The barriers that language creates between social classes can cause conflict in a way that the lower class can feel oppressed by not understanding what the upper class is stating. When people use large vocabularies to speak and the audience is not their own it can make the listener feel angry and oppressed.
In Oleana this becomes evident right away when Carol is trying to speak to her professor and keeps repeating, " I don't understand". She says this multiple times and you can see the professors patience wear thin. The professor tries to explain his thoughts over and over to Carol who just doesn't seem to understand what he is saying. The professor's language is that of an educated man and Carol's education level is obviously not up to his. This makes John look like the burgeiose and Carol a proleteriat.
I think that John doesn't realize that he is using this elite jargon and it's not really brought to his attention until Carol states that she simply doesn't understand what he is saying. Johns words are to broad and advance for her to understand and she feels incompetent. Her feeling incompetent makes her angry and frustrated because she wants so badly to grasp the ideas John is trying to explain. I think that language can easily be used to put down people especially educated peoples vocabulary because when big words are used and less educated people don't understand it gives them a sense of power or superiority. I know when people speak with a vocabulary that I don't understand I often wonder does this person think they are better than me that they have to use this language. Wouldn't it be easier to speak to in normal everyday talk?? And you see this happen as Carol slowly breaks down Johns wall of superiority and he levels with her.
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