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Conformity In The Great Gatsby

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After World War II during the 1950’s, the economy boomed leading to the idealization of a middle-class lifestyle of stability, certainty and wealth. Everyone in the middle class led analogous lifestyles. As disconcerting as this appears, compared to the poverty that Americans went through in the Great Depression, living in the culture of conformity was like child's play. There were nuclear families and parents pushed their kids to become well educated, get married, have a copious number of kids and buy an expensive car. Looking at adolescents, there was the emergence of teen movies, adult apprehension and rock and roll. (Pettengill, 6-24-2014). However, as is to be expected not all kids agreed with the culture of conformity. In J.D. Salinger’s …show more content…

For example, Holden Caulfield explains how he lived in the “Ossenburger Memorial Wing of the new dorms…named after this guy Ossenburger that went to Pencey” who in a football game appeared in a “goddam Cadillac” but still tried to appear relatable by telling corny jokes (Salinger, 20). Holden understands the irony of a man appearing in Cadillac trying to be relatable and sees through the pretense. He is skeptical of this man who followed the well-traveled roads and got a college education. This is why he “dislikes” the Cadillac. He does not really dislike the Cadillac but rather what it stands for –conventionality. This contempt does not just apply to the adults but also the students his age at Ivy League schools. Holden notes at a nightclub that “there was this Joe Yale-looking guy, in a gray flannel suit” and “all of those Ivy League bastards look alike…but I swear, I wouldn’t go to one of those Ivy League colleges if I was dying” (Salinger, 94). Holden does not want to go to an Ivy League school because he is afraid that it might strip him of his individuality which clarifies why teens in general during that period

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