The Upper Class Character

Amsterdam is an exciting book to read for me because of the place in society that the author chooses to put each character. I am not trying to sound like I enjoy reading books about upper class people because as a student from Chagrin I think I can relate to them better. No, that is not true at all. The reason that I really enjoy reading about these characters is because they are in a position of more significance in society than any of the other characters in the books we have discussed in our junior and senior years and it is exciting to read about such well-known people. These are people that we are largely unfamiliar with, but we always read about or watch on the news. It is intriguing to get an inside look at some of their lives and behavior, at least from the perspective of Ian McEwan. The reason that I can more easily relate to these characters is because the book is set in the past ten to twelve years (at least so far). It is much easier to understand the culture and social atmosphere of England in the year 2000 than it is to try to relate to the environment of the Deep South during the times of slavery. I understand that because I can more easily relate to this book, it actually probably is not as beneficial to read because I do not learn about the inner workings of a time period I am unfamiliar with. But, it does make it more fun to read. I would like to go back to the previous statement that the characters are in position of more significance than any of our other novels we have read as a class. Everyone’s definition of significance is different, for Carolyn it might be whoever can hug the most trees, for me it might be whoever can improve the education of American children. But for the purpose of this blog, we will consider characters in a novel significant if they are well known in their country and if their lives can immediately impact thousands of others. In the novels (excluding plays) that we have read and thoroughly discussed in class, we have not been exposed to characters like we see in Amsterdam.

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl – We learn about the life of a slave woman as she escapes from the American South.

Into the Wild – Although we see small doses of an upper-middle class life, the novel predominantly focuses on Chris McCandless’s isolation from society.

Angela’s Ashes – We learn about the poverty and squalor of the lower classes of Ireland in the fairly recent past.

In Cold Blood – We look at a murder of a family that is relatively insignificant by two murderers who are largely unknown.

The Namesake – This is the first book where we get to read from the perspective of an upper-middle class lifestyle. But still, these characters are not nearly as significant in the United States as the characters in Amsterdam.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – Obviously the characters here are not significant people in America because they are patients in an insane asylum and have failed in the real world.

In Amsterdam the author focuses on five main characters, at least thus far.

Vernon – The editor of a popular newspaper in England.

George – A wealthy businessman with connections in all of the social circles of the elite people in the United Kingdom.

Clive – An extremely famous composer that has Yo-Yo Ma and Jimi Hendrix stay in his house.

Molly – A famous woman who was high in the ranks of the popular magazine, Vogue.

Garmony – The foreign secretary for England and a potential candidate for the Prime Minister position.

Clearly, we have not been exposed to characters like we see in Amsterdam so I find it very refreshing and exciting to read this book about a new realm. Of course, this book will probably end in sadness, just like all of the other ones, but at least I will enjoy learning about this new type of character.

How do you feel about this new breed of character?

Yo-Yo Ma

Jimi Hendrix