ENGL 200 D: Reading Literature: Literature in the Marketplace

For this second paper, the character I plan on focusing on is Julius from Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. I have chosen to write about Julius because I believe his role in the novel offers great points of analysis. As of now, there are a few major things that I hope to write about:

• A major role that Julius plays is that he gives the reader a first hand look at how the Bitchun Society views and treats an individual who has almost no Whuffie. This ranges from how people avoid and ignore  him to how he loses his belongings because they can better serve someone with more Whuffie. In my paper, I will connect this to a lot of what Adam Smith wrote about in his Theory of Moral Sentiments and how people view the rich.
• Another key function of Julius’ character plays is that he highlights that in the Bitchun Society that being content and achieving goals is nearly impossible. This comes from Julius always refreshed and reinvented himself at DisneyWorld and that when he finally lives there, it eventually leads him to go crazy. Marx touches on how one of the first historical acts is that the satisfaction of a need creates a new need that eventually must be satisfied.

These are just the first two points that have come to mind when thinking about why Julius exists in Down and Out. As I start to write the paper and continue to analyze, I want to address some issues such as Julius not wanting to refresh from his backup and him losing his network and going offline. Also, I feel that I should try to use more of Marx other than what was hinted at above.