LOTR - classist?

[the.landlord]

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

Anyway...class...

Remember Tolkien was English and as such will have had ingrained into him notions of class. Class in the UK actually has very little to do with money or status. You might be Richard Branson but you will never, ever be considered Upper Class. You might indeed be the son of an Earl who grows dreadlocks and lives in a old bus with a dog on a string, but you will never ever be Working Class. In some ways, the caste system still exists in this country, and a person's class may be discovered from the tiniest signifiers, such as what they call their WC, or if they use napkin rings, where they shop for groceries and if they have garden gnomes.

i think the situation in germany is very much like the situation in england. an friend of mine is from a very rich family. he went to a private school, but left it without abitur (highschool diploma), because he wanted to be an artist.
later on he became a carpenter... now anyone would regard him as an upper middle class person... because of his ways, because he is interested in the arts, in theatre, opera and so on.

as for wc, napkin rings and garden gnomes... let me have a guess. just for the fun of it...
i am not from england, but i have some relatives, who live there.
wcs: i think upper class folks refer to them as "bathroom", middle class folks would say "loo" and they would talk about "spending a penny" and working class folks would say "the bogs'".
napkin rings: i would say middle class (napking rings from copper or decorated plastic) and upper class (napkin rings from silver). if working class folks happen to have napkin rings they use them only on christmas and easter.
garden gnomes: upper working class, lower middle class... like in germany.
did i guess right?