Class is what every person in this country strives for. People spend their entire lives trying to improve their own social stature, and many times end up completely miserable. A person can work their way up a corporate ladder to find in the end that they are completely alone at the top. The only gratification they seek is the payout. Money is not class. Money is something that people confuse with social standing. True, the upper class typically is very well off, but money is not the only thing that makes them upper class. This point is illustrated both, in the novel Black Gangster, by Donald Goines, as well as the hit (no pun intended) HBO show The Sopranos. Two of the main characters, Prince and Tony, are both men of wealth and power, but unfortunately, they both lack class.

There are two words that can describe Tony Soprano, scum and bag. He is a horrible person and his upper-class lifestyle will be but a moment in his life. His source of income is murder, extortion, and robbery. Obviously, Tony is not really considered by anyone, but himself, as upper class. There is no way the actual upper class will ever accept him. He is their novelty. We see this in an episode where Tony goe

When he's at work, he doesn't try to be something he's not. At work, Tony is a gangster, he knows he's a gangster, and he doesn't try to be otherwise. This could possibly be due to the whole two family aspect of his life. When Tony's working, he has no need to act classy; he's supposed to be a scumbag. Not many people will stand around in a park while watching a lunatic drive through in a Lexus, chasing after someone who owes them money and think, "Wow, now that's what I call class". Tony knows that it isn't a respectable job living to make, this is seen multiple times in the first season while he talks to his psychiatrist. He has regrets and he admits this to her.

"...there were three black sedans and two Cadillacs parked in the private driveway. The house was one of the old mansions on Chicago Boulevard, kept at one time by a millionaire of the auto industry. The place still held a magnetic glory" (Goines, 127).

Prince had unlimited respect from all of the members of his gang. He also had respect from most of the gangs around the city as well, and if he was show a lack of respect, he showed them that he was to be respected by killing someone. I think Prince's confusion with class was the fact that he had everything he could want. Cars, money, drugs, power, you name it, and he probably had it. When they first arrived at the gang's new "hideout" is Goines said,

Tony, as the head of his business, is one place in his miserable life where he gets respect for what he does. Even though many problems arise in his business, he tends to find "appropriate measures" to deal with them relatively fast. Don't get me wrong here. I'm not saying that if a business merger goes wrong "whacking" someone is a classy thing to do. I just see Tony in this place in his life as more solid in his self-identification than the rest of his pseudo-lifestyle.

When at home, Tony doesn't act like himself. He almost puts on a show for his family every day of their lives. He pretends to be this great family man, with strong family values and a legit job. Honestly, he pulls it off most of the time. There are times in the show that you forget that he just strangled a man with an extension cord and think, "Awwwwwww, he's such a great dad/husband". Like I said before, this is his pseudo-lifestyle. I can't really believe that a serial killer can be a great father figure or husband. He plays it up for his family, and they soak

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Approximate Word count = 1629
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)