Marxist Criticism
1. How is the rigid class structure evident in William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” (1931) responsible for much of the story’s action and characterization? Would you say the story does or does not invite us to criticize the classism it represents?
2. What can we learn from Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson” (1972) about conspicuous consumption and commodification? How does the story use its representation of these capitalist realities to criticize class oppression?
3. How does John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath (1939) qualify as a Marxist critique of American capitalism? How does the novel’s form (realism) support that critique? How does the ending of the film version (which is flawed, from a Marxist perspective) undermine the more realistic ending of
the novel?
4. Describe the class system operating in the lives of the characters in Kate Chopin’s “The Storm” (1898). In what ways does the story fail to criticize, and fail to invite us to criticize, the classism it depicts?
5. How does Langston Hughes’ “On the Road” (1952) qualify as a Marxist critique of organized religion?