What is the point of school? Many would argue that the point of school is to teach the future generation basic knowledge; some would argue that it is to create a well-rounded society. Few would argue, however, that school is a way for the government to control society, to teach children to conform and do what they are told. Pink Floyd, in their song, “Another Brick in the Wall (part 2),” introduces a radical argument on the purpose of schools. Through the use of rhetorical and visual devices, Pink Floyd creates a strong political video that uses the detrimental theme of conformity to depict schools as communist institutions designed to control the population starting with the youth.

In order to display their message, Pink Floyd uses many motifs, the strongest being children. These children are extremely important to the meaning of the text because the way they are depicted almost solely inspires the theme of dominating conformity. The vast majority of scenes with the students are of them mindlessly standing in perfect lines, one behind the other. Furthermore, they are all marching perfectly in step with one another. This creates the effect of conformity by blending the many individual students into one assembly line. While there are many important scenes emphasizing this idea, possibly the two most powerful shots are that of the students going into a giant machine and coming out in desks, and another with two lines of children on either side of one instructor. 

One of the first shots in the music video, and the most powerful, is of children walking in unison, almost like an assembly line, into a machine. The shot pans right to the end of the machine where the students come out, and pauses in an extreme long shot at an angle with the right side of the scene being more predominant. In the foreground is the students coming out of the machine. They are all sitting in desks, wearing the same bland grey uniforms, and all wearing the same amorphous masks. The mid-ground is of the machine, and the background shows the children that are walking into the machine. The youth walking into the machine are depicted in different color clothes with their faces showing, signifying that they still possess some unique characteristics and identifying features. 

While the main purpose of the long shot is to show the children in each step of the input and output of the machine, the shot is incredibly powerful in displaying the loss of identity that the innocent children undergo. The machine similarly serves as a commentary on the institution of school, the machine being the institution. As individuals go through the institution of school (the machine), they lose their identity and are forced to conform. Having the students that come out of the machine (the children without identity) in the very front of the shot makes this transformation extremely predominant and forces the altered and distorted appearance of the students to become the most shocking and dramatic image of the entire music video. This is reinforced by the fact that those exiting the machine have masks over their face, furthermore emphasizing the loss of identity and individuality. The color scheme of the shot also adds to the idea of conformity and loss of identity as every part of the shot is dark, with the main object of the shot being grey or dark grey. The children, in every part of the shot all have their gazes forward, wielding blank faces as if there are mindlessly walking forward. This creates a very distant relationship between the children; while at the same time grouping them together as controlled students all in a row. 

Another extremely important scene with the students all in a row occurs half way through the song, showing an instructor seemingly controlling the students. In the foreground through the background, on each side of the shot, are two long lines of masked children. They are all walking in step with mindless gazes on their faces. In the mid-ground is an instructor wearing a graduation cap and gown ordering the children around. The instructor’s dress, seemingly insignificant, is actually an integral part to the music video as it suggests that he has successfully gone through the school system, successfully conformed, and is now there to ensure that the students complete their conformity as well. The shot being used is slightly bug’s-eye-view, mainly pointing up towards the instructor, further creating the idea that he is controlling. While the gazes of the students are all mindlessly pointed forward, the gaze of the viewer is clearly at the instructor, as he is isolated from the rest of the shot. Because of the instructor’s isolation, along with the dark grey color schemes, the instructor is the main object of the shot, again suggesting that he has complete control over the process occurring before him. 

This motif of the young mindlessly walking in step and being controlled is quite possibly the most important device Pink Floyd uses to develop their themes about conformity and communism created by the school institution; the obvious reason being that children are the ones being conformed by the school. Looking more in depth to the depiction of the children, however, one sees that they mindlessly walk throughout the institution perfectly, all blending in. The lines they walk in drastically compare to an assembly line, and the machines depicted suggest that schools are merely tools for taking in students and turning out controlled, conformed students. One can take this farther to argue that the school institution is depicted as a well- oiled- machine, a commonly used term to describe a communist society. The title, along with the motif, furthermore plays an important role in this creation of communism. “Another Brick in the Wall,” while appearing to be a mere song title, encapsulates many ideas. Primarily, the title is a metaphor for the conformity of society. As each student conforms, walks perfectly in step, and loses their identity, they become merely “another brick in the wall.” This is even further explored in the shot of students walking into a machine that turns them into cement mix. This motif, along with the creation of the themes, is extremely powerful in that it forces us to rethink our own assumptions of the school system. 

Meanwhile attacking the school system, the title, and video, makes a devastatingly powerful attack at the Berlin wall. This music video, produced during the Cold War, includes significant reference to the fears of Western Europe and North America inspired by the spread of communism and the USSR; fears made real by the construction of the Berlin Wall. East German and USSR schools at the time instructed their youth in a manner depressingly similar to the methods described in the video, where individuality and humanity were de-emphasized in favor of conformity and loyalty. While these schooling techniques benefited the communist lifestyle, they are anathema to western democratic values. In this case, the “Wall,” in “Another Brick in the Wall” refers to the Berlin wall. Pink Floyd is making a dramatic argument that schools, by encouraging conformity and communism, are in essence contributing to the prosperity of the Berlin wall.

So what exactly is the point of school and how does it relate to our modern understanding of this long-standing institution? While the answer is up to the viewer to decide, Pink Floyd has an extremely explicit view on the subject. Through their constant depiction of mind- controlled children and manipulating instructors, Pink Floyd successfully and effectively creates the message that the school institution is established with strong overriding communistic principles, inputting individual children and turning out masked members of society who have conformed and lost their identity, more “bricks,” to power the institution. Pink Floyd uses this video as a dramatic warning to educators and politicians around the world. He warns that the desire to streamline education and make students better at performing certain tasks can strip our youth of their individuality and creativity. The manipulation of the school system is the perfect place for Communism to spread and integrate itself into a society. Pink Floyd warns that if our school system turns into the cold lifeless machine depicted in the music video, then our greatest fears of becoming a communist society will have been realized.
