CLASS, STATUS AND POWER AS INDICATORS OF SOCIAL STRATIFICATION IN WILLIAM GOLDING'S NOVEL THE PYRAMID

Sociologically, it is understood that the concepts of power and inequality refer to social stratification. According to Max Weber, the importance and function of power in the main structure of societies is undeniable and every society has a power-based structure. In this sense, in the Weberian approach, the concepts of class, status and party constitute the contents of power. While Karl Marx polarized the concept of social stratification as rich and poor, Weber explains it as the triad of class, status and party. In this article, based on the views of Marx and Weber, the concept of social stratification in William Golding's The Pyramid has been examined. As a distinguished English writer Golding lived from 1911 to 1993 and was awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize in literature. In The Pyramid, Golding invites the reader to the time before the Second World War and emphasizes the sociological concept of class. Moreover, Golding reveals the social stratification and inequality problems of the British people, as well as their perception of class and power through the experiences of the people from the lower and upper classes living in Stilbourne in the begining of the twentieth century. Thus, in the study, power inequalities and social blockages emphasized by Golding in the Pyramid are analyzed in the light of Weber’s and Marx's theories of social stratification. As a result, this literary study aims to make an interdisciplinary contribution to the field with references to sociology in terms of Weber’s and Marx’s ideas..