Vulgar Elite, Brutalized Underclass: A Glimpse into the Dark Side of Society

A chilling conversation took place in the smoking compartment of a sleeper train plying between Chicago and St. Louis on a sweltering summer evening, August 8, 1925. Traveling Salesman Matthew Arnold sat alongside a fellow salesman, an Intellectual reading a newspaper, a Tired Businessman, and a Very Tired Businessman, all seemingly oblivious to the brutal realities of the world outside their compartment. The conversation, however, would expose the stark contrasts of their social standing.

As the Intellectual looked up from his paper, he quipped, ‘lt aint the heat but the humidity that makes it so hot around here.’ The Tired Businessman, visibly exhausted, retorted, ‘The way I look at this humidity business, there aint a thing to it.’ The Very Tired Businessman chimed in, ‘I just come back from northern Wisconsin. There are more lakes up there than you can shake a stick at, and if humidity makes it hot, how come people go there to cool off?’ The Intellectual, seemingly unfazed, shot back, ‘Search me.’ The conversation, though seemingly innocent, revealed a society torn apart by class divisions, with the upper class ‘vulgarizing’ the middle class and brutalizing the lower class, as aptly put by Matthew Arnold, a renowned intellectual of the time.

The conversation in the smoking compartment serves as a stark reminder of the social ills of the time. Amidst the sweltering heat and humidity, the travelers seemed to be living in a world of their own, oblivious to the harsh realities of the underclass. The conversation, though brief, exposed the chasm between the haves and the have-nots, a societal divide that continues to plague us today.

As the train rumbled on, the travelers returned to their newspapers and personal thoughts, but the conversation in the smoking compartment would forever remain etched in the memories of those who heard it. It was a glimpse into the dark side of society, a society where the upper class ‘vulgarized’ the middle class and brutalized the lower class. The conversation would serve as a stark reminder of the need for social change, a change that would come in the years to follow.