This week we learned about the term Marxism and its meaning in literature and critical theory. Marxism is about “who benefits and who suffers”; assumes that class struggle is the root of all struggle and aims for a “classless society”. The power structure of Marxism lies between the working class and its labor against the elite and those who benefit from others. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In literature, class struggle is often the root of all tension; usually there are opposite forms of status such as rich and poor, black and white, etc. Human culture has always been and will always be determined by economic and material realities, history has been/is eternally focused on resources and material gain. The story is rarely, if ever, about external forces such as God and spirituality, nor is it ever determined by individual circumstances. Indeed, societies often separate themselves from the very individuals they produced. When applying the lens of Marxism it is important to remember that politics refers to structured relations of power; or any arrangement in which another group controls a group of people. Ideology is described as a “representation” of an individual's imaginary relationship with his real conditions of existence. The best way for me to explain the definition of ideology is to give a religious example: In America, Christian ideology prevents Christians from facing the weight of their problems and prevents them from holding themselves accountable for the scope of the problems happening in the world today. . Why? Because Christians are transferring all the problems they have, or any suffering they see... onto a deity. Religious ideology leads that person to believe that this is a “natural” way of life or the way God intended it to be, when in reality nothing will change if nothing is done. Reality is Christian ideology or any religious ideology is just a representation of the relationship this person has with reality and his current condition of existence. Tyson p.54 states "Positioning itself as a natural way of seeing the world..." In my comparison he changes the word natural to religious; “…repressive ideologies prevent us from understanding the material/historical conditions in which we live because they refuse to recognize that those conditions have any influence on the way we see the world.” Remember: this is just one example. Get a custom card now by our expert writers. Get a Custom Essay Another example is The American Dream. In this ideology it is believed that anyone can make it, all they need to do is put in the effort and success will follow. This is a false ideology because even with hard work in America many people still fail. Or, if you work too hard and do something illegal, the money may come, but not without a price (prison). The sole purpose of Marxism is to expose these power structures that are in control and get rid of them, ultimately resulting in a classless society..