# How does World’s End develop the theme of Class and Social Mobility?

> World’s End by Richard Jefferies

## Answer

World’s End by Richard Jefferies develops Class and Social Mobility across the chapters the companion marks for this theme.

The story examines rigid class structures, from the impoverished farmers at World's End to the rising industrialists and aristocrats, highlighting how characters like Aymer and Marese navigate or are trapped by their social positions.

The rise of the Baskette family from basket-makers to chieftains illustrates early social mobility, while the coming of Steam and Legal Rights threatens to disrupt this order.

The claimants range from common labourers to judges and financiers, showing how the promise of wealth drives social aspiration and mobility across classes.

Characters like Sternhold Baskette and Aymer Malet illustrate the precarious nature of social standing and the pursuit of wealth.

## Evidence

- [i](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/world_s_end_se/chapters/i.md): The rise of the Baskette family from basket-makers to chieftains illustrates early social mobility, while the coming of Steam and Legal Rights threatens to disrupt this order.
- [xii](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/world_s_end_se/chapters/xii.md): The claimants range from common labourers to judges and financiers, showing how the promise of wealth drives social aspiration and mobility across classes.
- [book-ii-persons](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/world_s_end_se/chapters/book-ii-persons.md): Characters like Sternhold Baskette and Aymer Malet illustrate the precarious nature of social standing and the pursuit of wealth.
- [i](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/world_s_end_se/chapters/i.md): Aymer's low social status and poverty contrast with his intellectual aspirations and his brief escape to Florence, highlighting the barriers of class.
- [iii](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/world_s_end_se/chapters/iii.md): Aymer's rise from a despised, poor artist to the accepted suitor of the squire's daughter illustrates the tensions and possibilities of social mobility through talent and affection.
- [iv](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/world_s_end_se/chapters/iv.md): Aymer's rise from obscurity and poverty to marrying the squire's daughter, aided by his artistic success and the patronage of Lady Lechester.
- [ix](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/world_s_end_se/chapters/ix.md): Aymer's anxiety about entering the upper ranks and his acceptance of a low-paying clerkship highlight the barriers and compromises of social mobility.
- [x](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/world_s_end_se/chapters/x.md): Jenkins, despite acquittal, is reduced to near-starvation and forced to work for a harsh master, illustrating the precariousness of lower-class life.

## Links

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