From inside, I looked
at the world through my window.
T’was not a good sight.
I wiped and cleaned the window,
world was beautiful again.
Discussion:
The poem briefly, but concisely, manifests some of the ideas that Marxism espouses: such as that it is based on the belief that people’s consciousness of the condition they live in consequently affect their actual living condition, also that there is this understanding of the class in terms of relations of production. In our study of Marxism, we learn about the concept of ‘alienation’ which refers to the aspect of ‘human nature’, and is also cited by Marx as a “systematic result of capitalism”. Alienation also refers to the the particular situation that a person goes through that has led him/her to believe and feel alienated.
On the other hand, Marxism also deals with the consciousness of an individual – both of itself and the social world within s/he exists. For some of us, we act based on this awareness and what we have come to accept as our “reality”. And here is where “ideology” comes in and the concept of a false consciousness.
Going back to the poem, the persona has come into some sort of realization and awareness with regards to their actual living condition (I looked / at the world through my window). It seemed like the persona was doomed from the very beginning. However, the character has adapted a more positive attitude that will help her/him look at their situation differently (I wiped and cleaned the window, / world was beautiful again.).
