Compare the ways in which Colson Whitehead and F. Scott Fitzgerald present power in The Underground Railroad and The Great Gatsby, with reference to your wider reading… In The Great Gatsby and The Underground Railroad, both F. Scott Fitzgerald and Colson Whitehead explore the effects of power. Fitzgerald does this through the idea of inherited wealth and romantic relations, we follow the narrator Nick’s thoughts about how Gatsby attempts to entice the woman of his dreams while learning about the mystery of his background as he rises to extraordinary power through lack of, and gains of wealth. The setting of the Roaring Twenties in New York highlights the extreme value of money. Fitzgerald’s explanations of the American dream further illustrate …show more content…
Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby to be based on inherited wealth and patriarchal power. This is shown masterfully through Tom’s character. In chapter 1, Fitzgerald’s uses dialogue to present Tom as a morally bigoted character as he talks about a book that justifies discrimination towards coloured people. Tom mentions: “it’s a fine book, and everyone ought to read it.” The collective pronoun “everyone” shows an enthusiasm towards the book and the affirming modal verb “ought to” towards the book shows his feelings of superiority and self-belief due to his higher status. In Chapter 2, Tom breaks Myrtle’s nose after she teases him mentioning “Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!”. Fitzgerald writes this to show a cruel side of privilege as his loyalty to Daisy is mocked by the woman he is cheating on her with. The repetitions of “Daisy” is set as a reminder that Tom is cheating, and no repercussions are presented when Myrtle’s nose is broken showing that Tom has a physical and socially acceptable power over women due to his higher status and wealth. Tom’s feeling of superiority over everyone is further illustrated in chapter 8 when he shouts that “She’s not leaving me!” when Gatsby tries to claim that Daisy was always in love with him. Tom’s impolite reference to his wife through the pronoun “she” shows a feeling of higher authority. Fitzgerald uses the anger towards Gatsby to represent a slight insecurity within Tom, as despite his status, he may now lack the power within love and purpose. This is further shown in Chapter Seven where Fitzgerald writes that “Tom was feeling the hot whips of panic”, suggesting a realisation of the loss of Daisy becoming a realisation in loss of purpose. Tom goes on to say that Daisy wouldn’t leave him, “certainly not for a common swindler who’d have to steal the ring he put on her finger.” The insulting noun “swindler” shows Tom’s disagreement with ‘new money’ and presents an image of Tom’s social standing above