Social classes represent the hidden structure of America, as well as in several other countries in the world. If one is unsatisfied with the social class they are born into, however, is it possible for them to change it? The answer is yes, they can, as per evidence from real life situations and from The Great Gatsby. Some might say that it is impossible to change the social class one is born into. In their opinion, if that person is born poor, consequently they will certainly die poor.
Many individuals believe that The Great Gatsby is a romantic novel because the novel is about Gatsby’s determined quest for Daisy. The novel also contains many affairs. Arguably, Fitzgerald’s award-winning novel takes a deep look into the worst aspects of society. The Great Gatsby is about the classism, superficiality, and recklessness of the 1920’s. Classism is the main factor that prevented Daisy and Gatsby from being a couple.
Fitzgerald uses Nick as a good example of a middle class compared with Gatsby. Nick also known as the (person telling the story) has a house that is carefully thought about/believed an "eye sore" which means that Nick's house needs more improvement. It is also known as an over looked house because it is a regualar home that need a little bit of fixing or home improvement. Nick only pays $80 per month for his house but still lives the rich (way of living) like Gatsby. Nick is a type of person that is an (usual/ commonly and regular/ healthy) person should look during the "American Dream" which Is ok to be in a middle class.
In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald attacks the rich class in the book and talks about the classes between two different types of wealthy people and those who live in the valley of ashes. There are the people like Daisy, Tom, and Jordan that were born rich, which they had gotten their money from their family and they were called “old money”. The “old money” thought they were better than the “new money”. The “new money” were people wasn’t born with money, which they had to work or earn their money to have it. Gatsby was called “new money”.
t was winter holidays, and I made a rare trip to Brisbane City with my family, quicky putting into perspective the social class divide within our community. Turning the city street corners, in my jeans and puffer jacket, I walked past 4-5 homeless people, curled up for warmth. Their demoralising reality is so distant to my own – suburban house, small white dog, air-conditioning to accommodate Queensland’s unpredictable weather. From this city trip, I couldn’t help but notice we are constantly living in a social divide, and now, as critically consuming teenagers, we are becoming aware.
The superposition of the social class structure is developed through the accumulation of money a person or family has acquired . Some may work long and hard to change their status, while others may have their fate handed to them from someone who paved the way for their future generations. This social class hierarchy is the basis for the conflict found in the book, The Great Gatsby. The feeling of superiority can be found uniformly in the characters portrayed in the book as the upper class. As a result of this the upper class is represented in a way that highlights their negligent and arrogant ways of being.
“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). This quote captures the advantages the upper class has because of their money. Tom and Daisy’s actions left three people dead, yet they received no punishments .They put all their baggage on the lower class, and left them to pick up the pieces. In The Great Gatsby, the theme of social class is very significant in the book. Scott F. Fitzgerald used the theme of social class to show the reader that it plays a much bigger role in life.
The Great Gatsby is arguably Scott Fitzgerald’s most excellent portrayal of the American society in the 1920s when the country was undergoing an unprecedented economic boom. Through its theme of a romantic and prosperous love, the novel offers a strong indictment of the normalization of competing interests that bordered on greed and selfishness. Jay Gatsby, the novel’s principal and central character, seems to know everybody and yet is still somehow unknown to everyone. Gatsby is an extremely ambitious young man who challenges and breaks out of the shackles of social stratification with the abundant fortune he obtains throughout the years by insisting devotion to his pursuit of the American dream. Gatsby also utilizes this massive affluence
In The Great Gatsby, social stratification is a main theme. The novel is set in a time of skyrocketing growth in the economy and businesses, but this wealth was not evenly distributed. Instead, there was a clear divide between the "old money" families, such as Daisy Buchannan, who inherited their wealth and social status, and the "new money" families, who made their fortunes through business and industry, like Gatsby. This divide causes a rift between the two communities and leads to prejudice and hate. Despite his wealth, Gatsby is never fully accepted into the upper echelons of society because he lacks the social status of the old money families.
Throughout the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald depicts two different kinds of wealth, “old money” and “new money.” “Old money” refers the the families who have been wealthy for generations and are likely to be hypocritical and judgmental of others that are not in their class. Examples of “old money” include Tom, Daisy and Jordan. They do not flaunt their wealth as much as the people of “new money” and tend to be respected by others making many social connections with other respected members of society. On the other hand, people of “new money” are flashy and tend to have extravagant items in order to show the world of their prosperity and compensate for their lack of inheritance.
Throughout the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays power and privilege through the characterization of the working lower class society in order to showcase their inferiority during the time period. Set during the mid-1920’s the novel is set in New York which is mostly run by the actions of the people in Long Island - specifically East Egg and West Egg. Fitzgerald is able to not only depict the lifestyle of those of live in the poorer valley of ashes but also draw insight on how their lives are impacted by the actions inhabitants of Long Island as they are unable to build a life that could bear semblance to the American Dream The use of various literary devices enabled Fitzgerald was able to quickly distinguish between the
Social class is a division in society based on social and economic status. This division exceeds race, sex and ethnicity with each class having its own standards. Many people think that it is difficult to switch social classes. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby demonstrated that it is possible to attain a higher social class by learning how to act around others, making connections with people and earning lots of money. Elevating one’s social status is easier when one is educated on the proper way to interact with the chosen social class.
The Roaring Twenties was the beginning of a new era for Americans as the economy grew rapidly due to high demands of consumption, which offered the golden opportunity for people to rise up the social pyramid from the lower to the upper class. One example of the social class rising dream is the striving love for Daisy from Gatsby. In the first past five years, the dream is unachievable, and even as it has a higher possibility to be fulfilled later on, the hope is finally demolished once Daisy decides to choose Tom over Gatsby, a similar situation for most Americans trying to obtain materialistic items, but ultimately fail to achieve the dreams. F. Scott Fitzgerald illustrated in the American classic The Great Gatsby the difference in social
Tom, Daisy and the Jordan belong to the “New Money”, in which they are inherited with the wealth and authorities. Money and power is the main motivation for many characters in the story, as they believe that wealth and power can bring eternal happiness. “I am still afraid of missing something if I forget that, as my father snobbishly suggests, and I snobbishly repeat, a sense of fundamental decencies is parcelled out unequally at birth.” (Fitzgerald 2) Through this quote, the author expresses the unequal social class and authority that individuals struggle with at a young age. The people in east egg are characterized as the “ Old money”, in which they spend their time amusing themselves.
Class status has to do with a series of different aspects that relate to the degree of luxury in terms of wealth and lifestyle. From a generic viewpoint, class refers to a wealth concept that characterizes your lifestyle, assets, and family income. Although there are three generic categories for assessing one’s level of wealth (lower, middle, and upper class), is it possible for there to be a significant fluctuation in amount of wealth over a long period of time that culminates to a change in lifestyle? This question is one of the central themes of a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald known as The Great Gatsby. Jay Gatsby is a key character in this book that attained a lot of wealth throughout their lives, but passed away by the completion of the story.
