The Appearance of Class

"[Terence] was to excel in anatomy and dermatology when he got to Howard's medical school, but genetics and neurology would nearly cost him his future" (40).

In "Bad Neighbors" by Edward P. Jones, the people of Eighth street determine the quality of a person by their appearances. They drive nice cars and peer at each other from behind "brocade curtains" (36). They go to church, but only on holidays and special occasions. They judge each other's worth based on their material possessions. Terence judged the Benningtons quite severely, calling them trash and spitting on Derek Bennington's car. Terence, with his protecting his father's parking spot, his loveless marriage to Sharon Palmer, and his general demeanor, is all about appearances. He didn't bother, unlike Sharon, to get to know the Benningtons. He chose to judge them on their apparent poverty, lack of class, and on their atypical family situation, without seemingly realizing that he, himself, came from humble means. And even though Sharon knew the Benningtons were worth more than her parents and her future husband thought, chose to marry one of her class, rather than the man that she actually loved.

These people allow their lives to be run by their idea of what class is. They marry people they don't love and they move from neighborhoods that they love to live in, just to prove that they themselves are not of humble means and are worth more than the world gives them credit for.

Is class mostly based on appearances? And, if so, does that mean that we discount more worthy people because they don't fit our idea of class?