The Analysis from Literary Terms in How to Get the Poor off Conscience

張雪兒 薛李嘉樂

1.The contents interpretations

1.1 Historical background of text

When the author wrote this article， Reagan and his colleagues was in the White House. In the 1980s，during Reagans time， conservatism prevailed and supply-side economics was dominant. After the Great Society in the 1960s， social welfare system suffered the

first setback under the Reagan Administration. A contraction in social welfare set in.

1.2 Analysis of the reasons of wealth gap

These years，the international financial crisis reveals the secrets of America.The wealth gap in USA has been enlarging since the 1970s.The disparity between the rich and the poor are more severe.1% of the world population holds 99% of the world wealth. There are ten million （dollars） millionaires in the world while there are one billion poor people who live on less than $1.25per day.

The primary cause：The nature that capitalism squeeze out the surplus value of labour

Economic reason：The advancement of technology ，the transformation of industrial structure，the aggravation of capital accumulation and American economic situation and economic policies are the main elements influencing the distribution of wealth.

In America，some social problems such as racial discrimination，the increase on single-parent families and rise on the number of unmarried mothers can also have impact on enlarging the wealth gap.

2.Analysis from literary views

2.1 Analysis of Tone

2.1.1How to understand the title

In this article，John Kenneth Galbraith chooses the title “How to get the poor off conscience”to keep the readers spellbound and make a conversion in the last part of this essay.The title seems to suggest that Professor Galbraith is joining other philosophers and economists in trying to find a theory to get the poor off our conscience. This false impression will not change until we come to the end of the essay and unless we have a firm grasp of the ironic tone of the writing.With respect to the tone of this article，we can find many evidence between lines and paragraphs，demonstrating Professors critical attitude towards those so-called doctrines. For example，Galbraith does not mince words in criticizing Reagans economic policy， especially his rocketing defense budget. Galbraith warns at the end of the essay “Civil discontent and its consequences do not come from contented people.”He points out that to make the poor contented is in the interest of the big business.

The author has mentioned doctrine in Bible，utilitarianism，Malthusianism，social Darwinism，and a psychological denial several means to totally ignoring the existence of the poor.Actually，although he says these methods are admirable，or good measures he is satirical here，and take a condemnatory biting tone to criticize these historical relentless methods，for succoring the unfortunate is no doubt the ultimate solution.

2.1.2Explanations by exemplifying

E.g.

1.This is， in some way， an admirable solution. It allows the rich to enjoy their wealth while envying the poor their future fortune.

He is being ironical here. He calls it”an admirable solution”because now the rich can “get the poor off their conscience”.

2.Being incompetent and ineffective， it must not be asked to succor the poor； it will only louse things up or make things worse.

Since the government is incapable and inefficient， it should not be asked to undertake the task of aiding the poor. Otherwise， it will make a mess of the job or make the situation worse. The author here is to satire the view that ascribing the ignorance to the uselessness of the government.Finding excuses is the common way.

2.2 Analysis of writing style

As an argumentation，some complex economic concepts or terms in the passage are expressed concisely and easy to understand by the author.The structure is also very clear that we know what he wants to convey to us.

E.g.

”Their grievously uncontrolled lust caused them to breed up to the full limits of the available subsistence.”

“Poverty being caused in the bed meant that the rich were not responsible for either its creation or its amelioration.”

As for the Malthusianism，the author chooses to cite other peoples theory to explain it more accessibly，reflected on these sentences.For example，he relate the reason of poverty to excessive fecundity，which allures the evil lust of the poor.Because they could not control their sexual desires， they gave birth to too many children who consumed all the living materials they could get. This is a grievous fact. The rich were not to blame for the existence of poverty so they should not be asked to undertake the task of solving the problem. Malthus urged that the marriage ceremony should contain a warning to people not to have excessive sex and too many children. By”irresponsible”， Malthus meant that sexual intercourse should not be conducted merely out of lust， without thinking of its consequences.