American Dream And Socioeconomic Background In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

Kristin Nguyen, Mr. Polly, AP Language and Composition, 9 March 2024.

The American Dream and Socioeconomic Background in The Great Gatsby The 1920s, also known as the “Roaring Twenties” or the Jazz Age, marked an important point in American history with immense changes in culture and ideology for groups such as African Americans and women. However, these changes weren’t always positive. Economic growth during the time led to great prosperity for some more than others. This issue and how it affects the American dream, the belief that anyone, regardless of background, can achieve success through hard work, is critiqued in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald’s depiction of the characters Gatsby and Myrtle, as well as the words of Andrew

In “The Gospel of Wealth,” Carnegie claims that having a wealthy class of a few is a benefit to society, “Even the poorest can be made to see this, and to agree that great sums gathered by some of their fellow-citizens and spent for public purposes, from which the masses reap the principal benefit, are more valuable to them than if scattered among themselves in trifling amounts through the course of many years.” Having a wealthy class is better for society because they have access to greater funds that will be more impactful for the masses. Carnegie believes Social Darwinism creates this wealthy class, which is the theory that humans are also subject to the laws of natural selection; inevitably, there will be competition between people destined for failure or success, “It is here; we cannot evade it; no substitutes for it have been found; while the law [of competition] may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race, because it insures the survival of the fittest in every department.” Social Darwinism doesn’t take into account prejudice based on uncontrollable factors such as the social class Gatsby could never shed himself of