# CLXX explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Ambrose Bierce.

## What happens

A brief reflection on the cost of social mobility: the poor trade their self-respect for access to the rich, gaining only a distant seat in the gallery.

## Themes in this chapter

### Hypocrisy and Corruption

The chapter critiques the corrupt bargain where the poor sacrifice dignity for mere proximity to wealth and power.

## Key lines

> The poor man’s price of admittance to the favor of the rich is his self-respect. It assures him a seat in the gallery.

A poor person gains the rich's favor only by surrendering their dignity, and even then they are kept at a distance, like a spectator in a theater gallery.

_Condenses the chapter's single aphoristic statement into a clearer explanation._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters/clxx
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters