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Fitzgerald's Use Of Social Class In Chapter 6 Great Gatsby

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Throughout chapter 6 of The Great Gatsby, social class and status are addressed in a variation of different ways. From the opening of the chapter, we learn about poor Mr. Gatz who's trying to sort his life out of almost nothing at all. An example of this can be seen when Nick is explaining Gatsbys younger years. “...to the small Lutheran college of St. Olaf in southern Minnesota. He stayed there two weeks, dismayed at its ferocious indifference to the drums of his destiny, to destiny itself, and despising the janitor’s work with which he was to pay his way through. Then he drifted back to Lake Superior, and he was still searching for something to do...” (Fitzgerald 99). Gatsbys younger ages were rough, he attended a small college in Minnesota which he had to pay for by working for the school with the embarrassing job of a janitor. …show more content…

He finds a man, Dan Cody, on a yacht and he takes Gatsby with as his assistant. The difference in social status was very big and this led to Gatsby wanting to live like Dan. He set a goal to become rich just like him. With Gatsby at such a low social status it would be very hard for him to achieve what he wants. Going from being in the lowest social class to going up and achieving great amounts money is very extraordinary. An example of social class and social status being negatively portrayed on The Great Gatsby would be when Fitzgerald has Nick go to Gatsbys mansion after not speaking to each other for a good two weeks. “‘You come to supper with me,” said the lady enthusiastically.... Gatsby looked at me questioningly. He wanted to go, and he didn’t see that Mr. Sloane had determined he shouldn’t. “I’m afraid I won’t be able to,” I said. “Well, you come,” she urged, concentrating on Gatsby. Mr. Sloane murmured something close to her ear... “I haven’t got a horse,” said Gatsby. “I used to ride in the army, but I’ve never bought a

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“Lack of Integrity” In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald tells in his story how the upper class lack of integrity. The upper class in Great Gatsby just don’t care about what goes on in life other than what they think is important. The upper class think of themselves higher than the other classes because of their social status and if they have old or new money. The upper class lack carelessness, selfishness, and dishonesty.

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The impact of socioeconomic status can be examined through a myriad of lenses. F. Scott Fitzgerald aims to show the relationship between socioeconomic status and power. Throughout The Great Gatsby, Tom’s character shows that socioeconomic status is equivalent to power within the novel. Tom puts great pride and emphasis on his socioeconomic status and wealth.

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In the Great Gatsby, privilege comes into play. Privilege in this context means being born with advantages that you did not earn or work for. Some people have to work to get their money but others are born with money which means that they didn’t have to work for their money. Gatsby for example was not born with money. He had to make his own money by selling and dealing drugs and is now a very wealthy man.

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He longed to be wealthy and to achieve the suave persona he had in his mind. Gatsby was born into a life he wasn’t satisfied with and he wanted to be rich and successful. He didn’t care how he obtained the wealth. He hated the idea that he was poor, so much so that he dropped out of college after two weeks because he despised the measly job he had as a janitor. He always wanted to pursue a wealthy life.

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In The Great Gatsby the characters in the novel come from various social classes. Nick, Daisy, and Tom are from Wealthy families who have been wealthy for a long time. These characters are referred to as “Old rich” because of their families’ long histories of wealth. Jay Gatsby, unlike Daisy and Tom, did not belong to a wealthy family, and he earns his wealth through his own hard work and success. Although Tom and Gatsby are both wealthy, Tom and the other “Old rich” people look down at Gatsby.

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Throughout the novel, Gatsby displays his riches through his mansion, expensive car, and many other things. Nick even describes how extravagant Gatsby’s house is, saying, “The one on my right was a colossal affair by any standard—it was a factual imitation of some Hôtel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden” (Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby 5). As Nick describes, Gatsby’s house is very large and modern, which shows his affluence. Before he became rich and privileged, Gatsby was James Gatz, a poor Midwestern boy who dreamed of becoming wealthy. This dream led Gatsby to do crazy things in order to make money, but it worked out for him in the end.

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While Gatsby was working with Cody, he became motivated to become successful himself in admiration of Dan Cody. After Cody’s death, Gatsby lets this drive him to gain riches of his own. However, he did this in a

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Gerard Way once said, “ Heroes are ordinary people who make themselves extraordinary “. This quote says that heroes are those people who struggle in their lives, work hard and make themselves extraordinary. Published in 1925, The Great Gatsby is a classic piece of American fiction. It is a novel of luxury and tragedy, noted for the way Fitzgerald captured a cross-section of American society. F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel,The Great Gatsby, follows Jay Gatsby, a man who just wants one desire in his life: to be reunited with Daisy Buchanan, the love he lost five years earlier.

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He had the opportunity of creating a big life for himself on his own, but he never took it. This is similar to Sean Parker in the Social Network because he had went to Harvard, but also did not finish. (Find example in movie scene). This shows that neither of the characters valued education, and were somehow brought up and ended up making a lot of money. Their american dream came to them at the time, and didn’t have to work much for until they realized it wasn’t enough and had to try for what they really wanted, which for Gatsby was to have Daisy, and for Parker to have a big website and to be known along with

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The impact of truth and morality by one’s social class How does one’s social class affect one’s honesty and morality? In the book, Fitzgerald makes commentary on various themes, such as the American dream and the passing of time and so on. Of the various themes being illustrate, none is more developed as the impact of social class on one’s moral identity. The book offers vivid peak into the everyday society in time period of the Jazz age. The idea of one’s morality due to one’s identity is being illustrated and explored in the book, as the author, Scott Fitzgerald suggests that honesty and morality are interconnected with one’s authority and social status.

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The novel makes a naturalism argument about people trying to changes social classes, but society does not allow them to do so no matter how hard they try. Throughout the book, there are characters who try to rise from their social classes, but there is one from the new class who tries hard to become a part of the wealthy class. One character who really wanted to break the naturalistic views was Mr. Jay Gatsby. Gatsby had a car that was a “rich cream color, bright with nickel [...with] many layers of glass [and a] green leather conservatory” (Fitzgerald 64).

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"For over a year he had been beating his way along the south shore of Lake Superior as a clam-digger and salmon-fisher or in any capacity that brought him food and bed. (98) This quote shows that Gatsby did not always have the luxuries of his big warm house as a young man, he had to work for shelter. After that and other struggles, he decided he was going to become a successful and wealthy business man. Just like America, that after the trials of the war, went on to the twenties and thrived financially.

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In The Great Gatsby, social status is a significant element in the book as it separates the haves from the have nots. However more importantly, social status portrays the personalities of people belonging to different classes. In the end, you are stuck in the class you are born into, and attempting to change classes only leads to tragedy and heartbreak.     In The Great Gatsby, there are three main social classes portrayed. These are old money, new money, and no money.

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In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, social class is a key theme, as seen by every character having their own distinct class. Tom, Daisy, Jordan, and even Nick are old money, Gatsby is new money, and the Wilson 's are no money. In short, the more money you have, the better off you will be. In the epigraph of the novel, there is a poem by Thomas Parke D 'Invilliers, who is a fictional character created by Fitzgerald himself. This poem is about using materialism to win over the affection of someone, which is exactly what Gatsby tries to do.

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The website wordpress made an article about the social classes in the Great Gatsby, talking about the differences and similarities that both social classes in the book have with each other, from the good things, to all their flaws. “All the characters do not suffer due to lack of funds in life, but from key dimensions within themselves”(wordpress, Poverty in Great Gatsby). All of the characters in the Great Gatsby have some form of funds in their life, but each of them are devoid of certain key aspects of their personality. One of them could have a lack of social wealth, such as Jay Gatsby. Everyone is wealthy and poor, and when this was brought out to the public when this novel was published, this redefined poverty, and wealth as a whole.

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