The Balek Scales: a Measurement of Injustice

The story The Balek Scales by Heinrich Bll tells the experience of the narrators grandad in the village upon which the Balek family had a firm grip. The Balek family, later known as Balek von Biligan, is part of the elite class, as the quest quote describes the family who lived in the chateau and drove devil carriages, who always maintained one boy from the village while he studied theology at the seminary in Prague (Bll 15-16).There atomic number 18 a lot much details, but given the following acknowledgment, they can be seen as a prominent family from the elite class (Bll 16). The scalesknown as the Balek scales in the story are the Baleks tool for trading mushrooms, herbs, and other tradable goods for moneymarks and pfennigs. No one ever questions their sole possession of the scales.However, the narrators granddad, Franz Brcher, discovers injustice inside the measurement of the Balek scales. Even with this evidence, the efforts of villagers to seek justice are thwarted by the power and influence of the Balek von Biligan family, which Bll portrays as a classic mesh amongst the working and elite classes in The Balek Scales.Injustice is the recurring theme in the story as the Balek scalesthe scales of justice for the villagersfavor the Balek von Biligan clan, as the story suggests in the following lines he pulled the five pebbles from his pocket, held them out to the young woman, and said, This much, fifty-five grams, is short in every pound of your justice (Bll 16).As the line states, the injustice that the narrators grandfather claims in front of Frau Balek von Biligan is the unequal or unfair measurement that the scales present for their foraged goodsmushrooms, herbs, and the like. Inevitably, the injustice results in a short bloody revolt with the Reeves gendarmes overpowering the population.Then everything goes back to normal, with the Balek von Biligan clan whitewash on the driver seatin control. The power of the Baleks is too dependable for Fran z Brchers, whose search for justice is seen as a trivial attempt to overthrow the seemingly unfair rule of the Baleks over the village.Looking at it from a different angle, the village, along with the other two villages, could slang avoided the short bloody revolt if Franz Brcher remained oblivious to the injustice that the Balek scales represented.Upon confronting this injustice, Franz experiences some tragic events, as stated in the following lines the reeves gendarmes arrived stroke and stabbing as they came and removed the scales and the book by force. My grandfathers little sister lost her life, (Bll 16-17) and My grandfathers parents had to leave the village, and the new enrol of their little daughter (Bll 17).Franz Brcher experiences two tragic moments in his lifetime which were caused by the Balek scales. These were his little sisters death and their familys constant migration. This could necessitate been avoided by Franz if he remained ignorant to the injustice mention ed.A classic battle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat classes unfolds in the story of The Balek Scale. Relating the story to the social divisions of society, it is a pointalways has beenthat the rich aim control over those who are not because of the wealth they possess and their strong influence over the government at least(prenominal) a portion of it is attracted to the wealthy of prominent families like the Baleks in the story.The scales of the story represent the injustice in the societythey favor the rich over the worthless most of the time anyway. The scales may actually represent the justice system in society as they can sometimes be distorted in favor of those with money. The story represents this illness that is quite evident in past societies, as well as in todays society. Regardless of how strong is the resolve of the acting hero or deliverer of justice, his efforts are usually just futile.Thus, the story entails a classic battle between the rich and the pit eous. This battle is always intensified by a mere claim for an injustice brought about by the rich, supposedly, which affects the poor many times over. As the following quotation suggests, the injustice that Franz Brcher and his family experience in the village is actually present in every place they went to but did not stay long anywhere because it pained them to see how everywhere the finger of justice swung falsely (Bll 17).This clearly shows how injustice is present everywhere and how great is its effect on those who are least fortunatethe poor. It will surely take a long time to cure this illness of society because those who know about this injustice remain oblivious to its presence in society they are just watching it eat away the true concept of justice.The last two lines in the story are probably the most striking as the Brcher family and many others realize the gravity of injustice in society And those who wanted to listen can encounter the tale of the Baleks von Biligan, whose justice lacked a tenth part. But there were few who listened (Bll 17). In this line, those who receive the painful end of the spear of injustice find it futile to express to the suffering they are feeling caused by the injustice. It is futile because rarely do people listen to their woes and cries for justice.Hardly anyone listens to them because of their place in society as the poor working classduring that time, the poor do not seem to have a strong voice in society. The rich and powerful simply have control over most of them. Any revolt or uprising seems to be thwarted most of the time however, there are times when a revolt becomes successful.Heinrich Blls stor,y The Balek Scales, entails a seemingly unending battle between the rich and the poor as the latter would usually rise against the injustices that the power inflicts upon them and the society. However, it seems that the rich are too powerful and influential to be folded easily. It remains uncertain for the tide of this epic battle to change as many still remain oblivious to the injustices that occur within society.Work CitedBll, Heinrich. The Balek Scales. A Walk in my World International Short Stories about Youth. Eds. Anne Mazer. New York Persea Books, 2000. 917.