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Effects Of Social Class In The Great Gatsby

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In Rita Dove's words, "The American Dream is a phrase we'll wrestle with all our lives." She isn't wrong, and this idea has been crystal clear for ages. For instance, in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby, set in the Roaring Twenties, shortly after World War 1, highlights Nick Carraway’s life after moving to a new estate. The novel shows the battles of social class and the fight to obtain wealth/riches. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses characterization and symbolism to reveal the meaning of social class, its effects, and the real American Dream.
Fitzgerald explains the meaning of social class through characterization and symbolism. Nick Carraway meets an old friend, Tom Buchanan, who is married to Nick’s cousin, Daisy Buchanan. …show more content…

When Nick meets Gatsby for the first time, he has a peculiar conversation with him in the car that makes Nick rethink Gatsby’s real personality. Nick thinks, “He hurried the phrase “educated at Oxford,”...as though it had bothered him now. And with this doubt, his whole statement fell to pieces, and I wondered if there wasn’t something a little sinister about him.” (Fitzgerald 65) The author characterizes Gatsby as someone who studied at a high-level university but adds words such as “hurried the phrase” to prove he is lying. This contradiction makes Gatsby seem cheap and proves he wasn’t popular or rich in his early days. Instead, he builds many lies to make people think he's always been high class and reshapes his entire life to seem socially admirable. This deception shows the lengths some people resort to achieve a higher status and illustrates the effects of social classes and status. In addition to characterization, Fitzgerald explores this theme through symbolism. Towards the climax of the book, the author reveals that Jay Gatsby changed his name early in life. He believed it would make him sound and seem like the upper class and bring respect and admiration. Nick observes, “James Gatz…that was his name. He changed it… at the specific moment that witnessed the beginning of his career” (Fitzgerald 98). Gatsby creates many elaborate lies about himself throughout the story to cover his real identity, symbolizing a fear or hope created by social status. Gatsby is scared of people learning that he came from a poor family because it will affect people’s views of his status and background. This paranoia is an effect of the status system. Fitzgerald critiques this effect and reveals how much social class can control and change one, such as Gatsby. To conclude, characterization and symbolism illustrate the effects of social

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