Tree of Red Stars :: essays research papers

In all parts of the world social ranking has always been an issue to people. From early history when the Romans were the major empire to present day in the United States, social coteriees have always been accepted as a means for people to distinguish themselves. In Uruguay, the social classes are intelligibly divided and define whom people marry and how they are treated.There is a very distinct social class system in Uruguay. This class line starts at the top with the landowners. This group is not at the top because of their wealth, they are there because they have the most land and business office. The next tier in the class system is the business class. These are the people that own and operate all the businesses in the community. Unlike the United States, military comes next in the social chain, because they catch much power and control over the community. Next come agricultural workers, who do not hold power in society because they do not own a significant amount of money o r land. The bottom tier of the social system is the beggars, or bottom feeders, They have no money, land, power or responsibilities, which in turn brings them no respect as peers. As seen in the end of chapter thirteen with the marriage/elopement of Cora, and the attempted marriage of Raquel, social classes were a major factor in who people married and for what reasons. In Coras case, she wanted to marry Ramiro, a young man of no social egress and not of the familys faith. Coras mother was also against this marriage because Ramiro had no money and didnt look respectable. Coras mother wanted her to marry a young Jewish lawyer, who had higher social status, was respected in the community, and made a much higher amount of money. Cora was to be forced to marry the lawyer, not out of love, but out of Uruguayan societys class beliefs.The announcement of Raquels wedding to Walter Diaz Varela surprised and pleased all the characters in the book. Raquels family was not well off because of h er father and his actions, and they were having problems supporting themselves. Raquels mother had to sew 15 hours a day to just get by, and this union would stomach a trophy wife for Walter, and a reprieve from her mothers duties. Walter did insist on a prenuptial agreement stating Raquel and her family would get no money if they married, which offended Senora Francisca, Raquels mother, but she ignored it because it meant they would live much better.