An excerpt from The Norton Anthology of Literature describes the “Changing Times”, “Science and Technology”, and “American Versions of Modernism” in the 1920s. This is around the same time The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was written, and many of the same ideas can be found in both texts. The Great Gatsby tells the story of Gatsby’s fantastic dream from his neighbour Nick’s point of view. This essay will explore how certain ideas in The Norton Anthology of Literature influence the themes, ideas, and writing of The Great Gatsby. Social class and automobiles are important themes in both works, and The Great Gatsby itself can easily be classified as a high modernist work, as described in The Norton Anthology of Literature. From the plot …show more content…
In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald puts a lot of emphasis on social class, comparing the lives of those in East Egg and West Egg and even comparing the social classes of individual characters. The first group, people adhering to “small-town values”, like Tom and Daisy, seem to be more successful in Fitzgerald’s eyes. From the very beginning of the book, distinctions are made between East Egg, where Tom and Daisy live, and West Egg, where Gatsby and Nick live. East Egg is the fancier area, inhabited by old wealthy families who have never known hardship and live by strict social rules. West Egg, “the less fashionable of the two” (Fitzgerald 5), was home to younger millionaires, new money folk who did not grow up as rich as they had come to be. Throughout the book these two neighbourhoods are pitted against each other as they are continually mentioned. Tom and Gatsby are also pitted against each other in a similar, if more direct fashion, competing for Daisy’s love. Tom is the practical choice, a man from a wealthy family, who is financially secure and only involved in legal businesses. He believes strongly in his small-town values saying, “I suppose you’ve got to make your …show more content…
Based on this description, and others from the same text mentioning discontinuity and discordance, The Great Gatsby seems to be a piece of modernist literature. In terms of perspective and tone, the story is mostly told by Nick, and we hear all events from his point of view. That said, Nick also likes to tell us about stories he has heard from other people and through this we can hear the points of view of other characters including Jordan as she talks about Gatsby and Daisy meeting, and Gatsby on his own history. There is also a scene with Michaelis and Mr. Wilson after Myrtle’s death that Nick tells us about despite that fact that he was not present. In addition to these changes in perspective he also changes his own tone, most notably when he gets drunk at Tom and Myrtle’s drinking party and the writing becomes littered with ellipses (Fitzgerald 40). Furthermore, the order of events does not match the way they actually happened, or even the way Nick experiences them. For example, Nick cuts into his own storytelling to tell us about Gatsby’s real history even though, at the time in his story, he did not know this information yet. In fact, Gatsby’s entire history is presented in out-of-order bits and pieces. Moreover, Fitzgerald
In the novel, West Egg and its residents represent the newly rich, while East Egg and its denizens, especially Daisy and Tom, represent the old aristocracy. Fitzgerald shows the newly rich as being indecent, garish, pretentious, and lacking in social elegance and taste. Gatsby, for example, lives in a massively elaborated mansion, wears a pink suit and drives a Rolls Royce. The East Eggers prove themselves thoughtless, disrespectful individuals who are so used money’s ability to tranquil their minds that they never worry about wounding others. The Buchanans illustrates this stereotype when, at the end of the novel, they simply move to a new house far away rather than patronize to attend Gatsby’s
The Great Gatsby has been around for ages; it is a story of a young man in the 1920’s who is thrown into a new world made up of the new and the old rich. He is confused by the way these people act and in the end cannot stay another minute in this strange, insensitive, materialistic world. The author, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses many techniques to help the reader understand how Nick Carraway (the narrator) is feeling throughout the story. In the book The Great Gatsby, the author F. Scott Fitzgerald uses effective language to make his writing successful. He uses the techniques of imagery and irony to display this message.
As a society, America has created certain ideas and stereotypes of each class including the citizens within them. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald focuses around the superficial communities of West and East Egg, and their misconceptions of one another. The citizens of East Egg, such as Daisy and Tom Buchanan, frown upon the up-and-coming men of West Egg. This includes Gatsby, who dreams of the riches they take for granted. Gatsby, who obtains his money through dishonest means appears villainous, unsuccessfully attempting to join the wealthy and elite society of East egg. However, there may be more to Gatsby's story. As Nick, the narrator, says he is “worth the whole damn bunch put together”(154). Through his descriptions and comparison of Tom’s house and Gatsby’s house, Fitzgerald reveals the true nature of the two men. While Gatsby appears to be morally corrupt, in the end he actually has pure intentions, instead it is Tom who emits negativity and is ungrateful for his life.
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”, while he wrote the novel he added similarity about his life from a point of view of Gatsby and Nick. During the book Gatsby was the most similar character to compare to Fitzgerald life. During the book we found out that Gatsby had left to served in World War 1. Gatsby had also went to a college called Oggsford. Later towards the book he had dropped out of Oggsford. Gatsby had fell in love with Daisy. Gatsby strived to become successful in his life. Gatsby came from a family who were not successful, and poor. He goes on to run away from
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,
In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, setting prominently displays the main themes of upper class and societal segregation in the early 1920’s. Fitzgerald makes this apparent in the wealthy, New York areas, East egg and West egg, and in the love affair between West egger Jay Gatsby, and East egger Daisy Buchanon, despite the immense wealth and power one must have to live in either area. The main difference between the two areas being how the money had been attained, new money being the West eggers and old, family money being the East eggers.
In a lot of novels authors use literary elements to portray information about the characters. Sometimes the author will use these elements to show images to help the reader see what the character is feeling or doing. In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald uses the setting to help show the differences in social classes between the East Egg, West Egg, NYC and the Valley of Ashes.
It is home to people such as Tom and Daisy Buchanan who represent “old money,” which has been in their families for generations. Fitzgerald creates the illusion that those who live in East Egg are the height of society and live the ideal life (Eble). Their reluctance to attend Gatsby’s “heathenous” parties and strong dislike of East Egg’s occupants reveal this faulty view. “They had spent a year in France for no particular reason, and then drifted here and there unrestfully wherever people played polo and were rich together” (Fitzgerald 6). People of lower statuses can never achieve the prestige of those who live in East Egg because they lack the required social breeding (Verderame “Social Class”). As a result, West Eggers often look down on others for not having as much money and causes separation between people like Daisy and Gatsby for no other reason than Gatsby not being raised in the same lavish environment. East Egg also represents eastern America, symbolizing the transition of wealth and power from the western frontier to the city
Throughout “The Great Gatsby,” F. Scott Fitzgerald characterizes the citizens of East Egg as careless in some form. This relates to the prominent class issue seen all through “Gatsby.” It seems as though Daisy and Tom almost look down upon others. At one point in the book, Nick says “in a moment she looked at me with an absolute smirk on her lovely face as if she had asserted her membership in a rather distinguished secret society to which she and Tom belonged.” It is because of their belief of superiority that they deem themselves better than other and allows them to live so carelessly.
Gatsby All throughout The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there are significant undertones of social class and wealth. We learn very quickly in the story about the West and East Eggs in which our main characters are residents of. Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby are fro West Egg, which is commonly associated with new money, or people who have recently found themselves wealthy often by working. Our other characters Daisy and Tom Buchanan live in East Egg which is where people with old money, money that was inherited from their families, live. Where the characters live, has a lot to do with how they present themselves and how they act.
“Great Gatsby” has become famous nowadays, thanks to Leonardo di Caprio. Why is that important? Because Scott Fitzgerald’s book was actually all about the Jazz, literally naming the period of time between the end of the World War I and the Great Depression – the Jazz age. People owe so much to this period, which gave people enough space to express themselves. A wise man once said: “Jazz is an open minded music designed for open minds”.
In the book,“The Great Gatsby” by F Scott Fitzgerald is about a group of people set in Long Island. The main characters of this book is Nick,Tom,Daisy,Myrtle,George,and Jordan. However they appear in multiple area 's except for The Valley of Ashes to where all the poor people live. For the most part however it is briefly set between East Egg and West Egg. East Egg is to where all the more older and classy,rich people live while West Egg is for the more new rich people that haven 't completely gotten used to being rich and famous so they have not completely adjusted to the rich life and the way rich people are supposed to work and speak.
However, to be part of the American dream, and the right social class it was almost impossible to create a perfect 'glittering surface ' that would make you a part of this materialistic society. Gatsby, constantly working on his 'glittering surface ' to become a part of this society, tries to perfect the elements of his American dream, which included financial success, material acquisitions, proper self-image, and social status. The most fashionable financial situation is "old money", meaning that you have been born into a large wealth and therefore do not need to work to support yourself. Tom and Daisy are in this classification, along with the rest of fashionable East Egg. Daisy was born into a life of wealth and privilege in Louisville and has no reason to trouble herself in anything involving the slightest bit of work. This almost makes it seem as her life is void of meaning, "What 'll we do with ourselves this afternoon?" cried Daisy, "and the day after that, and the next thirty years?" Gatsby, on the other hand is the complete contrast of this. He is in the less fashionable, but certainly tolerable "new money" situation of West Egg. He has worked to acquire his wealth , even if he has done it through illegal means, "A lot of these newly rich people are just big bootleggers, you know." He has built up a great wealth from nothing, as he was born into a common life, with nothing but a dream, or an
The book The Great Gatsby is written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it’s a narrative told from the perspective of Nick Carraway. He tells the story of the tragic life of Jay Gatsby and talks about the society of the wealthy people with high social status. He talks about the conflict between the two huge power Tom and Gatsby, due to their similarity in their money and social status, while they compete for dominance and masculinity by fighting over Daisy. Through Nick’s narration and his close relationship with Gatsby, the readers realize that the motive behind everything that Gatsby does is to win back Daisy’s heart to repeat the past, the first time when he fell in love with Daisy.