The Destructive Nature of Industrialization Depicted in...

In Herman Melville’s short stories, â€Å"The Paradise of Bachelors and The Tartarus of Maids,† he juxtaposes the lives of social classes to illustrate the destructive nature of industrialization. Melville demonstrates the separation of classes by his usage of allusions and metaphors. Segregation is a main concern of Melville’s and, the contrast amid the two stories is a representation of the disparity between classes present at that time. While it may seem that the bachelors live the ideal life with all of their luxuries, the bachelors’ hedonistic lifestyle is unsatisfied with their lack of creation. If they are not contributing to society then they must be taking away from society. We learn that their lives are only regurgitations of†¦show more content†¦In reality, the motivation for acquiring control was greed. Melville alludes to the templars of the crusades to exemplify the self righteous characteristics of the upper class. â€Å"The thing called pain, the bugbear styled trouble -- those two legends seemed preposterous to their bachelor imaginations† (Melville 673). The bachelors live in a world above pain. Without pain one cannot relate to others and, as a result the bachelors cannot understand their unfortunate counterparts, the maids. Since the bachelors are not able to relate to anyone other than themselves, they are incapable of partaking in any significant relationships. As a result t he bachelors throw their extravagantly superficial parties in which they tell impersonal stories and gorge on fine food. Melville sarcastically states their care for one another when the narrator says, â€Å"The nine bachelors seemed to have the most tender concern for each others health. All the time, in flowing wine, they most earnestly expressed their sincerest wishes for the entire well-being and lasting hygiene of the gentlemen on the right and on the left† (Melville 672). Melville is saying that the class that rules society lives an unfulfilling life. The business owners do not care or respect their own people enough to take their needs into consideration. The upper class cannot be content because they have not treated the working class justly. In the story, there is a recurrent idea of pain and subjugation. The narrator begins