Examples Of Dehumanization In The Great Gatsby

Imagine a time when there was no dehumanization occurring in the world. It is difficult to think of one because all throughout history there have been multiple cases of dehumanization. A few examples of texts that contain the topic of dehumanization as one of the main themes are The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Grapes of Wrath is the story about a poor farming family, the Joads, that got kicked off their land during the time of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. They move to California because their belief in the American Dream; they have high hopes that they will find work and have a better life. The Great Gatsby is a tale of rich people and love. Jay Gatsby, or previously James Gatz,

James Gatz, the son of poor farmers in North Dakota, who was in love with a girl from an old money, rich family. He was motivated by the American Dream and his love for the rich girl, Daisy. Gatz moved to New York City and achieved the American Dream but was not happy. He created a new name for himself, Jay Gatsby. He desperately wanted to be old money to impress Daisy so she would fall in love with him. Fitzgerald condemned the American Dream by showing how even though Gatsby became rich, he was not happy nor did he have a happy life. Tom Buchanan dehumanized Gatsby by how he thought badly of him because he was nouveaux riche. Tom was old money. Nick was also newly rich like Gatsby. He dehumanized the Buchanans in the fact that he thought of them as careless except when it comes to their image or their money. Nick Carraway, the narrator of The Great Gatsby, provides criticism of the wealthy or rather the old money. “They were careless people-Tom and Daisy-they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made…,” (Fitzgerald 179). In The Great Gatsby both Gatsby and Nick were thought of as poor because they were nouveaux riche rather that old money like Tom and Daisy. Nick is dehumanizing Tom and Daisy, the wealthy,

Even though there may be compelling evidence that may lead a reader to think that color imagery is the best technique used by both authors to show dehumanization, a closer examination of the text reveals that there is more evidence supporting the fact that characterization of the social classes is, in fact, the best technique used. The fact that the a recurring topic within both The Grapes of Wrath and The Great Gatsby is about the characterization of the social classes.The characterization of the classes is more relevant to discuss in today’s society. Dehumanization is one of the results of the characterization of the social classes because members of one social class characterize members of the other sometimes in negative ways that causes a picture of a member in the opposite class as something less than human and easier to clash with. The Joad’s neighbor, Muley Graves, had a picture in his mind of the wealthy and he described them as a monster who could not be stopped. Color imagery is, in fact, not the best technique used by Fitzgerald and Steinbeck to show dehumanization and condemn the American