Aldous Huxley’s Hyperion to a Satyr :: Aldous Huxley Hyperion to a Satyr

Weve probably all seen a poor, homeless human being on the streets. How do we know that he is poor? Is it his personality? I think we all know that the reason we assume that this man is poor is because of his appearance. If we see a man whose clothes are old, torn or dirty, we assume that theman is poor, and because of this, many people view himas a lower form oflife, and not as an equal. Throughout the historyofhuman civilization,dirt has been a very common token that humans take overcometo associate withthe poor or lower classes in our society. In AldousHuxleys Hyperionto a Satyr, he addresses this symbol in our society. The look questionthat I will address in this essay isWhy is therea connectionbetweenuncleanliness and the gap in our societybetween the richand the poor? The reason that I have asked and researchedthis questionis that the mainthemeof this plectron seems to be the ongoingprocess oftrying to bridgethe gulfbetween well-disposed classes by the abolition( or atleast control) offilth. I will be performing metaphoric criticism on the selection Hyperionto a Satyr. I feel that metaphoric criticism is the mostappropriate wayto analyze this selection because of Huxleys use ofmetaphors to illustratethe gap between rich and poor in our society throughoutthe selection. Inorder to perform a metaphoric criticism, I must first givea brief overviewof the content of this piece, and then point out or so specificmetaphorsin the selection. After I have pointed out some of the specificmetaphors,I will sort out the metaphors according to which metaphors linkdirt to thepoor, and which ones demonstrate the gap between the rich andpoor in oursociety. Although there are many metaphors in this selection,I will beisolating and analyzing a few that will help answer my researchquestion. As I sort through these metaphors, I will analyze their meaning,and withthis information, I will answer the research question. To understand the analysis of this s election, it is important to understandthe content, so I will briefly outline it. Hyperion to a Satyr was writtenby Aldous Huxley, and primarily examines the connection between the gap thatseparates social classes and dirt. By dirt, I mean any sort of filth, odor,or disease that is considered unclean. The basic theme isthat humans liveby symbolism, and a very primary symbol that we have madeis that dirty peopleare untouchable and, as a result of this, dirt contributestothe gap betweenthe rich and poor.