Class Structure In The Great Gatsby

To Jay Gatsby, his corrupt American dream is symbolized by Daisy Buchanan, a woman he is so in love with he will do anything to get her back. Gatsby sees wealth as a solution to his problems. Raised from a poor childhood to being a millionaire with servants, a huge house, and dozens of friends, Gatsby exemplifies the idea of self-made success. All of these pieces of the American dream that Gatsby acquired were actually elements that eventually led to his downfall. In chapter one, the reader is first introduced to Gatsby in a very unusual way, “He stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as i was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward-and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far way, that might have been the end of a dock. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unique darkness” (Fitzgerald 21). In this first glimpse of Gatsby, he is reaching towards something off in the distance, out of reach. This image of the green light ties in with the American dream that people are always reaching for

A prominent part of the theme throughout the book is the symbol of the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. It is used to depict Gatsby’s hopes and dreams to obtain Daisy and an elite life status. The green light is first mentioned in chapter one when Nick witnessed that Gatsby, “...stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way… [I] distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock” (Fitzgerald 25-26). After everything had unraveled, the true meaning of the green light is explained on the very last page of the book. Nick explained that, “[Gatsby] had come a long way to this blue lawn and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him…” (Fitzgerald 189). Gatsby was reaching for his hopes and dreams of being wealthy and getting Daisy, which were both in the past. He spent five years of his life trying to obtain things that were long gone. The reader learns that everything he did was in an attempt to get Daisy back: the money, popularity, parties, and even the location of house he bought: right across the bay from hers. The green light is key to realizing that he was reaching for things that were in the past, and he didn’t receive them. He was so close to obtaining all of it, but still so far away.

Another major symbol in The Great Gatsby is the green light at the end of Daisy Buchanan 's dock. This light represents Gatsby 's hopes and dreams for his future with Daisy by his side. However, this idea also relates to the way views of the "American Dream" have corrupted, while in reality, actual American life is much different. In the novel, the audience first encounters Gatsby looking at this light after Nick comes back from a dinner at the Buchanan. This scene we see Gatsby “stretch out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far, as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward--- and distinguished nothing except a single green light”(20-21). One thing,

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald deals on one level with Jay Gatsby’s hopes and dreams, but on a deeper level also deals with the Great American Dream. The novel starts and ends with a reference to the green light at the end of the dock, indicating an important symbolism. The first time Nick catches sight of Jay Gatsby, Gatsby “stretched his arms towards the dark water […] [Nick] distinguished nothing except a single green light […] that might have been at the end of a dock.” (Fitzgerald 2000:25). Fitzgerald ends the novel by again referring to the “green light at the end of Daisy’s dock.” (171).

” (Fitzgerald 98). The green light then changes its meaning to despair for now it is but a dream, a wistful, hopeless dream. Once Gatsby’s dream is within reach, his usual parties and extravagances are changed. “Each step towards the green light, however, shadows some part of Gatsby’s grandiose achievement. With Daisy’s disapproval the spectroscopic parties cease. To preserve her reputation Gatsby empties his mansion of lights and servants. And finally only darkness and ghostly memories tenant the deserted house” (Koster 37). The green light for Gatsby was a five year dream. The light is Daisy and hope for the future; however, the green light remains forever across the bay from him, just out of reach.

Class structure in the 1920s was synonymous to prejudice. The 1920s was known as a period of wild excess and great parties with excitement arising from the ashes of the wars in America’s history. It was a period in history where rapid materialism and narcissistic ideals grew uncontrollably, and it was the days where Jay Gatsby, illegally, rose to success. Having social classes was the same as segregation, except it was through economic standings, the two both instil injustice within social standards. Class structure was used to describe the difference between the new money and old money. The Great Gatsby by Francis Scott Fitzgerald, written during the 1920s, emphasizes the division between the social classes and the reasons behind why they

The famously written book, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, provides many details, which help to provoke the meaning behind this narrative. The use of symbolic objects helps to connect the significance of the story on a deeper level and eventually reveal its literal meaning. Many symbols portrayed throughout The Great Gatsby, such as the green light, the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg, Gatsby’s Mansion and the weather help to uncover one of the main themes–the American Dream.

Money can buy everything, except for the circumstances of birth. This fact causes the central struggle in The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. James Gatz, despite everything he has earned for himself, cannot buy a higher social class. Nonetheless, he attempts to rise in the world, leading to his love for Daisy, a prominent and wealthy debaunte. This leads him into a competition with Tom, Daisy’s husband, over Daisy, which is ultimately fruitless. Tom has the innate advantages of his class, and these advantages lead to his ultimate victory. Thus, the struggle between Tom and Gatsby is a minute imitation of the greater struggle between old money and new money.

For him the green light symbolized his dream of being with Daisy “ He had come a long way to this blue lawn and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it” ( Fitzgerald 180). Gatsby had hoped and chased his dream, but he could not see that his dream girl was no longer his girl. Daisy represented the change and the loss of the American Dream. For she had changed and she no longer loved Gatsby the way Gatsby loved her. The green light represents an “ orgastic future that year by year recedes before us.”

Gatsby threw big open door parties every weekend, hoping one day that Daisy would come over as he was too scared to invite her himself to his mansion. At the end of Daisy’s dock was a green light that Gatsby would gaze at wistfully from his own house. Jay Gatsby believes the green light represents the American dream that everyone longs for and a future he

The color green represents wealth, which was a reoccurring obsession with Gatsby. The body of water between them both represents the rift between Gatsby and Daisy’s different lives and backgrounds. Additionally, this is the first instance when Gatsby is reaching out to his hopes and dreams. Gatsby’s dream involves wealth and future marriage with Daisy. It is duly noted that at the end of the first chapter, Nick saw Gatsby and, “could have sworn he was trembling…Involuntarily I glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing except a single green light”(Gatsby 20-21). This personal action represents the longing for economic and material success, almost becoming and obsession. However the readers are able to understand that individuals constantly believe that there is always something better in the world. This green light is also symbolic as nicks observation at the end of the novel “tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther”(Gatsby 171), showing that this dream is all encompassing. Gatsby looking across the water to see the green light has drove himself to high status and astonishing success. The green light not only represents wealth but also the model of the American

The “Roaring Twenties” indeed did roar. The decade, all at once spilling over with wealth and bursting at the seams with change, was experiencing an identity crisis. The nation had run out of the frontier that so romantically characterized it for its entire history, and was fresh out of a bloodier, different kind of war. America was in the middle of a vast reinvention, of its economy, its social classes, and its “American Dream.” In the midst of the chaos was writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, a cultural apex in and of himself, and his crowning achievement: The Great Gatsby, a brief novel glorified by historians and teachers alike. Gatsby contains more substance than a mere love story; it is a criticism and very real description of the schism that arose in the 1920s: a sudden appearance of a relatively new social class, one characterized by hard-working, ladder-climbing, sometimes-bootlegging American dreamers. This new-money status was mirrored by the American aristocracy,

Jay Gatsby’s, one of the main characters, American Dream is corrupted and ended in failure. His dream to become rich and then win Daisy back, who is in love with Gatsby five years ago but now is married to a rich man named Tom. When Nick, the narrator, comes back from Daisy’s house, his cousin, he sees Gatsby “stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way,...I glanced seaward -- and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far way, that might have been the end of a dock”(Fitzgerald 21). The significant green light symbolizes Gatsby’s dream of having Daisy.

In the novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald the recurring theme shows what people want from the American Dream to be versus the reality of what it actually is. Throughout the story the narrator talks about the characters’ past and the present; it also shows the people who are not as fortunate as the main characters: Gatsby, Daisy and Tom. The story shows the lives of the characters and the reality of what it is like living the American Dream from the “inside”. The author reveals the theme of the American Dream throughout the story by using considerable amount of symbolism. There are a lot of symbols in this story, but three main symbols we see are: the green light outside the Buchanans house by the docks on the East Egg side of Long Island , the ‘eyes’ which are represented by an eye doctor’s billboard in the Valley of Ashes and finally the Valley of Ashes placed between West Egg and New York City.

The Roaring Twenties, or the Jazz Age, was a period characterized by post-war euphoria, prosperity, profligacy, and cultural dynamism. There were significant changes in lifestyle and culture in the 1920s; many found opportunities to rise to affluence, which resulted in groups of newly rich people, such as the hero of Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby. Set in this booming era, the novel portrays the lavish and reckless lifestyle of the wealthy and elite. With the aristocratic upper class in the East Egg and the nouveau riche in the West Egg, people are divided into distinct social classes. Contrasting the two groups’ conflicting values, Fitzgerald reveals the ugliness and moral decay beneath