Imagine, it’s winter and you are on a train. Now, imagine this winter and train ride never ends. The latter is the premise behind the dystopian movie Snowpiercer. In this film, the last of the humanity is confined onto a train for the rest of their lives or until the world recovers from it’s ecological disaster. The problem? Aside from the obvious reason for why they are on the train, the main dilemma is how society in the train is stratified. Everyone is divided by their amount of class, which defines their status and power on the train. This idea of division in Snowpiercer, resembles Weber’s theory in social stratification, whereas Marx theory falls short. According to Karl Marx’s theory, society only has two classes: the bourgeoisie and the proletariat- the rich and the poor. Since the bourgeoisie own property, they hold the power in society. Whereas as proletariat are the working class. On the other hand, Max Weber believes that society is …show more content…
The placement of where people live in the train depends on life chances and luck. This could mean working up towards the front, being born into a family with status on the train, or having a talent that is beneficial to the higher power. The three class divisions on the train make it impossible for Marx theory to hold up. He see believes society is cut in half with only two social groups, however ever that’s not the case. On the train there are poor, middle class, rich. Marx idea is too black and white, not thinking about the possibility that people can be in the middle. Continuing, in Snowpiercer, only one character is able to attain all three dimensions, Wilford, the man responsible for saving humanity and creating the engine used for the train. His character holds the most power above all other characters in the movie. Not only the most powerful but also has the highest status thus reflected in where he lives on the train; in the