Preview

The Great Gatsby Influence On Society

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1020 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Great Gatsby Influence On Society
In the 1920’s, the main goal for society was to reach its ideal version of the American Dream. One would think that achieving the American Dream meant conquering all odds and prospering in life, but instead was considered an ambition for society in order to assemble money and wealth. The main character, Gatsby, was portrayed as an outsider in his own society because of the methods he acquired to reach prominence. As a result of his advancement, Gatsby’s social class placement was modified making him a member of the higher class in society. He felt that the only way for him to be accepted in the upper-class was to throw massive parties proving to the other members of the upper-class that he is worthy in being in their presence. In a way, Gatsby …show more content…
When Nick is invited to one of Gatsby’s parties, he arrives describing the scenery that he notices and how amazing it was. “I watched his guests from the tower of his raft, or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach...On week-ends his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus...while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains”(39). The repetition of the word “his” show the wealth Gatsby as acquired and illustrating how far he will go in order for people to acknowledge who he is. Nick further on discovers that the “guests” who attended Gatsby’s parties weren’t invited, but actually just show up showing that society's expectations require a lot from an individual in order for acceptance given that Gatsby must flaunt his possessions just so he can make an impression and hopefully get consent from other people located on the top of the economic ladder. Along with showing off his belongings, Gatsby gives people a false sense of who he really is by reporting a bad background on himself. After Gatsby’s party, Nick meets up with him and they decide to go to lunch together and on their way, Gatsby brings up his background. He tells Nick that he is a child of wealthy parents from the midwest that have departed followed by his accomplishments, however Nick feels that Gatsby isn’t being completely honest. “For a …show more content…
At the end of the book, confrontation broke out between Tom and Gatsby. The more Tom accused Gatsby of suspicion the less attracted Daisy became to him even when he tried clearing his name. “But with every word she drawing further and further into herself, so he gave that up, and only the dead dream fought on as the afternoon slipped away”(134). Given the sentence utilizes “dead dream” presents a form of word choice because it states confrontation that Gatsby’s ideal dream, which is to have Daisy to himself, is now dead. Gatsby did everything in his will to win Daisy’s heart and everything was going in his way. Since Daisy is gone from Gatsby’s life, his life has no meaning to it given that everything begins to change. In the beginning of the book, Nick’s description on the green light has a totally different meaning in the beginning of the book to the end. In the beginning, Gatsby is reaching out toward the light not knowing what it is or how it relates to him. “He streched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and far as I was from him…and distinguished nothing except a single green light”(21). At the end, Nick talks about the green light on behalf of Gatsby’s thoughts, “He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fells of the republic

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Gatsby exemplified the “Jazz Age;” he was known for hosting very luxurious and lavish parties on a weekly basis. Gatsby’s view on spending money was that if he had the money, he should spend it. He hosted parties that weren’t just small gatherings though, they were more of a way for people to show off there social status, an excuse to get drunk, and a way to meet ne people. In fact, most of the people who went to Gatsby’s parties didn’t know Gatsby at all; they just went to prove their social status. Nick Carraway, the narrator of the story, explains to us; “I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby’s house I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited. People were not invited- they went there”…

    • 1137 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The 1920’s was a decade full of careless spending, lavish lifestyles and the American dream. Anyone from anywhere could make it in life if they just worked hard enough. The 1920s proved to be a prosperous time for many, in fact so many people thrived in this decade that almost everyone thought that they would eventually grow to be very rich themselves. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby the sumptuous lives of the wealthy and the economic boom in America shaped the characters, plot, and setting of the novel. The effortless spending of the time influenced the lives of the characters as well as the background of the story.…

    • 947 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald, shows different views of his characters throughout showing his eagerness, selling out, the American dream, et cetera. Of the considerable number of subjects, maybe none is more very much created than that of social stratification. The Great Gatsby is viewed as a splendid bit of social critique, offering a striking look into American life in the 1920s. Fitzgerald deliberately sets up his novel into particular gatherings be that as it may, at last, each gathering has its own particular issues to battle with, leaving an effective indication of what a dubious place the world truly is. By making particular social classes — old cash, new cash, and no cash — Fitzgerald sends solid messages about the elitism running…

    • 1046 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    As Nick travels East his views on his surroundings contrast considerably to those he observed as he was travelling through the west, where he lives. As he enters the East his initial description uses words such as ‘Fashionable’ and ‘Cheerful’ which is a deep juxtaposition to the words used to describe the West i.e. ‘superficial’ or ‘bizarre’. His optimism in travelling East is expressed as he describes the ‘East Egg glittered along the water’ this shows how he sees it across the water as a place of wonder and amazement and that all the lights and colour attract him to it and pull him which is why he is initially so optimistic about going there. America in the 1920’s was described as part of the ‘Jazz age ‘and even though they separated themselves from Europe to avoid a class system there is a very definite divide between the West and East egg. As Nick lives in the West egg which is seen as the ‘less fashionable’ of the two, which runs on new money, with lots of ‘colossal’ mansions ‘squeezed’ together, Nick is, as predicted excited about entering the East egg which is considerably richer and better established.…

    • 1332 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ridge Scholarship Essay

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages

    On the surface, The Great Gatsby reads as a story of thwarted love between a man and a woman. The real theme of the novel, however, encompasses a highly symbolic meditation on 1920’s America as a whole, and, in particular, the disintegration of the American dream in an era of unprecedented prosperity and material excess. Fitzgerald portrays the 1920’s as an era of decaying social and moral values, evidenced in its overarching cynicism, greed, and empty pursuit of pleasure. The reckless jubilance that led to decadent parties and wild jazz music—epitomized in The Great Gatsby by the opulent parties that Gatsby himself hosts every Saturday night—resulted ultimately in the corruption of the…

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    These elaborate parties are the reason for Gatsby becoming so famous around New York. They are lavish gatherings to which many people long to be invited. Gatsby's parties are unbelievably glamorous, yet there is an undercurrent of negative images and commentary running through much of the description which suggests the destructive side of wealth. Most of the characters reveal themselves to be highly materialistic…

    • 309 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    During his life, Frances Scott Fitzgerald had many different influences when it came to his writing. He often used people and events from his life as inspiration in his writing and from that came amazing stories that would go down in history as classics.…

    • 374 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gatsby Vs Buchanan

    • 951 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Gatsby’s parties are always huge successes. While some people come without even meeting Gatsby, simply for the party, a large part of the success of the parties is due to Gatsby himself. Gatsby’s charisma radiates from exterior, and is obvious in one description of him:“He smiled understandingly- much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles ... It understood you just as you wanted to be understood [and] assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey” (p. 48). Gatsby resounds with people. They meet him and feel irresistibly drawn to him. This is because he identifies with them. He is the model of the 1920s- a self-made, hard working man. His determination launched him to this spot, and he continues to use his determination to reach his other goals. Other people can see this, and he makes such an impact on them that in turn they then love to tell their friends and various acquaintances about him, making him lowkey famous. People come to his parties hoping not even to become friends, just to have a good time, because they believe that someone who they can relate to must be looking out for them and be an excellent person of character- even if he isn’t. Even people not intimately close with Gatsby and the Buchanans can see the differences between the two parties- Gatsby’s parties resound with people because his determination is apparent in most every aspect of the…

    • 951 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    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…

    • 1481 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    F. Scott Fitzgerald shows many themes in his novel The Great Gatsby. One of the themes…

    • 467 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the time period of the novel The Great Gatsby by Scott F. Fitzgerald the U.S was in the midst of the famous Jazz Age in which the economy was expanding vastly, but also, shifting social attitudes. The lower class dreamed of living the American Dream that their eyes could see, but were oblivious to the true lives behind the elegant parties, and opulent components that made up the upper class. The rich were covered by a vast blanket of illusion that the poor desperately wanted to be warmed with. Class in The Great Gatsby is a double edged sword. On one side are hard working people trying to inch closer to the American Dream, but on the other side, wealthy men and women who believe they are living…

    • 2335 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby’s life is seen through the eyes of Nick Carraway. He had recently moved to West Egg, a peninsula off of Long Island. Next door lived an eccentric wealthy man named Jay Gatsby. Across the bay, his cousin Daisy lived with her husband in East Egg. Five years ago Daisy and Gatsby had met in her hometown and fell in love briefly before he had to serve in the war. With the arrival of Nick the two were reacquainted. Though many claim that The Great Gatsby was a tragic love story, it was actually a representation of the unattainable american dream. In the novel F Scott Fitzgerald uses Daisy as a metaphor of what Gatsby could never have and what he needed to complete his dream through the use of symbolism and diction.…

    • 263 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Great Gatsby

    • 496 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Like any other American, Jay Gatsby wants to become a model of excellence for others. At the beginning of his adulthood, he is just a “steward, mate, skipper, secretary, and even jailor” (106) while working with the wealthy Dan Cody. When Nick first meets Gatsby, he admires how perfect he is made up to be, despite the rumors he heard at the first party he goes to at Gatsby’s house. “I saw the skins of tigers flaming in his palace on the Grand Canal; I saw him opening a chest of rubies to ease, with their crimson-lighted depths, the gnawings of his broken heart.” (71). Nick’s first impression of Gatsby is exactly what Gatsby wants.…

    • 496 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Learning to read, select, and use evidence to formulate and support arguments was what I learned this semester for writing an essay. The Great Gatsby essay I wrote “Daisy sobbed, “They're such beautiful shirts, it makes me sad because I've never seen such - such beautiful shirts before.’’ (Fitzgerald 92) … money but love as well. The chase for the American Dream and the ideal man destroyed Daisy’s happiness.” In my The Great Gatsby essay when I informed how Gatsby, Daisy and Myrtle destroyed their dreams I used several facts and evidence from the novel to support my thesis.…

    • 99 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the very first defining traits of humans can be seen in their ability to connect. Humans have been gifted with speech and the power to write. Their literature is predicted to have begun from the time of Ancient Egypt and the oldest scriptures that still exist today, date back to 2000 BC. Many litterateurs and scholars constantly study these old texts and one may truly wonder why. The answer lies in the impact that literature leaves behind. By studying these texts, a great deal of information can be found on the lifestyle and society of the era that the text was written, and much could be learned from it. This concept also exists with more recent texts that have had great longevity. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a novel that…

    • 525 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays