Unlocking Texts: Exploring Social Inequality
🏙️ The clash between privilege and oppression.
Social inequality is a key theme that touches on class, race, gender, and access to power or resources. Writers often use it to highlight injustice, challenge the status quo, or explore characters’ relationships to power, privilege, and marginalization.
🎯 Why Social Inequality Matters in Exams
💭 In all exams — whether IGCSE, Edexcel, A-Level, or IB — the concept of social inequality is often central to understanding character motivations, conflict, and broader themes.
✅ IGCSE/Edexcel: “How does the writer present social inequality in the text, and what impact does it have on the characters?”
✅ A-Level: “Examine the ways in which the writer explores social inequality and its effects on society in the text.”
✅ IB DP (HL Essay): “How does the writer use social inequality to critique societal norms and values?”
✅ IB MYP: “Explore how characters are shaped by social structures and the inequalities they face.”
🧑🤝🧑 Types of Social Inequality to Identify
🏠 Class Inequality (Economic Disparity)
- This form of inequality often focuses on the divide between the wealthy elite and the working or oppressed classes.
- Look for symbolism in settings (e.g., wealth vs. poverty), disparity in dialogue or opportunities, and power dynamics.
📌 Example (A-Level):
In A Doll’s House, Nora’s lack of financial independence and her husband Torvald’s controlling nature demonstrate class-based inequality in their marriage and society.
💡 Close Reading Tip: Identify moments of dependency, control, and exploitation in relationships.
🌍 Racial and Ethnic Inequality
- Often explored in post-colonial literature, this form of inequality focuses on racism, cultural dominance, and colonial histories.
- Pay attention to stereotypes, prejudices, and power imbalances between races or ethnic groups.
📌 Example (IB DP):
In To Kill a Mockingbird, the trial of Tom Robinson exposes the racial inequality inherent in the Southern justice system. Scout and Jem’s growing awareness of race and justice reflects the societal divide.
🧠 Close Reading Tip: Watch for language used by different characters (e.g., racial slurs or formal speech) to illustrate disparity.
💃 Gender Inequality
- Gender roles and stereotypes often serve as a backdrop for social inequality, especially in patriarchal societies.
- Analyze how female and male characters are portrayed in relation to power and opportunity.
📌 Example (Edexcel):
In The Handmaid’s Tale, women are subjugated to roles defined by their reproductive capacities, showing a dystopian view of gender inequality. Offred’s resistance is a fight against oppressive gender roles.
💡 Clue: Look for moments of rebellion or conformity to gender roles.
⚖️ Social Mobility & Opportunity
- Writers often depict the struggle to move between social classes, showing how class-based inequalities hinder personal progress.
- Look for characters striving to escape poverty or change their social position.
📌 Example (IGCSE):
In Great Expectations, Pip’s desire to rise above his working-class roots reflects his internal conflict with his social status and the idea of upward mobility.
🔨 Power and Privilege
- Privilege is an invisible advantage given to certain groups based on their race, gender, class, or other social categories.
- Analyze characters who are denied privilege (marginalized groups) or those who abuse it.
📌 Example (IB MYP):
In Animal Farm, the pigs’ gradual assumption of power illustrates how privilege can corrupt; the phrase “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others” epitomizes this social inequality.
🧠 Clue: Look for shifting power dynamics — when the oppressed group gains control or when the privileged become more oppressive.
🧠 Social Inequality in Structure and Form
- Authors often use narrative structure or form to highlight social inequality. This could include fragmented storytelling, unreliable narrators, or shifting perspectives.
- Multiple viewpoints can highlight how social inequality affects people differently.
📌 Example:
In The Kite Runner, the story is told from Amir’s perspective, who sees social inequality through the lens of privilege, and contrasts sharply with the experiences of Hassan, a servant from a marginalized group.
🧠 Close Reading Tip: Identify shifts in point of view and narrative distance to highlight inequality.
✍️ Writer’s Purpose: Why Social Inequality?
- Writers explore social inequality to question or challenge the structures that maintain it.
- They may use social inequality to highlight issues of justice, human rights, or the need for reform.
📌 Example (Edexcel):
In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck critiques the American Dream, showing how social inequality, economic hardship, and racial discrimination limit the hopes of his characters.
🧩 Conflict Vocabulary for Social Inequality Essays
- “The writer critiques social inequality by…”
- “The power imbalance is evident in…”
- “The writer portrays the divide between the privileged and the oppressed…”
- “Through the use of (metaphor, dialogue, setting), the writer demonstrates social disparity…”
- “The character’s (struggle, response) reflects the broader social issues…”
🧪 Sample Analytical Paragraph
In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen uses the character of Elizabeth Bennet to challenge societal norms regarding gender and class. Elizabeth’s rejection of Mr. Collins, a man of superior social rank, highlights her refusal to conform to the societal expectation that women should marry for security rather than love. By contrast, Charlotte Lucas’s pragmatic decision to marry Collins demonstrates how social inequality pressures women to make sacrifices for social survival. Austen’s sharp critique of these gender roles serves as a call for reform in social norms.