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Contradictions in the Great Gatsby Essay

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Contradictions in the Great Gatsby They were known as the roaring twenty’s because the economy at the time was through the roof and people were partying all over the place. At the time there was a prohibition on the manufacturing and sales of intoxicating drinks. Since a lot of people did not feel like drinking gin they made in their bathtubs all the time, there was a huge market for organized crime. Organized criminals catered to the needs of the drinking public by illegally supplying them with liquor and made a fortune doing it. Even with all the crime in the jazz age, it will still be remembered for its glittering lights and unbridled romance. This just goes to show that life is filled with contradictions. Even with all the …show more content…

Gatsby tries to chase the American Dream, yet his idea is tarnished. He throws parties to try and fit in with the socialites and his idea of the American Dream is doomed because he tries to buy his way into a society that will never accept him. On the other hand, the East Egg is snobbishly superior towards everyone else. This place also feels like heaven; immortal. Tom and Daisy Buchanan are a part of the East Egg society. East Eggers have inherited their wealth and dwell on the traditions of high class society. They did not work for their money so they do not appreciate it the way West Eggers do. Like the West Eggers, East Eggers have not obtained the American Dream either. Tom is rich and has a beautiful wife and on the outside it looks like he has the perfect life. The only problem is that he cheats on his wife with a woman that lives between East Egg and West Egg, Myrtle Wilson. Myrtle's husband loves her, but she is a money chaser. She says, "I thought he was a gentleman . . . but he wasn't fit to lick my shoe . . . he borrowed somebody's best suit to get married in . . . " (Fitzgerald 39) She couldn't appreciate the fact that her husband was working hard to provide for her. She just wanted money and found it in a relationship with a married man. Here Fitzgerald shows the other side of the American Dream. Myrtle has the love but not the money, and

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