THE VOICE OF THE OPPRESED: MARXIST CRITISM IN THE POETRY OF “THE BALLAD OF THE LANDLORD”
Keywords:
Class Conflict, Economic Injustice, Langston Hughes, Marxist Literary Critism, Power Imbalance Resistence, The Ballad Of The LandlordAbstract
This study analyzes Langston Hughes’ poem “The Ballad of the Landlord” from a Marxist literary perspective to examine the representation of economic injustice between the owner class and the working class. Using a qualitative descriptive approach, the data were collected through close reading of selected lines from the poem. The analysis focuses on recurring themes of economic exploitation, power imbalance, and resistance. The findings show that economic exploitation is the most dominant theme, reflected in unequal rent demands and neglected living conditions. Power imbalance is represented through institutional threats and criminalization, indicating the role of legal systems in maintaining class dominance. Resistance appears in limited forms through the tenant’s verbal protests, showing constrained efforts to challenge injustice. Overall, the poem highlights the dominance of the owner class over the working class and presents a humanistic critique of capitalist social relations. This study demonstrates that Marxist literary criticism is effective in revealing class conflict and economic inequality in literary texts
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