The Marxist Theory
Marxism is a theory by Karl Marx which focused on class and the unfair capitalistic system. Marx believed this struggle could potentially end through communism, a government system where the people control the means of production. Marx believed that capitalism creates class struggle and divide, which could lead to an unbalanced system. He wanted to eliminate social classes and exploitation as a whole. Through Marxism, we found how the two classes of people, the proletariat and bourgeoisie, are in constant battle. The proletariat are those from the lower social class, while the bourgeoisie are the rich. Marxist theory itself has helped influence labor rights and shape social safety nets.
Squid Game Synopsis & Main Ideas
Squid Game season 1 starts off by following the perspective of Seong Gi-hun, a divorced man with a gambling addiction who has a major debt. Him and 455 other players get invited to play various children’s games for a huge lump sum of money. The players are all from lower-class backgrounds and have different stories, with some being deeper in debt than others. The players all go into the game competition not knowing that they die when they get eliminated. The first game was red light green light, where a big doll would tell the players when to freeze and go. When players started moving when they were supposed to be frozen, they started getting shot by the doll. This is when the players first found out they can die and only one of them gets to live at the end when they win. The caveat is, at the end of each game, the players had the full democratic voting option to leave the game if that is what the majority vote for. They also get to split the small prize won from the game played amongst remaining players if they choose to leave. But, the players constantly chose to play on each passing round. Game by game, more players started dying from elimination. At the end of season 1, Seong Gi-hun wins the competition and finds out that a player he thought died was the one operating the game behind the scenes. The player turned out to still be alive and Seong Gi-Hun sets out on a mission to stop these games once and for all. In season 2, Seong gets back into the next game that is hosted three years later as a player for revenge. His plan was to take revenge on the front man and end the games once and for all. To his surprise, even though he tries to warn the players, they continue to want to play the games as a majority due to greed. Seong had formed a team of his own and player 1 was in it. Little did he know, player one was the front man behind the competition this time. Seong had a solid plan to overtake the higher ups in control, but player 1 got the rest of the team killed due to being behind the games. In season 3, the games continue after the death of his team members. Eventually, Seong finds out that player 1 is the current front man and chooses not to take him down. One of the players was pregnant and had a baby during the game. At the end of the games, Seong fought to protect the baby and eliminated himself to let the baby win. His death was the greatest tragedy of the series. The games just continued in another country and never ended.
The Proletariat vs The Bourgeoisie
During Squid Game season 3, American Elitists come out to play the game as the ‘eliminators’ to help kill the eliminated players. Later on, you see the elitists enjoying their time watching players dying in another game. The fight Seong and his team had put on against the elite was a clear representation of Marx’s theory on class. Evidently, the show ends with the proletariat being unable to stop the bourgeoisie. The game competition did not end and just started up again in a different country. Hundreds of players died in the attempt to secure a ‘prize’ only one could win, while the rest receive the death sentence. One theme that was evident throughout the series was the concept of greed. Greed was the very destruction of the players, as they chose to secure the 1% chance of winning rather than the 99% chance of survival. Had the majority chose to leave in both of the competitions, they could have saved hundreds of lives. When one is in serious debt or impoverished circumstances, what would they do to get out of their situations? The proletariat being under constant pressure in their lives due to poverty was displayed well in the Squid Game.
