The characters of Deltarune grapple with the Prophecy and its implication most directly when in the Darkworlds, but the themes of fate and its role in their lives continue into the lightworld. In the Lightworld, fate is tied to economic class which is true of the real world too. Class status determines the spaces, people, and reasources you have access to. In poverty there is no room in life for risk, chance or failure; mistakes that other people can recover from become catastrophic. This state of survival leaves very few opportunies for life, especially for a child who will nessicarly be more prone to mistakes and impulse. Even if an item or experience can be purchased once, if it can not be repaired or replaced its only a matter of time before that activity is out of reach again. In the real world this is also compounded by living in a poor area. Because of how social resources are structured in society the school, libraries, parks and public will all also be underfunded compared to wealthier neighboorhoods further compounding the lack of resources. These factors compound to keep those in poverty trapped. Without the ability to acess good public resources and fully participate in society it becomes a cycle that perpetuates itself through endless crisis and shut doors. If there is only one availble path, a persons life can’t go anywhere unexpected. Class is not an incidental feature in Deltarune, it permeates through every interaction between the characters in Home Town, and is essential to understanding the main themes of the game.
The Story of little orphan Annie is one of the most enduring depictions of poverty in mainstream media. An extradoranary child who should not be left to suffer because of her trusting and naive perspective on the world. She has been completely untouched by the violence that shadows her life, she is the diamond in the rough. Contrastly, at the other end of poverty representation there is the Bully with a Troubled home life. These characters are angry and seem to lash out at random, escalating at inapropriate times, Sam from iCarly is an example of this trope. Both of these steryotypes flatten the experience of poverty and place the responsibility for behavior solely on the individual. The narrative arcs of these stories reinforce that good endings only come for people who can remain untouched by the violence of poverty. Toby Fox initially plays into these tropes through the introduction of Susie the Mean Girl. She is loud, violent, and disrespectful of authority, but very quickly it is revealed that she is also kind. Susie is not only kind, but emotionally intellegent and brave, and these qualities came from the same conditions that caused her to project such a tough exterior.
Susie’s class status is immediately apparent in her lightworld clothing design and her behaior in Chapter 1. Her lightworld outfit is distinct from both other teenagers in Home Town and her own darkworld outfit. Susie’s jeans are torn at the knee and her over shirt is noticable too large on her; implying that these clothes are both old and probably second-hand. This is not seen in any other characters of hometown, even characters with altnerative styles have clothes that fit them and look new. These features also can not be explained as her personal style because her darkworld outfit has neither of these characteristics. In the Darkworld, Susie’s vest fits and her pants are completely in tact. Additionally, Susie’s weapon resembles a toothbrush implying that she brings her toothbrush with her to school. This is common for children who’s water access may be unstable due to unpaid bills.
These signs of poverty do not end with her wardrobe but can also been found heavily in her behavior around food. The first major fact that is revealed about Susie is that she eats chalk and later in the chapter she complains “C’mon I only had chalk today” confirming that this behavoir is hunger driven. This lack of access to food is a main driver of her behavior throughout chapter 1 causing her and Lancer to devise evil plots in the name of getting snacks through the bake sale. Importantly, it is also a key feature of Susie’s ability to make connections, as her friendship with Lancer truly solidfies when she lets him have the only star candy even though they are both hungry. Susie’s poverty not only affects her aestethically but also moves the entre story.
Class in Hometown does not only exist for Susie. When exploring the lightworld most of the houses seem to be for working or middle class families, with one major exception. The Holiday Mansion is literally seperated from the rest of town with a wrought iron gate. The mansion has the most excess found in town, with landscaped grounds, a second fridge just for water and a grand piano no one in the family could play. Susie and the Holiday family represent the two farthest ends of the class stratification of Hometown and these can be seen in the treatment of Susie and Dess.
Susie illustrates the way that her class creates her fate in the story told to Kris in Chapter 4 about being prevented from playing the piano. When describing why she was told to stop she explains “becuase I just looked like I shouldn’t be playing.” Public spaces are not equally public to everyone in a community, only availble to those that can meet appropriate standards of belonging. Comparing this story to the details revealed about Dess Holiday paints a clear picture of how class funcions in Deltarune. Like Susie, Dess is a punk who was known to be rough and violent, but none of these qualities caused her to miss out on an education in music. The game shows how even though she was careless with her instruments her family could afford to replace them perpetually and she never needed public approval to pursue this interest. While both Susie and Dess have intense personalities Dess’ interest were sheltered and fostered by her family’s class.
