Category: Student posts

In 1936, when Charlie Chaplin’s ModernTimes premiered, nine years had passed since talking films were introduced to the world. Why would Chaplin choose to restrict his ability to convey his message to his audience when he had the technology available to create a talkie? Though silent films were a dying genre, Modern Times has a greater impact on the viewer by forcing them to pay close attention to the dangers of a technological world.

The silence of the movie scenes leaves a larger impression than if words were to be added. In one scene, a man tries to sell a machine that cuts out lunch hour for the employees, therefore increasing the efficiency of his factory. But, when the machine proves to be faulty and Charlie Chaplin’s character is harmed in the demonstration, the inventor seems to be more concerned with the malfunction of the machine than the employee’s well-being. The audience can infer this through the drawn out scene where the inventor attempts to fix the machine; all the while, Chaplin is abused by the invention.  Had the scene contained a conversation, the message would not be as strong.

Later, just prior to his release from the prison, Chaplin is shown lounging in a chair in his fully decorated cell, making conversation with a guard. This wordless scene is necessary for the viewer to fully understand its message. The audience must see the contrast between this scene and the scenes of Chaplin unconsciously working in the factory to comprehend how terrible factory conditions were. As the cliché states, sometimes actions speak louder than words.

Talking movies have now almost completed removed the need for silent films, yet still have an enormous impact on any audience. Today, it seems as though we use only our words to communicate; with our overuse of technology, we have begun to eliminate the importance of face-to-face communication and even shortened the words that we do use. Charlie Chaplin’s movie forces the viewer to focus on body language and actions, sending a stronger message about the potentially negative effects of technology.

Modern Times, a silent film directed by Charlie Chaplain, shines a negative light on the industrial age, in both social and financial terms. While yes, there are certain perks for the minority bourgeoisie class, the majority of society suffers to make ends meat by working in harsh and inhumane conditions.

In this satirical comedy, an average factory worker is brought to the edge through brutal working circumstances; resulting in his mental breakdown. Though his breakdown is humorously portrayed, it gets the message across that inhumane working conditions are destroying the working class.  Because these terrible conditions are a result of the industrial revolution, it can then be inferred that there is a parallel between technology and human misery. The workers were treated inhumanely. They worked around 12 hours a day with very small breaks and minimal pay.

During this time, as a result of the terrible working conditions and the huge economic gap between the bourgeoisie and the working class, there were concerns about socialism. Once the factory worker is finally out of the hospital and back on his feet, he is once again knocked down by being incorrectly deemed as a communist during a strike. Chaplain uses this scene to highlight yet another social concern during this time period that is resultant of the economy.

There is a huge unemployment rate during the depression. Chaplain illustrates this when a young woman’s family is ecstatic because she was simply able to steal bananas for them. He also portrays this through the factory worker who has a difficult time getting work after he is let out of prison. Because it is enormously hard to live decently during the great depression, he wants to go back to jail. Times were tough.

Through this silent film, Chaplain pointed out all that was wrong in this period as well as show the hardships that occurred during the great depression. Economically, I believe that Chaplain was suggesting the need for a visible hand. Socially, he advocated better working conditions and more humane treatment. Although he did well for himself as an actor and director, he sympathized with the less fortunate.

The film Modern Times directed by Charles Chaplin is a commentary about how technology takes away humanity.

One of the protagonists, a worker in a common factory, literally loses control of himself due to technology. This first happens when he becomes so accustomed to doing his one job in the factory that he is unable to stop doing the specific hand motion of turning knobs. He is only able to snap out of it when he truly concentrates. Then, when he is on his lunch break, the factory owners force him into trying out a new invention that supposedly eliminates the need for a lunch break, which in itself is another way to limit the amount of true humanity that factory workers experience. The worker truly loses control of himself when he is locked into the lunch machine, being fed by mechanics. He is also forced into staying there when the machine malfunctions. Not only is technology depriving the worker of humanity but also physically harms him when it fails. He even eats metal nuts, symbolically suggesting once again that his humanity and dignity is stripped due to technology. Finally, the worker experiences his last straw from the factory and goes into a nervous break down. He jumps onto the conveyer belt and goes into the gears of the machinery. Symbolically, this represents his becoming one with the machine as if he were a piece of a factory-produced good. The workers subsequently attempt to save his humanity by pulling him out of the machine. Once he is out, however, he goes on to turn the knobs on every human being he sees, suggesting that he mistakes all of humankind to be a part of the factory.  Thus, technology and working in the factories causes all humanity to be lost.

Not only does the movie show humanity taken away physically, but also shows humanity taken away metaphorically. After the protagonist worker is released from the hospital and is in his right mind again, he has his humanity back for a little; however, he is taken away to jail when he is caught at the wrong place at the wrong time. In jail, he accidently eats cocaine, mistaking it for salt, thus causing him to act in strange ways. In doing so, however, he stops a prisoner revolt and the police are on his side. He gets a luxurious prison cell and has the best treatment. That he does cocaine in jail and as a result gets treated extravagantly is backwards. The film suggests that the worker is more successful and has a better life in jail than in the factory. Jail usually takes away one’s freedom both physically and figuratively, but, according to the film, jail represents more freedom than technology does. Also, instead of eating a healthy meal, the worker eats cocaine and gets rewarded for that. Compared to his eating in the factories where the workers barely get a lunch break as it is, eating cocaine while in jail is suggested to be healthier for the worker physically and for his freedom. Therefore, humans are stripped of their freedom due to technology, as jail offers a better life than the factory. Overall, the use of technology and factories results in figurative and literal damage to the human race.

Charlie Chaplin’s silent film, “Modern Times,” is a story of factories and their affect on humans. The movie begins with a shot of pigs rushing into their sties then quickly cuts to humans rushing to get to work. This series shows how factories change human behavior. They turn them into time hypersensitive beings. The overruling master also expresses a sense of urgency. Charlie takes a break in the bathroom and the manager’s face appears on a screen in the bathroom. The manager is so concerned with the efficiency of his company that he will appear in a typically private place to tell the workers to get back to their job. The movie shows a big clock in one of the first scenes to convey and stress the importance of time in the business.

Chaplin’s job itself also consumes his actions. The movie often shows scenes of Chaplin stopping his job for a moment but he still continues the action of wrenching. His job takes over his movements. The long hours and constant brutal direction limit Chaplin’s freedom to live independently. Continuing with this wrenching action, Chaplin goes outside and sees a very bodacious woman walking down the street. She sees buttons on her chest and chases after her to twist them. Chaplin does not want to woo her but rather wants to wrench the buttons on her dress. The factory Chaplin works in has replaced human emotion and lust for mechanical drive. The factory also agrees to test a new machine that would feed the workers so they would not have to stop for lunch. The machine is another example of factories controlling humans. The machine was tested on Chaplin and failed to work. The machine would again replace human action in hopes of improving the efficiency of the factory. The factories, however, do not only affect Chaplin, they also control his fellow prisoners.. eh I mean, coworkers. Chaplin is a humorous character that often toys with others. At one point in the movie, Chaplin has the whole factory chasing after him. The other workers chase him around the conveyor belt but stop to catch up on what they missed. Their job completely consumes that they engage in a comical scene where they go from chasing a pest to rushing to recover from the time they have missed on the conveyor belt.

Lastly, the movie depicts the factory as jail in which Chaplin and the other workers are held prisoner. Chaplin is sent to the doctor where the doctor tells him to not get ‘excited.’ As soon as Chaplin goes into the real world, however, the amount of excitement he experiences overwhelms him. This implies he has not seen the real world for a long time because of how demanding the factory is. Later in the movie, the officers release Chaplin from the jail but he refuses to leave. The movie reads, Chaplin is “determined to go back to jail.” He does not want to leave jail because he likes it so much more than the factory. Humorous is the fact that Chaplin would chose jail over the factory. The irony of the situation adds to the theme of the movie; the factory is jail and jail is life.

After viewing part of “Modern Times”, my first Charlie Chaplin movie, I now understand why Chaplin is considered of the most important entertainers of our time. His social commentary is dynamic and simple, and without words, brings forth a clear message about the status quo of his time. Chaplin created his work for the people, and in empathy, portrayed the common problems of the average American citizen. Chaplin was in a different era of entertainers and celebrities, where his wealth did not undermine his cause to satire the rich and wealthy.

We are introduced to the quirky Chaplin character when he is working his factory job. He is a bolt tightener in a manufacturing plant and is dressed in stereotypical working overalls. He is accompanied by many other manufactory workers that are also doing the same task repeatedly. The factory is looked over by an omnipotent factory manager who tells a strong, shirtless, American hero male figure, to pull levers and turn wheels to keep up maximum factory output. Chaplin halts work to eat, but he is constantly doing the same bolt tightening arm movement. This satirical act has a deep meaning. Beyond the humor of it all, Chaplin is criticizing the value of a human. Although humans can do many things, Chaplin’s character has been doing the same movement with his hands repeatedly, and his worth is in this simple movement. Even when his character is not working, he cannot stop movement of his hands. Are factory workers only good for one movement of their hands? Factory workers are seem as a labor force, but the depth of their stories, past, ambitions, and overall life is lost within the factory where they compared to heard of sheep, which is seen in the beginning of the movie. Their identities are lost, and they are seen as a mass of flesh, rather than unique people. This idea of “being lost in the crowd” is also portrayed when we are shown images of many people waiting in line for food during the depression. Human individuality is transformed into a hungry body that needs food.

Despite the negative connotation of the loss of identity within a crowd, there is a positive aspect to the individual in a crowd. When Chaplin is found at the front of a protest with many people, he is individualized as the leader. The outcome of going to jail is unfortunate for the character, but it is hypocritical of society to ignore individuality when it comes to the benefit of the majority, and ignorant when individuality is recognized when it comes to the benefit the minority.

Although Charlie Chaplin’s silent film, Modern Times, appears on the surface to be just a satirical comedy about a little man with a funny mustache, it efficiently demonstrates the detriments of industrialization and technology. The viewers are first introduced to this film by the vision of a large clock. This immediately sets the main idea for the film that time is essential. To the factory, time is of utmost importance and the sole purpose of technology is to reduce time and increase efficiency. The large display of the ticking clock in the opening of the film emphasizes this notion. Consequently, the only words spoken in this silent film are the factory owner’s voice telling the workers to speed up their production. Again, the factory is only concerned with the time it takes to get tasks done; it does not care about the individuals attending these machines. The factory worries about efficiency, and the workers, especially Chaplin, are subjected to a time full of monotony. Although the factory is saving time and increasing efficiency, the factory becomes torturous and the workers are driven into a blank state. Chaplin is so focused on his assembly line of tightening bolts that when the line stops, he keeps continuing on the women’s buttons behind him. Chaplin is no longer thinking; the repetitiveness of his job has made his mind vacant. He keeps continuing once the job is done, as that is all his brain processes.

The importance of time is shown shortly again in the film when businessmen come to sell the factory the Billows Feeding Machine. This machine reduces the time it takes for the workers to eat lunch and will allow for more efficient industrialization. However, this machine cuts out the time for the workers to be humane. Lunch hour gives the workers a time to converse, clear their brains of the factory, and actually think. Lunch hour provides the workers the opportunity to actually portray human qualities, and this machine, although making the factory better off, again reduces the workers’ brains to nothingness. Modern Times clearly demonstrates how the factory, obsessed with only time and efficiency, dehumanizes their workers and solely cares about the best production possible.

Charlie Chaplin’s “Modern Times” displays his distaste for the dire consequences of industrialization in a comical and light-hearted manner. Through the eyes of a pitiful factory worker, Chaplin introduces the viewer to a world where technology dominates human existence. Although Chaplin relays this message using humor, through all the laughter the viewer does not lose sight of the dehumanizing effect of factories.

We are first introduced to the dehumanizing effect of factories in the comical introduction of the film in which the protagonist is repeatedly tightening screws in an assembly line. The assembly line moves so fast and is so monotonous that the protagonist struggles to keep up with his work. Although this creates a humorous effect for viewers, the task effectively transforms the factory worker into a robot. The image of the factory worker as a robot is epitomized when the protagonist stops tightening screws, yet automatically continues to make the appropriate hand gestures. Beyond creating another humorous effect, this scene shows that the factory workers have been “programmed” to perform their tasks. Their work doesn’t require humane thought, only the most efficient production of menial tasks.

Chaplin further illustrates his disgust for the factory systems in another entertaining scene in which a feeding machine is being tested. This feeding machine is intended to increase productivity by freeing the hands during workers’ lunch breaks so they can continue to perform their menial tasks. Although this scene inspires laughter among the crowd, it clearly shows the dehumanizing effects of industrialization. Efficient production has become so important that factory owners can’t even afford to grant their workers a lunch break. Instead, workers are fed like robots. Furthermore, the protagonist is dehumanized when the feeding machine malfunctions and the food is spilled all over him. The factory owner has no concern for the discomfort this causes to the factory worker; he is diminished to a test subject, similar to an animal in a scientific experiment. However, the factory owner cares more about the impracticality and the inefficiency of the feeding machine. This scene demonstrates Chaplin’s distaste for the values and standards of factories.

Through the creation of multiple scenes, Chaplin creates a social criticism of industrialization while keeping the viewers laughing and entertained. This playful twist on a deep and disturbing topic grasps the attention of viewers and successfully communicates a message close to his heart.

In her short story “The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids,” Melville uses the apparent juxtaposition of the different locations to show how factories are turning America into Hell. There are several juxtapositions within the text besides the two in the title. Melville uses different scenery descriptions, different genders, and ultimately the dichotomy of Heaven and Hell.

In the “Paradise of Bachelors,” the narrator uses colorful descriptions whereas in “Tartarus of Maids” he uses bleak, dull, and harsh descriptions. The narrator describes the vast feasts, drinks, and other luxuries such as brotherhood and “snuff” to depict the Bachelors. The entire second section, however, is constantly described negatively. The “Dungeon” is surrounded by dark forests and the “Blood River.” Even down to the surrounding areas, the heart of New England, America is cold, cryptic, and prison-like. Additionally, instead of a brotherhood, the narrator steps into the factory and sees that “at rows of blank-looking counters sat rows of blank-looking girls, with blank, white folders in their blank hands, all blankly folding blank paper,” (Melville 1270). The girls are totally separated from one another, doing their own jobs with “blank” stares as if their lives meant nothing. Melville uses the imagery of paper to both symbolize the colorlessness of the factory life as well as the meaninglessness of the girls’ lives. There is nothing written on that paper, and so it is as if there is nothing to document their lives, and they are unable to share their thoughts. Thus, the narrator uses different types of descriptions to show that the factory workers work hard yet gain nothing while the Bachelors sit around enjoying life and gain everything.

Lastly, in the first section of the novella, the narrator uses descriptions that can be seen as anti-American. As the narrator is about to enter the room of the feast, he describes the room as “wonderfully unpretending, old, and snug. No new shining mahogany, sticky with undried varnish; no uncomfortably luxurious ottomans… It is a thing which every sensible American should learn from every sensible Englishman, that glare and glitter…are not indispensable to domestic solacement,” (1261). The narrator uses words like “wonderfully” to mean that it’s refreshing to see something new and non-American. Also, he implies that Americans are not as superior as they think, as they “should learn from every sensible Englishmen.” Though he uses the same description for an American as he does the Englishman, it is used sarcastically towards the Americans while seriously towards the Englishman. Also, the dichotomy of Heaven and Hell is apparent in the title alone. The Bachelors live in “paradise,” while the Maids live in “Tartarus,” a word synonymous with Hell. Furthermore, since paradise is in London while Tartarus is in America, Melville suggests that America is Hell. Overall, through using counterparts in this story, the author is able to convey the message that factories result in America becoming Hell rather than some sort of paradise.

In Melville’s “The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tarturus Maids,” an interesting contrast is shown between two extremely different social classes: that of the extravagant bachelors, and the hardworking maids. The bachelor’s live an enjoyable and relaxing life, with no worries on their mind. The narrator provides an in depth description as the band of bachelors indulge themselves in a feast consisting of roast beef, chicken pot pie, and “endless other savory things” (Melville, 1262). Ironically, the bachelors seem to have “tender concern for each other’s health,” yet seem to care little about the people who are in the greatest need (Melville, 1262). The second short story paints a gripping picture of the lives of these less fortunate, described by Melville as the “Tarturous Maids.” Melville’s perspective is made obvious by the naming of landmarks as “Mad Maid’s Bellows’-pipe” and the “Devil’s Dungeon Paper Mill” (Melville, 1266, 1267). The girls are constantly described as “sheet white” with blank white expressions (Melville, 1274). Rather than making their live easier, the technology has instead enslaved them. The author’s addition of Cupid into the story also provides an interesting perspective. The name could definitely be an attempt to link the bachelors to Cupid’s ignorance. Melville tries to make the point that in reality the bachelors are no different than this happy, red faced fellow, who witnesses atrocities in the mill every day, yet pays no attention to them.

One parallel that can be drawn between Davis’ “Life in the Iron Mills,” and Melville’s short story are the existing religious motifs. In Melville’s story, the two contrasting ways of life represent such opposite ends of the spectrum that he directly characterizes them as the heaven or paradise of Bachelors, and the “Devil’s Dungeon Paper Mill,” or hell. However, in Davis’ work a distinction definitely remains, yet it is not as direct and obvious. Davis similarly describes the lives of the iron mill workers as hell, something they are often asking themselves if they can be saved from by religion, or anything at all. Yet rather than providing an obvious contrasting description like the story of the bachelors, heaven seems to be the only contrast between the iron mill hell they live in.
The combination of ignorance and religion by both authors also provides a very interesting perspective. In our world, as well as throughout the past, these things seemed to have gone hand in hand. Numerous examples could be provided ranging from the crusades to the present terrorist attacks. It seems like both authors could be trying to make a point. Dont combine ignorance and religion, just like you cant combine ignorance and technology

Throughout history males have perpetuated a hedonistic patriarchal society, never considering the side of the distressed female. Melville’s The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids amplifies male’s half-blindness through the exploitation of the uncomprehending male and the subversive female.

Melville splits, The Paradise Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids, into to pieces, The Paradise of Bachelors coming first and The Tartarus of Maids coming second. With this setup, Melville intends to display the dichotomous life of the two sexes, one consisting of “flower-beds, and a river on the side” and the other consisting of “blank air… and comfortless expression”. Melville’s polar comparisons continue throughout the tale as the narrator express “But where are the gay bachelors” (1269) displaying his idiocy, since he cannot comprehend the fact that there is another side to his “Apartment…up toward heaven” (1261). Apart from the obvious contrasting qualities of lifestyle, Melville intertwines a sarcastic tone throughout the piece, mocking the men’s ignorance, “how could they suffer themselves to be imposed upon such monkish fables? Pain! Trouble!” (1264) showing that these men have no willing to understand the other side of heaven, and why should they care when they have plenty of “sherry”!

Although one may think that in the end the narrator learns a lesson, he departs abruptly, never caring for the events that took place in the factory. Upon further analysis, the narrator is seen as never caring for the girls, since he is more compassionate for his horse’s health “blanketing my horse…So that the wind might not strip him bare” (1270) rather than the well being of the “supernatural with unrelated misery” (1270) or, the shivering girl. Even though he witnesses the pale girl deteriorating from the frost, he never considers giving his horse’s blanket to her.  This absence of remorse for the girls continues, “poor Black, my horse, all cringing and doubled up with the cold” (1279) showing the narrator express remorse for his horse rather than the girls, whom of which he just saw being mistreated. Lastly, Melville introduces Cupid, a caricature of the male reaction to the misery of females; he smiles while they suffer.

Conclusively, Melville displays the true nature of the male, as long as his cup is filled, why care for the health of the one who fills it.