. will be exhibited in your living room”(Fussell 90). This shows that just based on television placement in Simon’s house shows that he is a member of the lower class. Another thing that separates Simon from Mack is his driveway. Simon simply does not have one he parks his car on the street in front of his apartment complex. Fussell states that a higher more curved driveway is an indicator of class. “Its only with the upper class that driveways become more visible and available for study. In general, we can say that there, the longer the drive the higher the class with proviso that long and curved is grander than long and straight”(Fussell 76). His shows that without a drive way Simons little apartment shows that he is in a different social class than Mack. So as you can see housing is a better gauge of social classes’ than clothing. Yet the occupation is the best way in determining social classes. Occupation can be a major determiner of social class and can normally put you in whatever social class you will most likely stay. Mack has a very respectable occupation. Mack is a successful immigration lawyer in Los Angeles. This shows that Mack got an advanced college degree and invested time and money to get a better paying career instead of a low paying job. Because Mack got a degree he was making his social ranking higher. For example Fussell says this on degrees from prestigious schools, “Archaic schools like Princeton or Yale are used for status definition and support”(Fussell 139). This shows that when you get a degree you are really showing off your status because you had the time and money to go to school and did not have to get a low paying job to make ends meet right off the bat. Mack also has a position where he has people working in his office for him. This gives him a position of power making him even higher in the social class system. So as you can see having a respectable occupation truly is the most important thing in social classes. Simon is not as lucky as Mack when it comes to occupation. Simon works a blue-collared job as a tow truck driver earning not as much money as Mack. This is because Simon does not have a professional job that makes a decent wage. Because of this Simon is lower on the social scale, he cannot afford the same nice things that Mack can afford because he simply does not make enough wages to buy a nice house or a new Mercedes. Simon is more focused on having food on the table and having a roof over his head because he makes a lower wage than the white-collared Mack. Simon is forced to stay down on the social class scale simply because he does not have the education to rise any higher on the social ladder. Simon also has to work odd hours like in the middle of the night so he cannot have a second job to try to make more money to boost his social class. So as you can see occupation truly makes social classes more than clothing or housing. Social classes are seen in the film Grand Canyon and are cause primarily by occupation. Because we can see social classes in the types of clothes that people wear or their residence, we can generally put most people into a social class but the main way we put others into classes is by occupation. This is because when you have a low paying job you cannot have all the things that make you move up on the class scale. If you are working the same amount of hours as someone but they are a professional who makes up to 20 dollars an hour while you ae working the same amount of hours but you are only earning 8 dollars an hour you are going to not be able t climb the social class ladder as easily as others. That being said is the reason why I believe that’s social classes are truly determined not by clothing or housing but by occupation. You cannot live in a house in Beverly Hills and be able to pay the mortgage with your part time minimum wage job it is unfeasible. That is why occupation truly is the reason for social classes in America and as long as people are making different wages the issue will never be resolved there will always be social classes as long as there is higher wages and minimum wages.