Examples Of Racism In The Great Gatsby

Many American experiences and perspectives have been overlooked or marginalized. This idea is explored by F. Scott Fitzgerald in his novel The Great Gatsby. Because of discrimination, some groups have been diminished and put down by the rest of society. African Americans, women, and Jewish Americans are dismissed by other people that are in a position of power In the 1920’s, people of color in America were often deemed unworthy of most rights that white people enjoyed. As the book opens, we meet our main character and narrator Nick. When Nick arrives at Daisy’s house, he meets Daisy’s husband, Tom. Tom is rich, white, and has immense power, both literally and figuratively. He is described as a big, hulking physical specimen, and he views the

This mirage that he believes is the truth, shows him that the “white race” will become “submerged” under the sea of other races as time goes on. (Fitzgerald 13). Tom is so consumed by his hate that he can not see the world for how it truly is, and can not see that no one is attempting a coup of his societal throne, they are just trying to gain the same rights that he has. Tom’s dislike of any person with a slightly different skin tone is welded so deep into him that he even reads racist propaganda like “The Rise of the Colored Empires” in his free time, and tries to sway other people to his side by saying that “everybody ought to read it.” (Fitzgerald 12). He wants society to stay exactly the same as it has been for hundreds of years. He doesn’t want people “throw[ing] everything overboard” and having

Some men in the book use their power to take advantage of women, including Tom. Tom calls his mistress “my girl” and shows us that he views her as an object and thinks he owns her. (Fitzgerald 24). Tom doesn’t trust her in any way, he doesn’t believe that she has any value and thinks that she gets “foolish ideas” sometimes. (Fitzgerald 131) He immediately puts her down and makes her feel suppressed no matter what. After Myrtle’s husband finds out that she was cheating on him, he decides to “lock[]” his wife “up there” and keep her away from her other man. (Fitzgerald 123). He then decides that they are moving out west “whether she wants to or not,” in order to get her away from whomever she is seeing. (Fitzgerald 123). The way society worked in the nineteen twenties shows us that many people thought that women shouldn’t be allowed to “run around the country” so freely, and do whatever they wanted. (Fitzgerald 18). Tom especially thinks that women should be loyal and not cheat. The only problem with this logic is that he’s “got some women” in New York that he has been having an affair with. (Fitzgerald 15) This double standard, that he is allowed to cheat, but women are not, shows us that men have a certain power over women; and decide what they can and can not do. This social dynamic leads to men having great power over women, and women not having control over