f64154c0_ties_in_Malick_s_Films__Part_I__Badlands
[Image] CLASS RELATIONS: The Proletarians [Days of Heaven] Bill and Abby work in the factory at the beginning of the film. Linda makes paper flowers, presumably for sale. Bill, Abby and Linda become migrant labourers and work as field hands on the Farmer's land. Linda says of Bill that he was "tired of nosing around like a pig in the gutter." Linda says in voice over, "some people got more than they need, others need more than they got, it's just a matter of getting us all together." Abby tells Linda that she used to wrap cigars all day, that she never saw the daylight. [The Thin Red Line] Many of the soldiers come from a working-class background: Witt's family works on a farm. Train's (rather modest) ambition in life is to own an automobile and mentions that he's slept in a chicken coop. The foot soldiers--Witt, Bell, Train, Ash, Tills--are from the poorer South. [Badlands] 
Kit is a garbage collector. Later he works at a feedlot. Kit sighs dejectedly as a clerical worker asks him what work he's qualified for, then answers: "Can't think of any at the moment." He sighs again when the clerk says he has feedlot work for him. It appears Kit feels belittled by this work, yet he's forced to take it. Before leaving the rich man's house, Kit gives him a list of things he says he's "borrowed." By not simply seizing the items, Kit indicates he doesn't want to be thought of as a common thief, that he's aware of his low class position and wants to be thought of as better than that.
Similarities in Malick's Films, Part I
Badlands