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Does “Modern Times” Reflect The Grim Reality Of An Industrial Economy

The emergence of modern societies gave new significance to clock-time. A crucial aspect of this was the tempo of agricultural and manufacturing labour. In the 18th and 19th centuries, they increasingly came to be set by the clock and calendar in a way very different from pre-modern forms of work.

All this is what we generally go through in our textbooks. But this Friday, we analysed it through our own eyes. First, we established our definitions and understandings of the industrial era. Then, through the lens of the silent comical masterpiece of Charlie Chaplin’s “Modern Times,” we cleared our learning of the modern era.

Through the lens of the silent comical masterpiece of Charlie Chaplin’s “Modern Times,” we cleared our learning of the modern era.

The “Little Tramp” character struggles to survive in the modern world. The pace and repetition of his work in the assembly line stress him, and he suffers from a nervous breakdown. This makes him cause trouble and chaos. The film, in general, symbolises the life of a commoner in the complex industrialised world.

While going through our textbooks of sociology, we got to know that “Prior to the development of industrial capitalism, work-rhythms were set by factors such as the period of daylight, the break between tasks and the constraints of deadlines or other social duties.

Factory production implied the synchronisation of labour-it began punctually, had a steady pace and took place for set hours and on particular days of the week. In addition, the clock injected a new urgency to work. For both employer and employee time is now money: it is not passed but spent.”

Little Tramp was going through a similar mania. The workers were are occupied all the time. The hands of the clock control their behaviour.

All these complexities depressed The Tramp. And he had a nervous breakdown which sent him to a hospital. But unfortunately, the now unemployed Tramp mistakenly got arrested in a Communist protest right after his recovery. Then he was released because of his heroic act.

The workers were are occupied all the time.

He got a letter of recommendation from the police officers for his actions. However, it was the time of the Great Depression. The air was full of unemployed people. But he got the job. His innocence became the reason for losing the only job he had. Then again, the struggle begins.

He met a girl named Ellen. Unfortunately, both of them were about to be jailed for theft. They escaped from there. He dreamt of having a happy life with the girl. Again he was arrested. The struggle remains so. He becomes the puppet of the system and modern time.

The industrial era indeed brought new skies with it, But one cannot deny freedom and opportunity are available only to some individuals. More accurately, only a socially and economically privileged minority can have the luxury of a predominantly free and fulfilling life. On the other hand, most people who live in cities have only limited and relative freedoms within more considerable constraints. Similar was for The Tramp. He was just the source of happiness and entertainment for the ruling class.

The industrial revolution also evolved new ways of organising labour and markets on a scale larger than anything in the past. | Image Source: PUNIT PARANJPE/AFP/Getty Images

The industrial revolution also evolved new ways of organising labour and markets on a scale larger than anything in the past. Modern large scale industry thus became a worldwide phenomenon. Moreover, modern industry enabled the urban to dominate over the rural.

Cities and towns became the dominant forms of settlement, housing large and unequal populations in small, densely populated urban areas. But the vast divide was precisely the way it was. The rich and powerful lived in the cities but so did the working classes in slums amidst poverty and squalor.

At the end of the movie, the police arrest Ellen for her earlier escape. Both of them were again forced to change their way. Ellen is desperate that their struggles are pointless, but the Tramp consoles her. They walk down the road towards an uncertain but hopeful future at bright dawn. The future that’s the hope of a common human.

Reference:

Kriti Atwal lives in Uttarakhand. She is an 11th class learner in Nanakmatta Public School. She enjoys exploring and writing. Feedback on her writings can be given through: kritiatwal@gmail.com)

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