The Stars Look Down

Class Conflict

There are very evident class divisions in The Stars Look Down. The mine owner, Barras, and the headmaster represent the ruling class in the film. They can be distinguished from the rest of the community by their accents. Both characters are portrayed as pompous and arrogant and there is a definite divide between their interests and that of the rest of the community. This is what Davey refers to when he states that he is seeking to represent his ‘own kind’. Barras says ‘I’ll teach them a lesson’, illustrating the ‘them’ / ‘us’ divide that exists.

The helplessness and unimportance of the mining community in wider society is suggested by Jenny when she reiterates Joe’s view that ‘people haven’t any patience with that sort of thing anymore’. The union representatives are also shown to be divided from the men, sharing more in common with the mine owners. The fact that the mine management are very rarely actively involved with the miners is suggested when someone sarcastically remarks ‘they must be getting fond of us’, on seeing management in the pit itself.

This contrasts sharply with class relations in The Proud Valley. In this film both the engineer and manager are portrayed working shoulder to shoulder with the men in the pit. The owners also converse very informally and co-operatively with the miners in London. Class relationship is shown to be one of mutual reliance and unity.