Urban Literature's Ecological Dynamics: Social Elites and Space

This research paper examines the influence of social elites on the urban landscape, drawing upon the concepts of ecological dynamics and analyzing three literary works: "Running Away" by Jean Philippe Toussaint, "Jacob's Room" by Virginia Woolf, and "Breathless in Bombay" by Murzban F. Shroff. The paper explores how these books depict the social elite's control over urban spaces, highlighting their impact on aesthetics, power structures, and the lives of different social classes. The analysis includes examples of how social elites shape urban environments through modern decorations, social gatherings, and education systems, as well as the impact of modernization on marginalized communities. The study also draws parallels between the depiction of urban life in the selected novels and real-world examples such as the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness" and the evolving urban landscape of China, demonstrating how social elites establish rules and influence the rhythm of city life. The paper concludes by emphasizing the complexity and structured nature of the urban environment, where the richer and more powerful groups often make the decisions, thereby increasing income inequality and further marginalizing the poor and less privileged.

How social elite rules urban space
This paper will compare three books to illustrate how social elites rule the
urban landscape and how are they presented by urban elite. Ecological dynamics by
definition is to use concepts and subjects of a dynamic system to understand an
ecology that explores the relationships between individual and environment. The three
urban study books are “Running Away” by Jean Philippe Toussaint, “Jacob’s Room”
by Virginia Wolf and “Breathless in Bombay” by Murzban F. Shroff.
In “Running Away”, the story starts with a nameless narrator arriving
Shanghai. He enjoyed the trip is around everywhere but he also has a mission relate to
Marie. Marie I guess is possibly the wife or girlfriend of the protagonist. However,
the book did not tell us the relationship. On his arrival, a man named Zhang Xiangzhi,
met him at Sanghai who happens to be an associate of Marie. During his days in
Shanghai, he spends his days by his own, mostly by walking and eating.
In the quote, “we ran across a wide boulevard, blinded by the bright headlights
of passing cars, and went into an old brick building, where, in the yellow half-light,
the pernicious smells of piss and rancid cabbage reigned. Two police officers on
watch guarded the door, indifferent and silent, uninformed, clubs attached to their
belts. We had hardly stepped into the building when a host of scalpers were on our
heels like a swarm of insects, vehement and voluble, trying to sell us black-market
train tickets” (Toussaint), it depict a the soiled urban lifestyle. This urban landscape
produces an image that is not intend to allure the reader but to present a real world.

The upper-class group of people, usually termed as the social elites, tend to borrow a
lot from the social and power structure. It is often mentioned that this group of people
claim to have a higher standard of abilities. This allows them extra privileges, which
are at the cost of others. There are evident in all three stories. For example, this
happens in certain situations where Jacob feels the difference between him and
Florinda due to their differences in literacy and knowledge; moreover, the image of
Clara Durrant from the upper middle-class is a very repressed figure. The same
structure, though present in ‘Running Away’ is very subtle but smooth. The reflection
of social elites are often found in the authoritative part of urban aesthetics. For
instance, modern decoration, social gatherings, events and even, the education system.
The author explored the city in a chaotic way. There is no proper love story,
an explicit danger involved, a clearly committed crime or any evidence. The narration
is comparatively opaque and there is a distance between the words and actions. This is
reflective of the way of life in an urban society, which is multi-layered and complex.
This novel gives a vivid description of the experiences of life in a city and the
different layers of the society, from the criminals to the middle-class to the rich and
sophisticated one, marking clear distinctions of each class.
In China, especially the most advanced city like Beijing or Shanghai, the
urban city is clearly ruled by social elite. After China carried out reform and open
policy, thousands of people from rural places entered the urban area since there are
tremendous opportunities for businesses and works. Forty years later, thousands of
skyscraper stand in the urban space that changes people’s life. Forty years, the

traditional attitudes of Chinese people towards education and life path is rooted
deeply. At time of birth, they already started to fight their way to better future since
their parents kept telling them only social elite would see a brighter future.
Correspondingly, they have to work extremely hard so they could have the chance to
be enrolled in the key senior school or even elementary school. This culture is deeply
embedded in our last generation since they are social elite and the main force of
society. They know the importance and meaning of becoming social elites. The young
generation in China will eventually become the backbone of urban and they are under
the influence of old generation social elites. The circle and rhythm will continue and
more population is gathering around advanced urban area because no one is willing to
fall behind. They need to catch the rhythm of urban that was originally created by
social elites.
In Jacob’s room, the quote says, “He let himself in and shut the door, though
it was only striking ten on one of the city clocks. No one can go to bed at ten. Nobody
was thinking of going to bed. It was January and dismal, but Mrs. Wagg stood on her
doorstep, as if expecting something to happen. A barrel-organ played like an obscene
nightingale beneath wet leaves. Children ran across the road. Here and there one
could see brown panelling inside the hall door…. The march that the mind keeps
beneath the windows of others is queer enough. Now distracted by brown panelling;
now by a fern in a pot; here improvising a few phrases to dance with the barrel-organ;
again snatching a detached gaiety from a drunken man; then altogether absorbed by
words the poor shout across the street at each other (so outright, so lusty)—yet all the

while having for centre, for magnet, a young man alone in his room” (Woolf). In this
section, the monotony of a place and moment depict itself very naturally. This
description also illustrates how the city has its own rules. These norms are either set
up or abided by the powerful and elite class of the society. Their involvement and
acceptance guide other person and class to imitate and recreate these situations.
Though the feudal structrue abolishes itself in the modern domain, the power play of
the hierarchal social structure stays alive.
‘Breathless in Bombay’, written by Murzban Shroff is an observation of the
transitions that take place in the different cities around the modern world. The cities
depict the urban culture and the fascinating world of development. Bombay happens
to be one of those interesting places, located in India. The stories in this book
explored the ancient vocations and the modern professions with similar ease. In these
stories, the real Mumbai (also known as Bombay) is a portrayal of the city of crime,
corruption and caste system. For example, under the urban domain of modernization
and technological advancements, people are losing their services or jobs when an
automatic washing machine replaces the washer man. “Within an hour, the hill would
erupt in a blaze of colors, tents of wet clothes flapping like joyous birds on bright
nylon strings, flapping, fluttering, threatening to leave their place and fly into the sun”
(Shroff). This becomes a concern for underemployment. The reader automatically
connects with these marginalized citizens at this point and turns sympathetic towards
them in their life condition, which threatens them to lose their livelihoods. This is how
the social elites are changing the urban culture.

In the 2006 movie “The Pursuit of Happyness”, the single father Chris
Gardner and his little son Jaden struggled through their lives. However, Chris did not
give up and eventually got an intern opportunity at a brokerage firm that pays no
money. As a result, he has to do multiple jobs to support his family. The contradictory
in this movie is distinguishing. In the daylight, Chris have to dress up like other elites
working at Wall Street. At dawn, he has to wear that suit and tie to pick up his son
and running to church for a free shelter to stay. The urban space suppose to be a
continence and better place for human to live instead of suffering the poverty. There
are rules that set up by social elite in Wall Street, the first step is to follow them and
get involve. From statistic perspective, Wall Street captured tones of social resources
and businesses that will impact people’s daily life present and future. In additional,
the bull landmarks are an example of symbol of social elite in Wall Street.
While China and Sanghai are countries that hold close to its heart the memoirs
of the past and it is quite reflective and evocative in both their Cinema and Music.
While ‘Running Away’ places no impact on the past and the history or the memory of
the past and the native land, it reveals a new city that has accepted the loss and the
migration to the city. The idea of refugee, which is quite loud and pronounced in most
of the Chinese films, this novel refuses to not only hold on to the past but also refuses
to introduce and establish the character to its readers. It presents the layers of urban
landscape and life through a cinematic eye and a modern space where time becomes
insignificant. The present time emerges as the more relevant and important factor that
binds the characters, storyline or narrative. There’s also a sense of abruptness and

unpredictability, which resonates with the rapid tempo of the city life. The grime and
soiled imageries fail to impress but grab the attention of the reader for its realist
imageries and vivid descriptions of the smell, dirt and underside of the city and life
there.
Communication plays a pivotal role in ‘Jacob’s Room’ where the city
landscape is not only vividly explored but also demarcated by specific places to walk,
places to watch others from, places to be with oneself or be alone besides those with
manageable soundscape and those with varied human scale. The city has is
characterised by its crowd and yet, isolated communities with a constant surveillance.
The city, though compact is segregated.
Cultural interaction remains strongly portrayed in the novel, ‘Breathless in
Bombay’ while this fails to get depicted in ‘Running Away’ as Sanghai’s
representation in the novel fails to portray the cultural differences and interactions.
The concept of “embodied publicness” has been used in the age of modernization,
with the advent of new media and technologies like mobile phones. However, this
character of the city remains well explored in this novel. The use of technology like
the incoming of washing machine to the market was a boon for most but the
washermen or the ‘dhobis’ living in Bombay were not happy as they would be soon
losing their jobs after the advent of washing machines. The idea of the lumpen
proletarians, as discussed by Karl Marx or the marginalized sections of the society
who can be easily diverted to any direction is effortlessly captured by Shroff. This
gives an idea of the city elite structure and the class divisions within the city.

Thus, from the above discussion, it can be summed up that the city has two
kinds of landscapes in it — the natural and that which lacks all natural sources or
imageries. The visual preference on nature and spatial arrangements play an important
role in forming people’s preferences in the urban environment. However, the two
elements profound in the city are — mystery and complexity. While the ‘mystery’ in
nature is more than that in the urban environment, the complexity is higher in the
domain of urban environment than the nature. The form of the urban environment is
more structured, planned and controlled. This system is mandatory and followed in
most urban cities where the richer are the more powerful group with the ability to
choose from and decide, in most cases. However, the struggle keeps getting deeper
and darker for the poor and the marginalized. In addition, the increase in the income
inequality also increases the gap in between or among the various classes. This
pertains to more wealthy and power, gathered in a smaller segment of the society,
usually the one that rules and makes rules. In a nut shell, as the skyline gets reduced,
one needs to keep on climbing one step higher to find the brightest spot. Trading off
ambitions for money, a better life, for love and peace reflects clearly in these books.

References:
Badman, Derik. "Jean Philippe Toussaint’s “Running Away” - Words Without
Borders". Words Without Borders, 2019. Online. Internet. 30 Jul. 2019. .
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Iannone Jr, Matthew Edward. "The Impacts of Green Spaces on Crime in New York
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Rigolon, Alessandro. "A complex landscape of inequity in access to urban parks: A
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Shroff, Murzban F. “Breathldess in Bombay”. St. Martin’s Griffin, 2008.
The Indian Short Story in English. "Murzban F Shroff – Breathless in Bombay". The
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Available: https://indianshortstoryinenglish.com/reviews/murzban-f-shroff-
breathless-in-bombay/.
Toussaint, Jean Philipe. “Running Away”. Dalkey Archive Press, 2009.
Woolf, Virginia. “Jacob’s Room”. Norton, 2005.