Essay On Social Classes In The Great Gatsby

Firstly, the old money class is exactly what it sounds like. To be considered old money you have to be born into a wealthy family. People in this novel that are considered old money would be the Buchanans and Jordan Baker. The majority of old money people don't have to work very hard or long because they are usually set financially from the day they are born, while the rest of the world has to work for everything they have. Another perk of being born into old money is that they have more of a say in the political aspects of things. Living in East egg means you are likely part of the old money class. The Great Gatsby puts great stress on money and social classes however, money can't buy happiness nor guarantee true love.

It is filled with the people who are born into the rich and established families - the old money. They are a lot more stuck up than the people who live on the West Egg. The East Egg is an elite society filled with carelessness, fashion, corruption, and lack of consideration others. Nick cannot forgive Daisy and Tom for their negligence and says “[They are] all very careless and confused. They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together and let other people clean up the mess they had made ” (Fitzgerald 137). After Gatsby dies, Nick begins to see the true colors of the people he is surrounded by. No one shows to Gatsbys funeral and the Buchanans move away, leaving no new address and no way of being contacted.

Money Equals Happiness in The Great Gatsby Throughout history many societies have had upper, middle, and lower classes. The classes formed separate communities of diverse living and never crossed social barriers. In the book, The Great Gatsby, instead of streets and communities separating each class there was a sound. On West Egg, the rich received their money not from inheritance but from what they accomplished by themselves. They worked hard for their money and received no financial support from their families. These people gained in one of two ways; either they worked for it or relied on illegal means for survival. On the other hand, or island, East Egg natives represent the class of society that receive money from their

Once Nick Carraway, the narrator, moves into a small home in West Egg, he soon comprehends that East Egg and West Egg are completely different. Carraway realizes the East Egg is where the upscale residents live and West Egg is more economically disadvantaged as he explains, “I lived at West Egg, the--well, the less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them” (Fitzgerald 5). East Egg residences extremely wealthy people whose wealth has been passed down the line for years, while West Egg houses the hard-working people who build up their wealth. Furthermore, Thomas C. Fowler defines that living in a wealthy, luxurious geographical environment can reconstruct a character into a conceited personality explaining, “Literary geography is typically about humans inhabiting spaces, and at the same time the spaces inhabiting humans” (174). This theory is correct because the residences’ in East Egg are spoiled, selfish people finding themselves in a wealthy and treasured lifestyle.

Getting to where one is and life depends on what class one is born in. For instance, if one is born in old money they are not only born in a generation a great deal of wealth but they are also born with a high degree of respect. Meaning they will grow up in a world where money is handed to them and it is used to solve the majority of their problems. On the other hand, people who are born in new money are not born rich or with respect. They grow up earning their income and respect. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, East Egg is considered to be old money. Tom Buchanan and Daisy Buchanan are living in East Egg. Meanwhile, West Egg is considered to be new money. Gatsby and Nick Carraway are living in West Egg. Nick is a character who lives in a smaller house, next to Gatsbys mansion “I lived at West Egg, the – well, the least fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizzare and not a little sinister contrast between them.” (1.10) Nick is explaining that both West egg and East Egg are high class areas in New York but West Egg is not as high class or fashionable as East Egg is. Nick enjoyed his time in his small house located in West Egg, as he helped Gatsby reunite with his true love. Daisy Buchanan is a young woman who lives in Eastlake with her fiancé Tom Buchanan. She is one who enjoys materialistic objects rather than the person themselves in a relationship. Gatsby is aware of this information so he illegally bootlegs alcohol during the Prohibition time period as The novel takes place in the 1900s. With the money he earns, he pie is a big mansion right across from

In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses West Egg and East Egg as a symbol for class systems to reveal the differences between the two social classes. The difference between the two social classes are vast. East Egg refers to whom came into wealth. West Egg refers to whom carried down wealth from traditional upper-class families. During the 20th century, East Egg residents were more prestigious. “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,” he told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages you had (Fitzgerald 1).” Many wealthy people were born into wealth. Some wealthy are born poor but had to earn their way up. “And I hope she’ll be a fool - that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool(Fitzgerald 30).” Women who were housewives in the 1920s didn’t get as much respect as Men did (BBC 7). “An Oxford man!” He was incredulous. “Like hell he is! He wears a pink suit (Fitzgerald 110).”

This is evident when Tom says ‘I'll be damned if I see how you got within a mile of her unless you brought the groceries to the back door. But all the rest of that's a God damned lie. Daisy loved me when she married me and she loves me now’. Tom’s view on marriage is much different from Gatsby’s. Tom sees love as a possession and marriage as a way of owning another person. Gatsby sees marriage as an expression of love. This is evident when Gatsby responds ‘You loved me too?’ after Daisy had confessed her love to him. West Egg, East Egg and The Valley of Ashes have been used to represent the three different types of classes in society during the 1920s. The construction of the setting has been used to show us the conflict between the people who had old money with the people who had new money and how people with no money were isolated from the high class and overlooked. The conflicts between the classes show us that the pursuing the American Dream may lead to wealth and prosperity, but it certainly does not provide happiness among people.

The Great Gatsby is written in the 1920’s. The WWI has just passed, and people are migrating to The United States as Fitzgerald states: “I participate in that delayed Teutonic migration known as the Great War” (3). People are coming from other regions seeking the American Dream, the dream that advertises individuals will become rich if they work hard, regardless of their background. Gatsby overcomes poverty and moves to the West Egg leaving everything behind to try to regain the love of Daisy. Fitzgerald describes:

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the West Egg consist of two main characters, Jay Gatsby and Nick Caraway, both who want to obtain the American Dream. The American Dream consists of an aspirer of a lower social class hoping to acquire the utmost wealth to become similar to those of East Egg. Furthermore, East Egg subsists of “old money,” a population of a high social class of people who don’t strive to achieve wealth like the West Eggers. The contrast of the two sides is evident as the characters of West Egg are portrayed as wed to the vitality of the American Dream.

Symbolism in The Great Gatsby      F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby, uses symbolism throughout the novel to create the characters and events of the post World War I period. Colors are one way symbolism was used to develop the characters’ personalities and set up events. This is shown

One of the major topics explored in The Great Gatsby is the sociology of wealth, specifically, how the newly minted millionaires of the 1920s differ from and relate to the old aristocracy of the country’s richest families. In the novel, West Egg and its denizens represent the newly rich, while East Egg and its denizens, especially Daisy and Tom, represent the old aristocracy. Fitzgerald portrays the newly rich as being vulgar, gaudy, ostentatious, and lacking in social graces and taste. Gatsby, for example, lives in a monstrously ornate mansion, wears a pink suit, drives a Rolls-Royce,

The characters, Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby have a lot of similarities but they also share many differences. Both Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby have an enormous amount of wealth but their personalities are very different from one another. The two

Rich and upper class live in East and West Egg and poor, almost peasant appearing individuals live in the valley of ashes. Fitzgerald making these living arrangements almost mocks at how vulgar Marxists believe working classes will keep the superstructure together. These working class individuals are portrayed throughout the book as being hardworking and looked down on by upper class. In the book Tom walks into George’s shop and talks down to him about buying the car and even makes passes at his wife as soon as he leaves the room. In other parts of the books as Daisy and Jordan Baker are mentioned they are always lying around, at luncheons or attending parties, and trying to find activities to do. The upper class characters are being supported by working class or people they can merely pay. Gatsby is rejected it seems from both upper and working classes. Daisy rejects him because of how he came into his money and when they were younger because of his social class. Tom rejects anyone in the book because of social status, looks, education, wealth, and even his wife; he rejects Gatsby for being inferior in many of these ways. Gatsby is rejected by working classes because he has money and nice possessions, which they can not afford.

The settings and backdrops in The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, are essential elements to the formation of the characters, symbolic imagery and the overall plot development. Fitzgerald uses East and West Egg communities to portray two separate worlds and two classes of people that are technically the

Society and Class in The Great Gatsby 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