Midmost Ones Sound Square Midmost Ones Sound Bricks Essay - 347 words

The bricks immediately lining the vaults would be all burnt to useless scrolls, black as charcoal the next tier would be a little less withered, but hardly fit for service; and gradually, as you went higher and higher along the successive layers of kiln, you came to the midmost ones, sound, square, and perfect bricks, bringing the highest prices; from these the contents of the kiln gradually deteriorated in the opposite direction, upward. (Chapter 23, pp. 156) This particular quote plays on the class system in society. It breaks down the class rankings bit by bit, starting with the lowest level. The peasants were at the bottom of the barrel, and were considered to be dirty people who took up space. But the references to words such as burnt and charcoal suggests that Melville was not only talking about peasants, but also black people. It is obvious that the issue of race is also addressed in this particular quote. Blacks, who are usel ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

...................You are reading a preview................... Visit our Blog and Unlock Full Access to this essay

Continue READING the FULL Essay by clicking HERE

Essay Tags: bricks, burnt, peasants, charcoal, useless

This is an Essay sample / Research paper, you can use it for your research of: Midmost Ones Sound Square Midmost Ones Sound Bricks