Aldous Huxley’s Hyperion to a Satyr :: Aldous Huxley Hyperion to a Satyr

We’ve probably all seen a poor, homeless man on the streets. How do we know that he is poor? Is it his personality? I think we all know that the reason we assume that this man is poor is because of his appearance. If we see a man whose clothes are old, torn or dirty, we assume that theman is poor, and because of this, many people view himas a lower form oflife, and not as an equal. Throughout the historyofhuman civilization,dirt has been a very common symbol that humans havecometo associate withthe poor or lower classes in our society. In AldousHuxley’s "Hyperionto a Satyr", he addresses this symbol in our society. The research questionthat I will address in this essay is:Why is therea connectionbetweenuncleanliness and the gap in our societybetween the richand the poor? The reason that I have asked and researchedthis questionis that the mainthemeof this selection seems to be the ongoingprocess oftrying to "bridgethe gulf"between social classes by the abolition (or atleast control) offilth. I will be performing metaphoric criticism on the selection "Hyperionto a Satyr." I feel that metaphoric criticism is the mostappropriate wayto analyze this selection because of Huxley’s use ofmetaphors to illustratethe gap between rich and poor in our society throughoutthe selection. Inorder to perform a metaphoric criticism, I must first givea brief overviewof the content of this piece, and then point out some specificmetaphorsin the selection. After I have pointed out some of the specificmetaphors,I will sort out the metaphors according to which metaphors linkdirt to thepoor, and which ones demonstrate the gap between the rich andpoor in oursociety. Although there are many metaphors in this selection,I will beisolating and analyzing a few that will help answer my researchquestion. As I sort through these metaphors, I will analyze their meaning,and withthis information, I will answer the research question. To understand the analysis of this selection, it is important to understandthe content, so I will briefly outline it. "Hyperion to a Satyr" was writtenby Aldous Huxley, and primarily examines the connection between the gap thatseparates social classes and dirt. By "dirt", I mean any sort of filth, odor,or disease that is considered unclean. The basic theme isthat humans liveby symbolism, and a very primary symbol that we have madeis that dirty peopleare untouchable and, as a result of this, dirt contributestothe gap betweenthe rich and poor.