Back to School

After having spent a glorious few days being typical tourists in London we finally sat down as an entire group for our first classroom setting discussion. We covered a lot of material in a very short period of time, and with a group so large (and with so many outspoken peers it made it difficult for me to express my thoughts/opinions) so I thought I'd share some of our discussion, as well as some of the things I was thinking about. And I would love to hear anyone elses opinions on the subject.

We focused today's meeting mainly on Wilson's "A History of London", a couple of poems by Blake, Wordsworth, and Reading, and Dickens' "Great Expectations". The topics that mainly came up were the restriction that comes with identity, and the different identifying qualities of identity: race, gender, ethnicity, class, etc. In discussing how people become stuck in a place, stuck in London, unable to move up or out of a place in life, we began talking about the American Dream. Focusing specifically on "Great Expectations" and the character Pip and how he wants to move up in class. When we're brought up Americans are typically told we can do anything, we can do anything we want to do. However this is not a typical theme in British culture. Dickens expresses the idea that to remain in ones original class and to be happy with life is a more respectable thing. Joe, who appears to be Pip's foil, remains lower in class but is content with his life. He manages to see the good in a situation opposed to Pip who is constantly trying to move away from this life.

In this I began thinking about the importance of class vs. character. Which is more important? Who is it more important to? Is it a personal opinion? Is it something more related to culture and nationality? For Pip class was the most important thing. He respected the wealthy and the "gentlemen" more, however Joe could be considered a "gentleman" himself, for the way he carried himself and behaved.

Although this course is focused on London, I could not help but tie my American roots into the topic and I began thinking about Jason Michael Carroll's song "Where I'm From". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Hywo9xhNoQ It is a song about two men who meet on a plane. One man is wearing an Armani suit and is clearly a business man, the other is from small-town Middle (or Southern) America, and begins talking about his simple life. At the end of the song you find out that the business man is too from a similar town and background, however has moved up in class and wealth. His roots are planted in the same place as the other man's, however his lifestyle has changed. His character has not changed with his class, simply his appearance. This reminded me of Pip and Joe's relationship, because Pip moved up in class, but his character changed as well, whereas Joe's character never faltered.

I realize this is a lot (and probably a bit sporadic in thought) however I wanted to get my thoughts out there before I forgot what we discussed.