Social Class In The Great Gatsby

Titular character Jay Gatsby proves that America’s lower class in the Roaring Twenties was able to attain only the appearance of wealth. James Gatz, Gatsby’s birth name, was born to poor and shiftless farmers in Nebraska, but “The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his own platonic conception of himself” and amassed a large fortune for himself in an attempt to win over his long-time love interest (Fitzgerald 98). This would support the possibility of the American Dream and the ability to rise through class ranks, as Gatsby was able to

While wealth can be quite alluring, the power associated with it can also shape one's opinions, morals, and overall humanity. Wealth is a significant factor in determining one's position in society, thus the eagerness to obtain more is correlated with the wish to hold a higher status. The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, relates to this pursuit of riches and the social hierarchy attached to it. The story takes place during the height of the roaring 1920’s in New York City. Each character represents an economic sphere and has their own ambition for wealth; however, these characters, whether they fail or succeed, lose their humanity in the process. Fitzgerald utilizes the characters Gatsby, Myrtle, and Daisy to demonstrate that the desire for wealth leads to a process of dehumanization, in which morals and identity are displaced.

Throughout the novel The Great Gatsby, there is a constant theme present: social class. Fitzgerald makes a connection between the theme of social class, and the settings in the novel for example The Valley of Ashes which is described as a “desolate area of land” (p.21) and a “solemn dumping ground” (p.21) which is where the poor people live. The Valley of Ashes is situated between West Egg and New York, West Egg being the place where the aspiring classes are situated, which is the “less fashionable of the two” (p.8), this is where Gatsby lives. West Egg is the place of ‘new money’, Fitzgerald shows this by the idea of the main character Jay Gatsby, rumoured to be selling illegal alcohol (prohibition) which means he is quickly making vast

Daisy and Tom live on East Egg along with other families that have inherited their massive wealth. They live a very calm and elegant lifestyle compared to the newly rich that live on West Egg. Gatsby lives on West Egg and his lifestyle is very different from that of Daisy and Tom. Gatsby lives extravagantly, always throwing large and outrageous parties and buying unnecessary things such as the incredible mansion Gatsby lives in. Fitzgerald also, uses Daisy and Tom to exemplify the flaws in the moral values of those who have inherited their wealth. For example, Tom seems almost proud of his infidelity to Daisy. He even goes out of his way to take Nick to meet Myrtle, his mistress, and spend time with her. There is one instance where Tom forces Nick to stay at a party with Myrtle even though Nick is uncomfortable with the situation. Nick says “Hold on. I have to leave you here.”(28) To which Tom responds “No you don’t, Myrtle will be hurt if you don’t come up to the apartment. Wont you Myrtle?”(28) Later in the chapter Fitzgerald also shows the violent side of Tom, when he smacks Myrtle across the face and breaks her nose. “Making a short movement Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand.”(37) Clearly through Tom’s actions Fitzgerald is trying to demonstrate the hypocrisy of men of the upper class. When a person is part of the upper class it is logical to think that they would conduct themselves in a proper manor, which Tom does

Although Tom acted as if he truly cared about Myrtle, he really did not. This is displayed when he claims that his wife is a Catholic, and that is why they could not get a divorce. The issue with that, would be that she is not Catholic, Tom was just making up an excuse. This shows that Tom has no real intention of actually being with Myrtle. Instead of being truthful, and telling her that he will never want to marry her, he is dragging her along, and lying to her, making her believe that he cares. By doing this to Myrtle, he is preventing her from actually trying to make something of herself, and further proving that the “upper class” is constantly affecting the lower classes. Gatsby and Daisy would be another perfect example of this idea. “I did love him once, but I loved you too,” Daisy said, proving to Gatsby he was never the only one she wanted. By saying that she loved them both, she is showing that Gatsby was never the only man on her mind. She proved that she did not have the purest intentions of being with him, because she was never fully committed to him. This was also shown when Gatsby was the one to tell Tom she loved him, not Daisy. Finally, upper class people tend to drag lower class people down, by abusing their money, power, and

“Myrtle Wilson in The Great Gatsby is an example of the poor. Myrtle is Tom’s lover who is desperately trying to change her life as the lower class. Myrtle is not found with the class she was born into. She insists that she married beneath her, and tries to talk about the lower orders— as if she is not one of them: “‘I told that boy about the ice.’ Myrtle raised her eyebrows in despair at the shiftlessness of the lower orders. ‘These people! You have to keep after them all the time’". Unfortunately for her, she chooses to be Tom’s lover who treats her as a merely object.

The corruption of the American Dream is a central theme in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. The novel takes place in New York, with fictional provinces. East Egg is inhabited by the the families who have passed down their wealth for generations, such as the Buchanans. West Egg is also inhabited by the extremely rich, but by those who have built their own fortune, such as Jay Gatsby. Those in East Egg view themselves as morally superior to those in West Egg and separate themselves from them, creating a sort of social feudal system, similar to Europe’s. Between the Eggs and New York is the Valley of Ashes, an area where the poor, including Myrtle Wilson, live. In their chase of the American Dream, the characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a novel that has a large focus on the ideas of the American Dream and social class in the 1920s. In the novel, the people of West Egg and East Egg are people of the upper who have earned money either through inheritance or working hard and have had many opportunities to make their American Dream a reality. The people of the Valley of Ashes are people of lower class who have little to no money and have to work all their lives to make ends meet. Even though both social classes strive for the same thing, The American Dream, neither of them will ever truly achieve it. Fitzgerald uses a vast contrast in the settings of East Egg, West Egg, and

F. Scott Fitzgerald, one of the finest American authors of the twentieth century wrote The Great Gatsby during the Jazz Age to critique the distortion of the American dream, and his work has lasted long past his lifetime. Fitzgerald discusses the nature of love and wealth and stresses the importance of defining a person beyond their external position. In his novel, letter to his daughter, and the screenplay adapted from the novel, it is clear that F. Scott Fitzgerald utilizes exposition, narration, and imagery to illustrate how people in the 1920s did not understand the meaning of true love and worried about superficial characteristics, thus resulting in the corruption of the American dream from the pursuit of true love and equality to the pursuit of wealth and discrimination; however, he moralizes that human beings are capable of emotional growth and of escaping the illusion of wealth.

Money is essential for survival; it can bring happiness, despair, or corruption. It rules our daily lives, is preferred in large amounts, and separates us into different social classes. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, is a perfect example of this since the class structure within the novel, portrays how money or the need for it can cause corruption in all the different social classes. This is shown through the three distinct classes: old money represented by the Buchanan’s and their self-centered, racist nature, new money represented by Gatsby and his mysterious, illegal ways, and a class that can be called no money represented by the Wilson’s and their attempts at

Fitzgerald, in his sarcastic novel The Great Gatsby, frequently shows how racism and classism seriously influence the possibilities of achieving American dreams in obscure methods. The novel details Gatsby’s achievements and dream including Daisy, and makes comparison with other people in different races and classes indirectly but visibly. The fact that, though Gatsby is much wealthier than those in East Egg, he has never achieved the American dream, never owned Daisy truly and never acquired respect, but rumours, due he isn’t born in high class and makes money through bootleg. To some extent, the miserable end of Gatsby is the reflection of the disparity of classism. Gatsby’s mansion reminds people of the feasibility of making the American dream come true. However, his unexpected death that is not caught by police, but killed by Wilson, a white man in mid class, proves that it is related to races and classes closely. Fitzgerald takes us into the suffering of Gatsby to show us that the American dream is like a shell company, which makes everyone look forward to their future with great expectations, but only certain people can truly reach it because people are not standing on the same starting line.

The 1920’s of the U.S. was a booming era, this allowed people to attain large amounts of wealth and luxury. People became happier, and were able to live their wildest dreams. But, as those living in the lap of luxury continued to climb higher, others were envious to catch a ride to the top. For those who were not as wealthy, the riches were hard to avoid. Many had wealth dangling in their faces, just out of reach. Which made them all more envious to succeed. The Modernist Movement in American Literature has showcased a social breakdown between these people. This was especially shown in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. The narrator of the story explains stories of those who have a higher social class than him, and it showcases how those

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.

“I am still a little afraid of missing something if I forget that, as my father snobbishly suggested, and I snobbishly repeat, a sense of the fundamental decencies is parceled out unequally at birth” (2). So speaks Nick in the beginning of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. This exemplifies how people born into different social classes are not born with the same character and ethics. Since people from different classes think so differently, this may cause conflicts between them and might prevent them from having substantial relationships with each other.

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