ipl-logo

Gender Roles In The Great Gatsby

780 Words4 Pages

Leah Ballin
Mrs. Beaird
LAIII
4 October 2016
Social Roles in the 1920’s
Everyone strives to live the perfect life, it’s the American Dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays this in The Great Gatsby. The years in which this book was set were a time when many social roles were present. The Great Gatsby accurately portrays ethnic prejudices and highlights gender roles present during the 1920’s.
In the 1920’s, race was an important factor in deciding how you were treated and what your role was in society. The First World War resulted in a huge economic boom in the United States. Factory production rose quickly to meet the needs of the war. Once the war was over, countries continued to buy American goods. The increased demand led to production lines …show more content…

In The Great Gatsby, Tom talks about a book he has read that has the way to fix the problem. “Civilization’s going to pieces,” broke out Tom violently. “I’ve gotten to be a pessimist about things. Have you read ‘The Rise of the Colored Empires’ by this man Goddard? (Fitzgerald, 17). Tom goes on to explain the ideas in the book. “This fellow has worked out the whole thing. It’s up to us, who are the dominate race, to watch out or these other races will have control of things,” (Fitzgerald, 17). Even the women have the same idea. Daisy goes on the say, “We’ve got to beat them down,” (Fitzgerald, …show more content…

The women of this time were like the bridge between how things used to be and how they are today. In this era, women became more self-confident, more independent, and more emancipated, more like we are today (Ole Reinsch 1). Ladies liked to go out along with their husband and party, but once they got home, it was the woman’s job to take care of household chores. In upper class families, they had hired help to do these jobs. “Only one-third of the women entitled to vote actually did go voting” (Ole Reinsch 1). As exciting as gaining suffrage was for women, a lot of them didn’t feel confident in their right to vote. For so many years it had been totally wrong for ladies to go voting, so for many years after this change in legislation women didn’t feel like they really had the right to vote. Even if the voting didn’t work for some ladies there were still some perks to being a woman in the 1920’s. “The Roaring Twenties heralded a period of prosperity for many access to electricity provided American women with the power required to run new labor saving appliances and enjoy the new inventions and innovations of the period.“

Show More
Related

How Does Fitzgerald Use Gender Roles In The Great Gatsby

289 Words | 2 Pages

By using “arrogant,” Fitzgerald illustrates how Tom carries himself with pride and superiority. Tom knows that because he is a man, he rules the household and has control over everything, so he uses it to his advantage. Men during this

Read More

Rhetorical Precis: The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

391 Words | 2 Pages

Fitzgerald, an American author, in chapter two of his novel “The Great Gatsby” (published in 1925), claims that the rich Americans has the power to do whatever they wish. Fitzgerald made Tom Buchanan an unstoppable bully in this chapter; Tom uses his social status and physical strength to boss those around him, he taunts Wilson while having an affair with Wilson’s wife, he breaks Myrtle’s nose without hesitation, and most importantly, no one tries or dare to stop him. Fitzgerald's purpose is to raise awareness of the wealthy's power in order to prevent them from dominating the lower classes.. He builds an intimate relationship with his audience of readers who are interested in his

Read More

Explain Why The 19th Amendment Was A Turning Point In Women's History

1016 Words | 5 Pages

For the most part women’s history stayed the same from immediately before and immediately after the ratification of the 19th amendment. For example, even though women did have the newly gained right to vote not all of them used it and many women did not vote and would rather go out and have a good time. So, the laws and the politicians that were elected probably did not change or were not affected very much by women gaining the right to vote. Also although more and more women were starting to join the workforce a majority of the women still were housewives and worked domestically within their homes. So, even though they had the newly found freedom of the amendment women still heavily relied on their husbands in all aspects of their lives and many women would vote for a person just because that was the person that their husbands voted for.

Read More

How Does Tom Buchanan Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

587 Words | 3 Pages

“It’s up to us, who are the dominant race, to watch out or these other race will have control,” Tom (13/3) Do you ever think about how your little group could possibly be washed out by someone else? No? Me neither, but you know who feared it the most? Tom Buchanan. He panicked that another race, like a whole other group of people would kill his off.

Read More

How Does Tom Buchanan Maintain Morality In The Great Gatsby

999 Words | 4 Pages

Buchanan is shown as a racist, power hungry socialite who has no filter and speaks his mind. At the Buchanan's dinner party Tom begins to discuss his views on the positions of races and power. In front of Nick Carraway, Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker, Tom abruptly disrupts the conversation by saying, "It's up to us, the dominant race, to watch out or the other races will have control of things" (Fitzgerald 13). Because of how Tom was raised and how much money he has acquired, he told himself that he is entitled to do or say what he wants no matter what others deem unquestionable. In the article Social Class in The Great Gatsby Carla Verderame also sees the racism of Buchanan and says, "Tom Buchanan's racist musings will also demonstrate the complicated link between race and social class and the way these categories of analysis play out in the novel" (Verderame 2).

Read More

Racial Tensions In The 1920's

593 Words | 3 Pages

One of the most prominent social biases, both in the 1920’s specifically and throughout American history, is race. In the period after WWI, race tensions were heightening. Tom clearly does not approve of the idea that black people could rise socially and “infiltrate” his world. Even though Tom himself has a mistress, he says, “Nowadays people begin by sneering at family life and family institutions and next they'll throw everything overboard and have intermarriage between black and white. ”(Fitzgerald p130)

Read More

Indirect Characterization In The Great Gatsby

825 Words | 4 Pages

Tom is a racist, sexist, man and Fitzgerald does not hide it. In the beginning of the novel when Nick is over at Tom and Daisy’s home Tom begins to speak to Nick of a book he is reading called ‘The Rise of the Colored Empires’ Tom believes that, “ Well, it’s a fine book, and everybody ought to read it. The idea is if we don’t look out the white race will be--will be utterly submerged. It’s all scientific stuff; it’s been proven.” ( Fitzgerald 13).

Read More

How Did Women Change In The 1920's

775 Words | 4 Pages

The Roaring Twenties, characterized as a progressive era toward changes and advances, it was a start for freedom and independence for women. Women gained political power by gaining the right to vote. They changed their traditional way to be, way to act and dress to gain respect, and the liberty of independence. Society had different ways of ideals and the ways women were willing to do were disapproved of, and it was wrong for lots of different people, including women from the older generation. In the 1920’s women went through a lot of changes that made them a free spirit, changes that made them what they are now and having the liberty of being independent.

Read More

Examples Of Ambiguity In The Great Gatsby

1098 Words | 5 Pages

Long heralded as Fitzgerald’s finest work, The Great Gatsby is a tale of the American Dream that deals with themes of excess, resistance to change, and racial ambiguity. Very early on in the novel it is understood that race, as well as violence, honesty, and misogyny, play a very large role in how the characters view each other, outsiders, and how they all interact. Around the time that Gatsby was written, racism in the early 1900’s continued to thrive with whites dominating and believing they were superior over the colored races. This belief becomes a central idea and motivation among the characters in the novel, specifically Tom, Nick and Gatsby, and highlights a general fear of challenged white supremacy, a rising and falling of the “other”

Read More

Examples Of Patriarchy In The Great Gatsby

1210 Words | 5 Pages

In the twenties, it was the strive for wealth. Many people look back at this time period and think, “those were the days…” but, the days for who? The 1920s was also referred to as the ‘Roaring Twenties’, however, it seemed only the men were allowed to roar. In this time period, America followed a patriarchy which saw that women were subservient to men. As F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby was written during this time period, it is no surprise that many elements of this novel were

Read More

Gender Roles In The Great Gatsby

1503 Words | 7 Pages

Does the male domination today compare to the extensive sexism of women throughout history? Today, sexist views are subconsciously prominent in various beliefs and expectations, such as biased women stereotypes and the pay gap. The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and The Great Gatsby, by Scott Fitzgerald, both coherently portray women in American history as submissive to male authority. The Scarlet Letter is a novel based in the 17th century where Hester Prynne, an adulteress, is stripped of her identity through public humiliation, but defies the societal views of her town and bravely accepts her faults. In The Great Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan is portrayed as a perfect and high-class woman whom men fall in love with the idea of her.

Read More

Gender Roles In The Great Gatsby

1099 Words | 5 Pages

In society today, not only are gender roles demonstrated in people’s daily lives, but are also demonstrated in tragedies. Tragedies tend to consist gender roles throughout their story line by showing how people in society must act on their behalf. Tragedies also provide an example of what modern day society looked like based on the time period it was written in. Social constructs also change over time, making tragedies something important that marks what society looked like at the time. With this in mind, tragedies such as “Oedipus Cycle” by Sophocles and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald enforce gender roles by showing gender inequality and enforcing certain emotions and actions amongst men and women.

Read More

Gender Roles In The Great Gatsby

1479 Words | 6 Pages

Gender impacts the identity Americans tend to believe that identity must be impacted by tons of things, especially the rigid social hierarchy, however, identity could also be impacted by one aspect, gender, it is obviously demonstrated in both The Great Gatsby and Little Women. Between 100 years since 1830s-1940s in Little Women and The Great Gatsby, though the society changed a lot by Industrial Revolution in US, the bias of gender did not change, in particular the females. Although both daisy and jo faced unfair treatments because of their gender in the US and changed their identity because of the dissatisfy of their marriage or self-achievements, Daisy wished to change her identity depending on Gatsby, she hoped him could help her to regain the passion of love and life, nevertheless, Jo changed herself by moving to the NY city to practice her writing skills and also met her husband, Mr. Bhaer, later. Both Daisy and Jo could reflect the issue faced by US female.

Read More

Roaring Twenties Argumentative Essay

534 Words | 3 Pages

The Roaring Twenties was a prime era for women. Because of the toils of many strong women, ideals were flipped on their head, to America’s benefit. In the late 1800’s, two women, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, quickly realized that women would not be able to share their political views unless given the right to vote. Because of the fact that women had basically no other societal roles besides housework, they were not respected during this time period.

Read More

Gender Roles In The Great Gatsby

2059 Words | 9 Pages

How come it 's always the women who are fighting for a stable and painless life? Why is it always the women who have the choice to live by suppressed under the society’s expectations or face the consequences of going against it and gaining nothing? Women equality has been an issue for a long time and it is dragged even to the present time. Fitzgerald, in his novel “The Great Gatsby” portrays women in two manners which are submissive and assertive but also showing how they both have desires for a comfort and stable life. Gender roles in society mean how certain genders are expected to act, speak, dress, groom, and conduct themselves.

Read More

More about Gender Roles In The Great Gatsby

Related Topics

Open Document