The National Trust by Tony Harrison
In what ways does Tony Harrison show conflict between classes and the control of the bourgeoisie?
Throughout this poem Harrison creates links back to his past and his roots. This is obvious when he mentions ‘Castleton’. This links back with his northern roots in which he grew up as a working class boy the 1930’s. this then creates a link about his strong views of the conflict between the social classes because he was judged on his working class background when he got into grammar school, leading him to
feel at a disadvantage.
After reading this poem by naming this poem national trust represents the control the bourgeoisie have over the proletariat. This is because the national trust is something that is supposed to belong to everyone, it is a national organisation. Although the main purpose of this organisation is to maintain stately homes which are owned by the bourgeoisie. This is then ironic because in all ways this only benefits the bourgeoisie because it provides them with profit through the people that go to see it which then is used to maintain the wealth and power of the bourgeoisie. The fact that it is a ‘trust’ also shows that it is a charitable organisation. This is again ironic because the bourgeoisie are the last people that need charitable help but they are the only ones that benefit from it. A Marxist might also say that the whole idea of the national trust totally ignores the proletariat of the time and is used to remember the people in power which means they carry on to own the base and the superstructure and control the work of the proletariat.
Larkin uses the words 'bottomless pits' to describe the holes where the men are lowered to search for coal. By using this term it gives off the impression that they are never ending and a place of no return. This could also be interpreted to represent the lives in which the proletariat live. This is because they are trapped in a never ending cycle of living in a capitalist society due to the power of the bourgeoisie. This can represent conflict between the classes because it shows that they may try to rebel, because the protagonist in the poem is a convict, but they will never change the society due to the power the bourgeoisie have.
In this poem Larkin puts forward his sarcastic opinion on the working class. This is shown when he says ‘our law and order’. This can be interpreted as a sarcastic view because from looking at his background of disagreeing with the middle class it could be showing that it’s not actually ‘our’ government, it is owned by the bourgeoisie they just create an illusion that we have a fair society even though we don’t.
Conflict between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat can also be shown in this poem when they are described to have ‘borrowed a conflict’. This shows conflict because it shows the corruption of power the bourgeoisie had during the time this poem is set as they can just ‘borrow’ a person, a working class person, to do whatever they want to. Harrison could be suggesting here that the working class weren’t actually treated as people but just as things that they could do as they please with because of the amount of power they had over them. This is then followed by ‘hush-hush’, which suggests that no one questions this due to the power the bourgeoisie have. This can also come across in a way that sounds very patronising to say to another adult, which could then suggest that the bourgeoisie treat the proletariat like children because of the power they have over them. A marxist might then link this to the fact that the proletariat receive little education due to the control of the bourgeoisie over the whole education system leading to a knock on effect.
Harrison again shows the control the bourgeoisie have over the proletariat when he says 'gentlemen who silenced the men's oath'. By saying this Harrison Is referring to the owners of the mines taking the voice away from their workers because they are seen to be so insignificant . By saying 'oath' could suggest that they are taking away the rights of the men because an oath is something you take to agree to something, but in this case there is no agreement to what they are doing due to the lack of power they have.
Harrison also shows the unimportance of the proletariat towards the end of the pole when he says 'the dumb go down in history and disappear'. By saying 'dumb' Harrison here suggests that he is referring to the proletariat because of the little education they would have received. By saying that they 'go down in history', could also refer to the fact that they are going down the holes that are thousands of years old and not actually history because they are not the important ones compared to the bourgeoisie, and they just 'disappear'
