ipl-logo

Effect Of Social Class In The Great Gatsby

1731 Words7 Pages

Brooke Jankwietz Ms. Clemons Adv. English III 20 March 2023 Effect of Social Classes The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and the poem “Brass Spittoons” by Langston Hughes highlights differences in class status and its effects during the early 20s. The Great Gatsby shows many different representations of social class and status throughout the book. There are also many different symbols and motifs used throughout the novel to help better produce the different social classes. In the book, Fitzgerald uses different characters and places to show class and wealth differences, and their general differences of life because of the class divide. Between the book, and Hughes “Brass Spittoons”, it is shown that separate classes do different things …show more content…

In “Brass Spittoons” Hughes makes the narrator a lower class worker, who is blatantly trying to provide for their family. The narrator is only making “Two dollars a day.” (Hughes, line 15), and they constantly express their need to work. This is expressed by lines like “Babies and gin and church / And women and Sunday / All mixed with dimes and / Dollars and clean spittoons / And house rent to pay.” (Hughes, lines 26 - 30). It seems like the narrator is expressing what’s happening around them, but they still need to work to be able to have all of these things. These things specifically show that if less fortunate people don’t work for what they need, they can lose what they have. This is also expressed in The Great Gatsby by the character of George Wilson. George is characterized as the exhausted owner of a run-down auto shop at the edge of the valley of ashes. Nick describes George as a “blond, spiritless man, anaemic and faintly handsome” (Fitzgerald 17). This description hints that if George was not lower class, then he would most-likely be a handsome blond man with some vitality. George and the protagonist in “Brass Spittoons” are both characters that show they still need work to provide for their families, but since they’re providing for their families, they need to work more. It seems to be a cycle of constantly working to provide, but when they …show more content…

For example, Tom would represent upper class, Nick would represent a more middle class type, and George would be lower class. Tom is old money, and throughout the book he seems to be the main character of the upper class status. He went to Yale, just as Nick did, but he played on the football team and some people even disliked him. Although he and Nick were in the same senior society, they were never really intimate with one another, but Nick had the impression that “[Tom] had approved of [Nick] and wanted [Nick] to like [Tom] with some harsh, defiant wistfulness of his own” (Fitzgerald 7). This is an example of looking for societal approval because he’s

Show More
Related
891 Words | 4 Pages

Eugene Lyons wrote about the realities of the idealistic notions of rags-to-riches. His life was riddled with hardship as he was growing up as an immigrant on the East Side of New York. In his essay, “Revolt against Ugliness,” Lyons spoke of how deep emotion feelings were invoked in people when they heard the stories of folks pulling themselves up by the bootstraps. He pointed out that the stories of success are not written by those who never get a leg up, but rather the “true or near true stories” are authored by the few and far between who make it out of poverty and hardship. The grim truth he spoke of was that even the youth had to work in order to help their family earn money for the bare necessities of food, shelter and clothing.

Read More
1462 Words | 6 Pages

In the 1920’s, the largely wealthy white community was deemed superior to the lower class. In ‘The Great Gatsby’, Nick acknowledges that some people are born with, “a sense of the fundamental decencies [that] is parcelled out unequally at birth” (pg. 7). This is a metaphor, and it highlights the idea that social class is not solely determined by wealth or material possessions, but also by the intangible qualities and values that one is born into. An illustration of this is protagonist Jay Gatsby, a self-made businessman who makes a fortune by unlawful means. Despite his wealth, the Old Money elite still see him as an outsider and despise him for his lack of social standing.

Read More
1112 Words | 5 Pages

Many times in America there has been issues about class division, even today will still have that problem. As (Document E) declares “…it is god who makes some poor, and others rich; that the rich have many troubles, which we know nothing of; and that the poor , if they are but good, may be very happy…”. This statement not only reveals that poor are not always the ones who pursuit crime, but also that the rich has problems of their own. It shows that the poor struggle and work hard as possible to sustain a suitable, as (Document E) states “ when he sees little boys and girls riding on pretty horses, or in coaches, or walking with ladies and gentlemen, and having on very fine clothes, he does not envy them, nor wish to be like them” . This illuminates that rather than the poor being jealous of the rich, they embrace who they are, and work hard in order to reach a descendant life..

Read More
881 Words | 4 Pages

‘No’, Cherry said slowly when I said this. ‘It’s not just money. Part of it is, but not all’” (38). This quote proves that the wealth the Greasers and the Socs have separate the two social classes. Even though their wealth is not a large part of what differentiates them, it still makes a big difference when it comes to their appearances because if they have less money, they do not have as nice of a neighborhood or clothes, which then causes the two social classes to stereotype each other.

Read More
818 Words | 4 Pages

Fitzgerald uses one of the main characters in the book, Tom, to display shallowness. Tom displays his shallowness consistently with segregation and hatred toward the lower classes. “It's up to us, who are the dominant race, to watch out or these other races will have control of things.”

Read More
1244 Words | 5 Pages

 Author Fitzgerald conveys his desire for a less greedy society through the utilization of symbols and details with a materialistic connotation.     Commencing on the topic of the author’s advocation for a

Read More
734 Words | 3 Pages

Today’s society is centered around public reputation and personal affluence. This ideology is also reflected in the pre-twentieth century era, through the short passage, “On the Want of Money,” by William Hazlitt. Hazlitt uses various literary devices throughout his passage to describe his feelings towards the lack of money. He uses varied sentence structure and voice language, and a hatred tone to emphasize his displeasure towards the lack of money and society’s ridicule on impoverished people.

Read More
792 Words | 4 Pages

The impact of socioeconomic status can be examined through a myriad of lenses. F. Scott Fitzgerald aims to show the relationship between socioeconomic status and power. Throughout The Great Gatsby, Tom’s character shows that socioeconomic status is equivalent to power within the novel. Tom puts great pride and emphasis on his socioeconomic status and wealth.

Read More
1070 Words | 5 Pages

In this cartoon, Pullman is seen to be suffocating the life out of one of his workers in which “low wages” and “high rent” are the defying factors of life or death. Not only does this show the attitudes the upper class had towards the lower class, but it shows the unfair treatment people experiecned if they were not a part of a wealthy group. It proves that this “injustice” could have been prevented to some extent. It gives context to why the lower class were trapped in their lifestyle. Because of this, the economy would face even more problems and challenges in the future like constant depressions in company with several union strikes and

Read More
1581 Words | 7 Pages

The article focuses on the real-world and current-day problems that people from social classes face. This sad but true recognition of social class hierarchies is shown throughout Ruth Whippman’s writing. Research and data collection shows that a “child born poor” in the United States has a higher chance of “remain[ing] poor” (article), more than in any other similar country. The data shows just how trapping the societal advances of social classes are. The disheartening facts found after performing these studies can have similarities drawn to Mr. Fitzgerald’s world-renowned novel.

Read More
747 Words | 3 Pages

Not only does the amount of wealth affect social class, but the type of wealth also affects it. It even affects where people live and who people marry as seen with Gatsby and Daisy. The characters social standing affect who they interact and how they are perceived by others. Fitzgerald highlights the different class structures like “New rich” and “Old rich” and the impact of wealth on the people’s lives in those classes. He also shows the superficial nature of the characters and highlights the value placed on wealth.

Read More
879 Words | 4 Pages

In “The Great Gatsby” Fitzgerald presents editorial on an assortment of topics, — equity, control, insatiability, treachery, the American dream. Of the considerable number of subjects, maybe none is more all around created than that of social stratification. The Great Gatsby is viewed as a splendid bit of social discourse, offering a clear look into American life in the 1920s. Fitzgerald deliberately sets up his novel into particular gatherings in any case, at last, each gathering has its own issues to battle with, leaving an effective indication of what a problematic place the world truly is. By making unmistakable social classes — old cash, new cash, and no cash — Fitzgerald sends solid messages about the elitism running all through each stratum of society.

Read More
537 Words | 3 Pages

Fitzgerald expressed that social class defines a person and their personality. You can’t escape the social class you were born into, and you can’t fake it either. Your roots will always show through. The overall message Fitzgerald was trying to send to the reader is to accept your social status and don’t take it for granted. Someone will always be better than you, therefore accept what you have and be

Read More
708 Words | 3 Pages

In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, social class is a key theme, as seen by every character having their own distinct class. Tom, Daisy, Jordan, and even Nick are old money, Gatsby is new money, and the Wilson 's are no money. In short, the more money you have, the better off you will be. In the epigraph of the novel, there is a poem by Thomas Parke D 'Invilliers, who is a fictional character created by Fitzgerald himself. This poem is about using materialism to win over the affection of someone, which is exactly what Gatsby tries to do.

Read More
619 Words | 3 Pages

In the 1920’s, social classes were divided with a large gap. The poor wanted nothing to do with the rich, and the rich wanted even less to do with the poor. In the novel “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, he uses the class structure in the 1920’s to redefine poverty. While the rich people in the novel are material rich, they are still “poor” socially and psychologically. Poverty is shown in a differently in this book than other books being written in this time era, and in doing this, it shows the rich what they are, and how they treat others from a different perspective.

Read More

More about Effect Of Social Class In The Great Gatsby

Related Topics

Open Document