Slumming with the dog faced girl or a cautionary tale?

I enjoyed reading "A Type of Love Story" though its about two obviously mismatched lovers I felt it served as a way to tell readers about the darker side of torrid affairs. These are two totally different people who come across each other by share coincidence. I noticed one of the responses said that the story was supposed to teach people not to loiter outside of their social circles while in search of love. I disagree. In the end of the story the main character finally discovers that the woman he turned into a sexual object was an actual person though he later convinces himself that the woman is dead perhaps he wouldn’t have learned that lesson if things had ended differently. Outside of the characters themselves to me To me Ron symbolized the nastiest aspect of what it means to be in a social group, sure its pretty rapped up in a nice bow and your supposedly accepted by your peers but deep inside it is something that is separating people for silly reasons. Ron is a deceptive device (communism)from the very beginning of the story, never mind the fact that he was the speaker, his trying to come to terms with what he did through semi admitting his wrongs does not make him a better person just because he owned up.

On the other hand there is Sara. described as "The homeliest woman I had ever seen" by Ron. She is obviously unattractive and basically nothing out of the ordinary. To me she represented the lower class/Under(Classism) dogs of society and in social classes. She has everything working against her, no physical beauty, a husband that wont pay child support and a crummy apartment. Sara was exploited by Ron, partially because she let herself be used and partially because Ron let himself make her a charity case. Here the concept of Hegemony comes in. Though he is not using any physical force to control he, he still is. She is actually consenting to being oppressed and used by continuing to sleep with him/ As long as the poor or middle class are misinformed about the upper class and rich there will always be people in the world who are able to be used by them. (People who consciously support a social system or government, or set of beliefs even though they know on some level it is wrong)

There is a fine line between progress and exploitation, as a couple they could never be seen as equals in modern society based on looks alone. It seemed very highschool clickish. as far As social groups go that’s all we really are the popular and awkward kids trying to find a place in society (social classes) along the way we may get mislead in the process but who cares because this is all for the advancement of the kids who will ultimately make something of themselves while everyone else (lower, middle class) rides their coat tails. Several elements here to be examined. Sexual intermingling in social classes, the affects of poverty on the overall state of a person, and ones ideas of what beauty is and how it is shaped.

1. The sexual relationship between them was what mainly held the story together otherwise this is just basically the horse faced woman who lucked out, but the logic behind this to me was the idea of getting a taste of how the other side lives. Sure they didn’t go out until Sara demanded that they do, but it still remains that Rob used the power of his sex, influence and social status to lure Sara into a false sense of security. It doesn’t matter where you come from when you are taken outside your comfort zone or normal environment it causes you to want more and act like it is owed to you that you get more than you are socially accustomed to. This goes beyond sex but can also be applied to it as well.

2. Sara is wearing the same outfit twice at two different points during Ron's story. The light in her apartment building is out and she cant get her land lord to fix it. She obviously struggles to feed and clothe herself and her children. Her disadvantages are shown and still Ron pursues her even after learning these things. Perhaps if the roles were reversed things would be different. Being the poor homely woman that she she’s accustomed to the way she is living not by default but by being forced to do so. Ron is a lawyer well to do financially it is no surprise why she could be attracted to him, she saw a relationship with the man as a possible way out of poverty. Unfortunately things do not go as smoothly when he grows tired of the sex. Because she lived in poverty she saw him as some sort of savior. He on the other hand recognized her as an average woman whom he could kill time with. The beginning of the story takes place at a cocktail lounge. People who go to these places do not do so with the intentions of meeting the person of their dreams, but simply to kick back relax and down some drinks. To me it didn’t immediately seem like she saw him as some sort of meal ticket, with the way things moved and how she insisted he meet her kids seemed suspect to me.

3.Ron reminded me so much of what a typical preppy person was. As soon as I started reading his description I saw 'Prep' His only imperfection being a small mole, could easily be seen as disfiguring and grotesque. I believe we have been conditioned in some way to think that it is okay to poke fun at the less attractive and physically unfortunate. Because he had this perception that he was an obviously attractive man he was able to put down Sara. If he didn’t have as much confidence he may have approached her differently.

With all of this the two people represent two totally different Ideas. I’ve read some posts and can see why they would be said to represent Communism and Classism but wanted to approach the question from a different angle before going into that. Going past what I already said if there is anything that can be learned from the story, it is that two ideologies cannot exist peacefully even when they are being compared or made into people. Ron and Sara may sound like a good idea but in the end one is on some level destroyed by another. This only proves that there can only be one set type of social rules if a society is to function properly