Interclass Conflict By Way Of The Seven Samurai

     Throughout history, the conflict between classes in societies was a problematic issue. It sometimes occurred between farmers and bandits in the Medieval Age or between workers and bosses in the 20th century. Seven Samurai film by Akira Kurosawa is one of the best examples of this conflict and it successfully reflects interclass conflict between farmers and bandits (samurai) in Japan. Let's talk about the film. The film, set in 16th-century Japan, is dominated by the peasants who are overwhelmed by the pressure of bandits and unable to protect themselves, seeking to get rid of bandit scourge by hiring unruly samurai (ronins). A peasant who overhears the bandits' speech, learns that an attack will take place soon and communicates it to other people in the village. They sit and argue with the elder of the village and have to submit to his samurai rental offer, although they are not willing. Because, according to them, the samurai will want to take the village's daughters and their entire existence. Poor peasants endeavor to find as many samurai who do not value the money as much as possible and who will work to the fullness of the abdomen. Finally, after convincing an old and experienced samurai, they manage to find six more samurai. Now they start counting the days to resist the bandits and things happen. The movie has two main points which are related to SPS 101: damages of interclass conflict and over-taxation on agriculture.

     The film generally emphasizes clash between farmers and bandits. What should be known beforehand is the fact that the villagers and the samurai they hired are from different layers of society (caste), which should never come together. It is understood from the film that the villagers have already hated and hated the samurai. Even with this prejudice, one of the villagers in the film strongly opposes her daughter's emotional rapprochement with one of the samurai. In short, villagers hate Samurai as much as they hate bandits, but the danger posed by the bandits is greater. So why do these proud Samurai take on the defense of the peasants only for the toughness of the abdomen? Because this is a job for the Samurai, and this type of work is inherent in the Samurai. Masochistic perseverance and persistence in fulfilling complex social obligations are one of the main cultural and traditional characteristics of the Japanese. This applies not only to samurai but also to bandits; this is why they attack even a well-defended village, taking into account the great losses, while the more vulnerable and easy-to-get villages stop. Just like the characters in a Greek tragedy, they play roles assigned to them by society. Already at the end of the bandits defeated and lost four friends Samurai who do not complain much because it is fate and they have done their duties. But they don't get much attention from the villagers, and even the villagers don't want the Samurai to stay in the village, which they no longer need because the armed men are a threat to their traditional social order. On the other hand, one of the main reasons why the film is admired all over the world is that it deals with something that seems to be local but is actually universal. It is possible to adapt the relations with the people who cultivate the land that poses a threat to them and those who stand by them at any time in any country. One of other main points is damage of over-taxation on agriculture. To mention briefly, as we have learnt in SPS 101, over-taxation is very dangerous for all areas. We have a schema about taxation: potential taxable surplus. It means that farmers firstly fulfill their fundamental needs. They are consumption, animal feeding and seed funds. After they fulfill them, they can pay tax. Otherwise, if a ruler collects tax from their main needs, then, all state system started to collapse. We can easily see this situation in the Seven Samurai film. After samurai gang’s spoil, farmers helplessly think about what will happen after that. When farmers do not fulfill their main needs, as mentioned, agriculture system collapse. For states which are connected to agriculture, this situation becomes their disaster. 

     At the end of the film, the winners are farmers. They are happy because they successfully defended the bandits and saved their village from invasion. But the rest of the samurai never got into their hands because farmers are people who can look after their pleasures, have fun, save the day, as if they have never lost a friend or samurai, and perhaps never had this war. In this case, the samurai who are needed only when they are victimized do not gain respect in any way and they are considered as people who can seduce women and steal their possible wives. In this case, the samurai are the losers of the war. In fact, there is a concept of hierarchy in the whole power war. While feared bandits and samurai are at the top of this hierarchy, farmers are at the bottom. At the beginning of the film, one of the villagers says that the fate of the farmers is suffering. Farmers felt compelled to settle for their destiny because they had no power. But as soon as they begin to gain power with the help of the samurai, there is a decrease in their pity. They have no pity for the captives they captured or the bandits they fought. The primary reason for this is convinced by the samurai that farmers are strong. In conclusion, the speeches at the end of the film show us that the samurai and the farmers do not have ties with each other in the context of the hierarchical order and that the farmers take the samurai to their village only because they ask for help. Kambei says at end of the film: ‘‘Again we are defeated. Farmers won, we did not.’’