Social Stratification In The Great Gatsby Essay

In the novel The Great Gatsby, the author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, portrays his views on life in the early post world war I society. The 1920s or the “Roaring twenties” was a period of economic prosperity in the United States. This, however, was a success that did not distribute equally among the varying classes, as an increasingly disturbing gap emerged between the rich and the poor. Those with wealth began to lavish themselves with material goods and extravagant lifestyles, while those without sank into the depressing, grotesque scene of poverty. Through a winding story of love and loss, Fitzgerald gives the audience

The emerging inequitable class systems and antagonisms of the nineteen twenties saw the traditional order and moral values challenged, as well as the creation of great wealth for few and poverty for many. The Great Gatsby, written by Francis Scott Fitzgerald, explores the causes and effects of the unbalanced class structures. Fitzgerald outlines the idea that the desire to accumulate wealth and status is a common ambition amongst the lower classes; when that desire is reached, the traditional upper class is challenged by the emerging newly wealthy, which finally leads to destructive consequences. By creating rigid class structures, traditional upper class, new wealth, and the poor in The Great Gatsby, it is

In any great novel, an understanding of the era in which the story is set can lead to a deeper appreciation of the author’s themes and characters. For example, the themes that preoccupied F. Scott Fitzgerald, issues of social class, the dynamics of prohibition, and the culture of excessive consumption, would be difficult to convey on their own. Therefore, a thorough understanding of the social, political, and moral environment of America in the 1920s sheds greater light on the otherwise complex forces that drive the characters in The Great Gatsby.

Many novels are written as a means of scrutinising the details and flaws of a specific society. The author’s purpose is to use the novel as a lens through which they can offer their own critical perception. The highly praised novel The Great Gatsby provides such a view into 1920s America, an era which was often described as the “Jazz Age” or the “Roaring 20s,” mainly due to the +and carefree nature of the wealthy. This higher class, who were essentially safeguarded by their money, lived life as if it was an endless party. It is this particular group that F. Scott Fitzgerald mainly targets when providing his criticism

The pressures of social class tend to give us an urgency to act a certain way. In The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald, He carefully sets up his novel into wonderful agencies but, in the long run, every group has its personal issues to take care of, leaving a powerful reminder of what a precarious region the world truly is. By creating awesome social instructions which include new money, old money and the poor. Fitzgerald sends sturdy messages about the elitism running throughout society. He emphasizes the department between the social instructions and the motives in the back of why they are separated. The first and most

Scott Fitzgerald’s famous novel ‘The Great Gatsby’ is set in America of the 1920’s, a predominantly materialistic society revolving around wealth and status above all else. Fitzgerald depicts this obsession with money and luxury through complicated relationships full of trouble, infidelity and sorrow. The relationships Fitzgerald portrays all symbolize the materialism and hedonism of the age; each relationship is doomed to a certain extent based on the social class of each character.

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

Even though she is married to George she starts an affair with Tom Buchanan who is married to Daisy. Myrtle is very jealous of Daisy because Daisy has everything Myrtle wants. Tom Buchanan is a rich man who can buy her anything and is considered an alpha male in the book. Why does Myrtle want to have an affair with Tom while married to George? Money and money alone. Tom Buchanan may be attractive, but what does Tom have that George the mechanic does not? Money. That is the reason Myrtle thinks differently about her husband. For example, on page 26, when Tom arrives at George Wilson’s garage, Myrtle goes to shake hands with Tom, “walking through her husband as if he was a ghost.” The real reason Tom is going to George’s garage is because he wants to take Myrtle out. Myrtle lies to her husband saying she is going to see her sister while she is actually going to meet up with Tom. Also, on page 34, Myrtle talks about how she married a man that was in a class below her and that she deserves better. She says, “…but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe.” Both of these quotes give hints as to how Myrtle thinks of her husband now that she is with

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.

Myrtle Wilson is obsessed with leaving her poor life behind her by being with Tom but unlike Gatsby, her attempts are fruitless. She attempts to make herself seem an upper class person like when she changed her dress before the party in chapter two. She believes her husband is beneath her and talks of all low statuses as if she isn’t 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." (42)

Money can buy numerous commodities. From healthy food to life insurance, from job security to sports cars, money makes up for a giant part of one’s daily life. It even has the capacity to arouse emotions; money and power complement each other. With power comes a lack of equity, where social classes emerge. A social status of an individual or family can be determined by the power they hold in a particular region. Since money can rank an individual in society, nothing stops it from influencing people’s behaviors. Often, the social status or wealth affects the character of a person. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald portrays how the characters interact with the society depending on their wealth. The Great Gatsby, set in the 1920s, New York, displays the features of social stratification by complementing it with the development of setting and characterization of the different individuals.

The social hierarchy is influenced by the amount of money one owns which determines whether one can attain their dream. By creating apparent social classes within ‘The Great Gatsby’ – old money, new money and no money, Fitzgerald strongly suggests that American society is intensely stigmatised. Daisy, Tom and Jordan represent the elite social class of society where despite their problems and failures they are always protected and immune by their wealth. Tom refers to Gatsby as ‘Mr Nobody from nowhere” and a “common swindler who would have to steal the ring he put on her finger” as he boasts about his hereditary wealth compared to the other distinct elite group of society who acquire their wealth through business deals, which are sometimes corrupt. Although Fitzgerald mainly attacks the rich, by making them look judgemental, superior and selfish, evidently the lower class of society are vulnerable within American society. This is shown where so many, like Myrtle,

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

The roaring 20’s was filled with luxury, the rise of new music, a new and upcoming wave of culture and the glorious introduction of credit. This specifically was important to the era because people were able to buy and invest things on credit, making them filthy rich. This new feature created a distinctive, high class that lived lavish, luxurious and bountiful. It divided the social classes into a wider gap. F. Scott Fitzgerald depicts this divide clearly in The Great Gatsby, a classic and timeless novel that showcased life during the 20’s.

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