Decline and Fall | Themes & Symbolism

Decline and Fall Significant Topics

Lower Class vs. Upper Class

From the very beginning, differences in social standing play a pivotal role in defining not only how characters behave but also in how they are treated by individuals and society. In broad terms, the lives of the upper classes are not as fraught with complications as those of the lower classes.

In the prelude, Paul Pennyfeather is put in a compromising position by members of an elite club. Though the club members are undeniably at fault in the ensuing altercation, Paul, who is in a lower class, incurs a far more severe punishment. In this instance, money is the main consideration. Paul cannot afford to pay the fines imposed on the others and so he is summarily dismissed from the school. Similarly, during Paul's trial for human trafficking, an activity in which he never wittingly participated, he is assumed by the judge to be the criminal, because the alternative, to...
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