Critique Of Society In The Great Gatsby

It is easy to look through a window and criticize those that walk by, yet even easier to forget that the window partially reflects you as well. When writers use literature to criticize the way society functions, as F. Scott Fitzgerald does in The Great Gatsby, they also reflect those very societal values because being a part of society means a purely objective perspective is unattainable. This can often come across as being hypocritical, which there is not shortage of current events. The question is to what extent can people, specifically writers, criticize society despite being a part of it? In The Great Gatsby, Tom and Myrtle’s relationship is trapped; however, Fitzgerald explores the motives behind the affair to both critique the superficiality and defend the ideals of the social institution of marriage. Like a bird in a cage, to be trapped is to have your

Despite Tom and Myrtle being trapped characters, the author was able reveal fundamental truths about society from their point of limited freedom. Nonetheless, these truths clashed as a result of them being extracted by a member of society. The marriages in The Great Gatsby are superficial but we cannot consider them true; therefore, the resulting message is a synthesis of these two aspects. Furthermore, Fitzgerald’s critique of society is an exemplar for all writers who wish to do so because in it, he effectively demonstrates the effects of societal influence on the critique. It is no wonder that artists who attack society often exclude themselves from it; they are trying to limit how they become influenced. These are extreme examples but we can also find ourselves questioning the way society functions. If so, remember how pointing through the window also means pointing at a faint reflection of yourself, a reflection which was nurtured by society, a reflection which may defend the very ideas you are trying to