Thesis Statement: In “The Great Gatsby”, the author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, explores how the social classes of the twenties affected society negatively as a whole, creating a corrupt thought of what the “American dream” truly is.…
The mystery behind Jay Gatsby allows for him to become one of the most intriguing members of the upper class. As Gatsby’s background unravels, it becomes clear that Fitzgerald chose Jay Gatsby as the main character because he defies every social normality in the 1920’s. By Fitzgerald’s writing, the reader realizes that Gatsby’s mindset separates him from others. Everything Gatsby has accomplished in the past five years is because of his dedication, ambition, and integrity in following in his dreams which Fitzgerald greatly admires. The social class one is born into is the one they belong to their entire life, unless you are Jay Gatsby. Although Gatsby attempts to convince people that his entire life has consisted of lavish and wealthy things,…
F. Scott Fitzgerlds novel The Great Gatsby portrays the corrupted lives of the wealthy in New York during the 1920’s. It mainly focuses on, the main character, Jay Gatsby. He was born into a poverty ridden family under the name James Gatz, but at seventeen he chose to venture away from his family and fabricate his past. From then on he would be known as Jay Gatsby a wealthy entrepreneur from Oxford because he wanted to impress his young love Daisy Buchanan. This book was an interesting read because I realized changing yourself into something different never leads to anything good. In fact, Gatsby tried to change himself for love and it ultimately lead to his demise. I also learned to accepting yourself is important because life is so much…
Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is the illustration of the contemporary American society of the Jazz Age. It is noted in the text that social status and class prevail there and play very significant roles concerning various issues in the light of American Dream. This classification is mainly an aftermath of World War One because of disillusionment and pursuit of wealth. Three types of social class people, upper class, middle class, and lower class, are nicely presented by Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby. The dominance of the rich over the poor is a noted effect of this social stratification in this novel. People try to change their existed social class and upgrade reputation by any means. As a result, the characters of the novel become…
The three texts present a similar point that the true appearance of the upper class is only revealed through a character’s words and actions with their appearance deceiving society from recognising their true identity and as a result “worshippers of wealth, status and beauty have collected around false idols” . In “The Great Gatsby”, “The Importance of Being Earnest” and “The rape of lock” the upper classes are often portrayed positively on the surface and it is only when you look past this that the shallowness, superficiality and arrogance become apparent. The three authors all realise the power of aesthetics across all three of their eras with a sense that the authors, like Nick Carraway, themselves are “both enchanted and repelled” by the…
In The Great Gatsby there is a wide range of social and economic classes ranging from wealthy to poor and everything in between. Examples of wealth include Gatsby himself,…
Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is a representation of American society of Roaring Twenties having three social class divisions amid the pursuit of American Dream and presenting the changing trend of social, economic and relationship freedom of females relating to gender, race, ethnicity, sex and sexuality within the class framework found in the portrayal of the characters. Divided people into the old money upper-class, the Buchanans and Jordan Baker; the new money upper-class, Gatsby; the middle class, Nick; and the working class, the Wilsons and minor ones based on wealth and family background are prevailed in the ways of their differences regarding education, residence, earning source, life style, reputation and attitudes.…
I think the word that can sum up many of the themes in The Great Gatsby is position. The word encompasses themes like class, wealth, social standing, and others. Gatsby's whole life is spent trying to attain money and status so that he can reach a certain position in life. That theme is similar to the theme of the poem “Richard Cory”, the factory workers, the lower class like Gatsby, look up to Richard Cory, the upper class like Tom and Daisy, and you are given a sense that they would do anything to be in his place or at least even with him in class and social stature. Daisy and Tom show how people can use their position to look down on others and live their life carelessly. As Nick says about Daisy, "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."(page 17) It is this that allows them to do whatever they…
As a mysterious novel based on the Roaring Twenties, The Great Gatsby’s intriguing view on society helps people come to terms over how society has or has not changed throughout the decades. During this era, people in the upper class were split into “old money”, people who were part of a rich family, and “new money”, people who have self-made riches. In the novel, Jay Gatsby symbolized “new money” while Tom and Daisy Buchanan symbolized “old money”. This would be a crucial factor in the outcome of the book. Believing that their “old money” will save them from their repetitive mistakes and infidelities, Daisy and Tom Buchanan’s constant carelessness may lead to people despising them symbolizing how society in the 1920s was not as glamorous as…
Today people show how much money they have in different ways that don't include just plain saying that they have money. They hang out with certain people and go to certain places. Some people want to change their social class. For example a poor farmer’s daughter may want to associate with the upper class rather than the lower class where she came from but to do this she would have to change “social class.” This is what Gatsby did. He was born poor and worked his way to money. He wanted this change in social class and he went for it. Some people think this is no big deal to change social class because you surround yourself with who you want to be like. I think that it is stupid to change social class. There is no point. Everyone should accept everyone no matter the social class. If they don't do this and accept you as you then why would you want to associate with them?…
The Great Gatsby is a classic novel in which many characters lives revolve around money, however money cannot buy happiness. F. Scott Fitzgerald pursued many things writing the book The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald offers many themes in the book he shows power, greed, and betrayal. Fitzgerald showed Gatsby as a Fitzgerald carefully sets up his novel into distinct groups but, in the end, each group has its own problems to contend with, leaving a powerful reminder of what a precarious place the world really is. By creating distinct social classes old money, new money, and no money Fitzgerald sends strong messages about the elitism running throughout every strata of society.…
In conclusion, there are many factors of how wealth and social status is portrayed in this story. The location of where the characters live, how Gatsby’s portrays his life and the actions of the characters their complicated situations are all factors of their wealth and social status. Wealth is a dangerous privilege. Having money may seem like you have everything, but it can destroy relationships and in this novel, even…
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the main character demonstrates the difference between the traditional rich and the newly rich. West and East Egg of New York, East Egg, which is Beverly Hills of Long Island Symbolizes the grandeur and gulf of the American Dream and West Egg is the more unfortunate side. East and West Egg embody social standing and class. West Egg are the people who don’t have any real standing or moments The Novel also journeys to the 1900’s in the war and arrival in New York, an age of miracles, it was an time of sculpture, it was an age of surplus, and it was an age of mockery. Nick Caraway, recent graduate from Yale arrive home to West Egg to begin a career neighbors to the unknown Jay Gatsby Invited to the home…
The Great Gatsby: decline of America in the 1920s, deals with upper class throughout the novel.…
The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald is a critique of American prosperity, and the endless drive for wealth brought on by the economic growth against the background of Long Island, New York City. The Great Gatsby critiques materialism and the new American Dream, no longer defined by prosperity for equality, but by prosperity for the goal of excess wealth. Nick Carraway, the protagonist, views Jay Gatsby’s disillusionment about Daisy Buchanan, the object of his affection. The tale is not a story about past lovers, but instead represents a cast of characters chasing the American Dream which destroys them. The theme suggests that Americans have created a second form of aristocracy that the original founding fathers tried to escape. Each character…