Social Inequality In The Great Gatsby

Throughout the classic The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the rich and the poor are constantly juxtaposed against each other. The rich as ployed as being colorful and full of detail, while the poor is described as being "ashes" in a "desolate" landscape. This juxtaposition of the rich and poor makes it clear to the reader that Fitzgerald wanted the distinction to be blunt. Fitzgerald adds this distinction because he wants the reader to understand that the rich and the poor lead completely different lives. The rich are described in elaborate colors and detail because the they live lavish lifestyles. The rich own extravagant mansions, expensive cars and hydroplanes, and lead exciting lifestyles. On the contrary, the poor are described in

The Great Gatsby as Fitzgerald’s explanation of an American Reality which contradicts the American Dream

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

The 1920s, also known as the Roaring Twenties, was an age of dramatic changes in societal expectations. It was a time of economic progress for Americans, which meant many people from the lower class had the opportunity to earn enough money and improve their position in society. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby, the protagonist in the novel, came from the lower class and thought that his new wealth could win over Daisy Buchanan, who originally came from the higher class. Fitzgerald symbolizes Daisy as Gatsby’s American Dream, or his success and prosperity. This eventually created conflict between the higher and lower class. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates the difficulty of upward social mobility due to the rigid class structure, which ultimately resulted in the realization that the American Dream was unattainable to those of the lower class.

In the period of the 1920’s, there was a certain status of wealth that was difficult to achieve. There were two societal classes consisting of those with wealth from prior generations, and those who worked to earn it themselves. Tom, Daisy, and Nick, who represented the old money society did not have to work hard, unlike Gatsby which he represented the new money and they had to work to earn money. People like Gatsby, who gained their wealth on their own often fought for the approval from the upper class who inherited their wealth. Rather than having new money and old money, people who tried achieving the American Dream and ended up in failure usually they end up like George and Myrtle Wilson In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the notion that social norms in the upper class depict the idea that being apart of it was impossible unless they were born in it was expressed through Daisy’s rejection of Gatsby because of the corrupt way in which he gained his wealth, making his American Dream unattainable.

Social classes are truly like a ladder, but that final step is by far the most difficult. Trying to become the most powerful, and successful person around it an almost impossible task, which very few will ever achieve. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby spends his entire life attempting to climb the social ladder, in order to win back his young love, Daisy Buchanan. The novel makes a naturalism argument stating that no matter how hard you try, and how much you think you’ve achieved in your life, you will most likely never be able to rise from a lower social class.

Shipler also depicts the difference in the experiences of the wealthy and the poor. “The poor have less control than the affluent over their private decisions, less insulation from the cold machinery of government, less agility to navigate around the pitfalls of a frenetic world driven by competition. Their personal mistakes have larger consequences, and their personal achievements yield smaller returns” (Shipler 7). Shipler clearly defines a major difference between the wealthy and the poor. For the wealthy, there exists a sense of control, of safety, and of agency in that their resources provide them with “insulation” and “agility.” However for the poor, no such safety net exists because without a reserve of emergency funding, even the smallest

Have you heard what McDonald’s employees’ are asking customers now days? Can you afford fries with that? According to the economist Emmanuel Saez, income inequality has been increasing steadily since the 1970s, and now has attained levels not seen since 1928 (Desilver). So what exactly is income inequality? Most of the time when people talk about income inequality, they usually are discussing the startling growth of the exceptionally rich, the stagnant salaries and diminishing prognoses of the American middle class, and the substantial amount of people at the base of the ladder (Zakaria).

Throughout history people have continuously felt the need to validate themselves by the number in their bank account or their status in society. Americans are constantly concerned with what other people think about them. They want to make sure they look the part which means having certain things and maintaining a lifestyle that proclaims their family’s social status. Whether it is adhering to high social standards or splurging on luxurious goods, people were willing to do whatever it took to maintain a high social standing. From 1914 to 1945, American Literature portrayed that Americans’ pursuit of wealth and social status was not only unfulfilling, but also became a barrier that separated people.

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.

Why is affluence so significant? It was not always this way. For hunter-gatherer and agricultural societies, personal properties were insignificant or even disadvantageous unless it was food. For the sake of development and standards of life, this had to change. As wealth gained in value, people also lived better, longer lives, but at a certain point, it began to manipulate the society around it. Some may argue that this occurred around the 1920’s in America. The changes of this time were monumental. People were moving to cities in large numbers, the party lifestyle was adopted by men and women alike due to dramatic social change, and the economy was booming, they were not called “the roaring 20’s” for nothing. The large economy enabled people to gain more wealth than ever. A multitude of people, primarily in older generations, did not encourage this lifestyle, finding it fake, licentious, flashy, and unchristian. This disapproval of change is apparent in The Great Gatsby due to Nick’s distaste for the frivolous and gaudy lifestyles of the East and West Eggers and Gatsby in particular. This distaste, also conveyed heavily by the author, is most significantly formed around the iniquitous value of money and adultery. Ergo, In the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald suggests that Modern America has become irrationally focused upon immorality and wealth rather than the true American values of hard work and faith, which is demonstrated through the motif of the colour

In social injustice, there are the oppressors and there are the oppressed. Such is the case in the world of The Great Gatsby, where gender norms shape the dynamic of all romantic relationships. Men/Husbands are expected to be violent and commanding, and their wives are to stay quiet and happy. Male characters see opportunity in this construct -- they use it to their advantage or as a way to establish power and a reputation. Gatsby, born poor, falls in love with Daisy’s money before he falls in love with her- he wants both his fantasy about Daisy and his fantasy about money and glamor to come to fruition. When Daisy marries Tom, her glamour and wealth pass on to him instead of Gatsby, who has to find wealth independently. Daisy’s reputation

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