Goethe was my favorite. Their bitterness is totally understandable. They have been subjected to the worst atrocities. A young man's thumb may be amputated just so that he does not become a better archer than a lad of the upper class. These people see the class war that is going on at the global level as irrelevant to their cause.
Class war is a long-term struggle.
People like themselves have neither the time nor the patience to wait for the tide to turn. The verdict of history may come too late. You are still very small. This is their everyday experience that closely ties them to prevailing social conventions, justifying their appalling living conditions in the name of culture and tradition. They are particularly concerned about their daughters who must be married according to strictly imposed custom and lead respectable and pious lives.