Gatsby Social Class

In The Great Gatsby, it is argued by Scott Fitzgerald that social class in the 1920s played a large role in shaping the American Dream through his use of the fantasized West and East Egg. West Egg in particular, is identified in his novel to be more of a setting of promise and greatness, in comparison to the actuality that East Egg has to offer: aristocracy. To be specific, Fitzgerald places the characters Nick, Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom in such a setting to emphasize that anything may happen in this “dreamscape”, and that all events lead up to an escape from the hollow shell that is East Egg. East Egg on the other hand, is merely identified as the place of the past, or in other words, the land of only the wealthy-born. Furthermore, in this
great novel, the key idea of modernism in Fitzgerald’s point of view is undoubtedly the old wealth system and the new “American Dream” that is West Egg. To summarize, this essay will focus on Fitzgerald’s overall reaction to both sides of America and the flaws of a society bound for modernism. As described in the novel, East Egg is supposedly a strip of land across from West Egg , in which the characters Daisy and Tom reside. These two characters, are depicted to be somewhat of aristocrats, figuratively in the 1920s. At many instances in the novel, Fitzgerald points out the commonwealth side of America and reveals the idea of inherited wealth as seen in the quote, “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”. Stated by Nick, it is interpreted that he was brought up by the idea that in addition to characteristics, wealth is also distributed “unequally” at birth, a pattern implied to be quite common in the East. From this quote alone, it can also be included that Fitzgerald portrays Nick to be somewhat of a man who sees the country from both perspectives: old and new. Because aristocracy, a system dating back to Britain rule, is preliminary, Fitzgerald may be giving us a glimpse of the dark side of America; a side that should conflicts with the American Dream. By using East Egg as a symbol of this corrupted aristocratic America, one can compare the old and new American values by evaluating the two Eggs closely. More accordingly, West Egg is represented as the “new” America, representing the American dream and all of its values. As seen in the quote, “I lived at West Egg, the – well, the least fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them”, Nick once again mentions a side of America, this time the “new” one. Although it is clearly depicted to be the lesser of the two Eggs, Nick rejects this superficial label on West Egg because he has hope for the American Dream, the new set of values that is incorporated in New York City. Again, Fitzgerald uses Nick to portray his views on modernism, disregarding the old values of wealth by introducing the possibility of the true American Dream that is West Egg. With these two examinations in mind, it can then be identified that Fitzgerald ultimately creates a parallel idea between the ideal sociology of America versus the cold reality. Following the differences between West and East Egg, John Brooks, Ph.D, states that, “ The novel juxtaposes two time periods: an earlier time period in the Middle West presented through narrative suggesting a nostalgic look back toward Victorian times, and a characterization of the modern and industrious East set in present narrative time”. In correlation with the idea previous mentioned, Brooks also infers that Fitzgerald does intentionally refers to the West and the East Eggs as two different “settings”. Because West Egg is depicted to be the present-future, Fitzgerald could be criticizing America’s grasp on the past, which East Egg represents as aristocracy. Differentiating the different time period, Brooks adds on to this idea by also including that the novel is a characterization of values in both time periods of America. In truth, because each setting is inferred to correlate to Fitzgerald’s view on past and present-future America, it is no doubt that each consists of different values. Referring to values, we now once again can focus on the protagonist, Nick. Nick is emphasized as different from the rest of the characters as his standards vary greatly from his East Egg counterparts. As Rina Wolok of Cornell University states, “Nick is never fully enthusiastic about Eastern life, which causes him to discuss it from a more removed perspective, with constant reminders that he is an outsider”. As emphasized, Fitzgerald purposely creates such a character to exaggerate the claim that East Egg is old-fashioned; that it is an outdated America. Because Fitzgerald hints at this belief by implicating Nick as this “outsider”, it is logical to assume that he feels conflicted between America’s old and new values. Using Nick as a symbol character, it is inevitable that he uses this protagonist to disregard and criticize olden values such as aristocracy and the “old” money idea by having Nick’s views contrast that of East Egg. Moreover, Nick may then also serve as a guide to realism in Fitzgerald’s eyes. For example, in the quote, “When I came back from the East last autumn I felt that I wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever”, it is automatically inferred that his views on the world has already changed immediately after leaving East (Egg). What this implies is that after Nick sees the snobbish characteristics and lifestyle that this old-fashioned America has to offer, he realizes that this aristocratic way of life is somewhat unjust and prefers a more moral upbringing in society. In turn, he accomplishes what Fitzgerald has sought out for: revealing to the rest of America that they are blinded by what they perceive to be the truth. Although America is known to be a land of opportunities by many, it is of course not the case with Fitzgerald. Instead of accustoming himself to this value, he disproves it by integrating the “old” side of America, the dark side. A side that is supposedly forgotten by the American people in the 1920s due to the propaganda that all is wonderful and prosperous.
East Egg serves as a model to this dark side, and Nick is supposedly the eye that reveals it. To expand, “Fitzgerald creates the two towns East and West Egg to represent the differences in the American Dream.” as stated by Liamarie Snyder of St.
John Fisher College. Now that each Egg has been properly addressed, it can be further interpreted that each one not only define different social classes, but also different American Dreams as well. Snyder adds on by stating how “West Egg was for the dreamers like Gatsby who often dreamt of being with Daisy, and for Nick Carraway who wanted to be a successful businessman because that’s all he could be even though he came from wealth”. In regards to the present-future America that was discussed, Snyder feels as if West Egg is the modern side of America, the side that is allegedly what America should be. However, this dreamscape is of course, only a dream for Fitzgerald for neither character of West Egg accomplishes the goals set out for them. Gatsby meets a tragic end, for he does not get his dream that is Daisy. Nick also does not accomplish his goals of becoming a successful business man for he remains poor in the end. Although this American Dream should be the foundation of what the country stands for, it is deemed to be overshadowed by the old values of East Egg. On the other hand, Snyder describes how East Egg was for “the superficial materialistic lovers such as Tom and Daisy Buchanan who flaunted the money they had and what they were able to do with it”. Discussed beforehand, Snyder also believes that East
Egg is “superficial”, in other words a corrupt side of America. What is interesting about this view on East Egg is that although described to be as tainted as it is, the people who are categorized in this setting live the old “American Dream” to the fullest. Both Tom and Daisy, although described to be “careless people” who “smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness” are not affected whatsoever in the end. Even though Tom commits adultery, he escapes all blame and leaves with his wife, Daisy in the end regardless. Daisy, after committing a hit-and-run homicide, leaves with Tom and avoids any means of punishment. Ironically, the protagonists who work their way up to meet the expectations of “new” America fail miserably whereas the corrupt aristocrats are seemingly spared from disaster. Perhaps inducing satire, Fitzgerald is intentionally pointing out the flaws of a society bound for modernism by revealing the corruption that underlies. In conclusion, Fitzgerald takes the reader on an amazing journey based on 1920s America only to ridicule the modernist approach that the country desperately strives for.
It is made clear now, that although America has set upon itself a list of key values such as hard work, determination, and hope in order to lead the way to the success of the individual, it denies the fact that such values are seemingly lost in the seas of morality. By exploring the differences between the two sides of America: old and new, through Fitzgerald’s interpretations of them as West and East Egg, we now understand the rift in our social hierarchy. Not only are we prohibited from moving forward as a nation into our new sets of values and beliefs because of our flawed society but also because of our very own corruption and greed. As the characters in The Great Gatsby had demonstrated, it is due to our own materialistic desires for the cause of nothing but our own American Dream itself that leads to our own demise. According to Fitzgerald’s point of view, our moral principles are of that of ashes for we set ourselves in a position that is willingly vulnerable to faults and failure. Due to the existence of two different sides of America, we can only infer that an American Dream is not possible for all. Rather, the dream is ultimately a figment of reality to those who are not born into its grasp. Those who are fortunate enough, in this case Tom and Daisy, are not imprinted with the burden
with reality, for they escape the hardships of the struggle to complete a dream. Gatsby, unfortunately, was not one of these people for he had met his demise although he had stayed true to the “American” values. In retrospect, it is only logical to see that Fitzgerald has unfolded Gatsby’s tragic story to construct a clear understanding of the flaws in the American Society. Ironic to the belief that all hard work will eventually pay off, Fitzgerald contradicts this ideology by ending the life of a man who followed all codes of conduct to achieve the American Dream. His statement in The Great Gatsby, through the observations discussed in this essay, is now made explicit. The American Dream is dead. No matter how much an individual try to accomplish this dreamscape, it is simply impossible when social hierarchy, a system of the past comes into play. All in all, as Fitzgerald mentioned in the last lines of this great novel, We beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past: no matter how hard we push on, the past will always hold us back.