How Does Fitzgerald Use Class Structure In The Great Gatsby

Fitzgerald’s use of class structure compares almost directly to that of the class structure in the 1920’s. While The Great Gatsby is an almost exact representation of the 1920’s, it primarily focuses on the darker aspects of the roaring age. The Great Gatsby has characters from multiple financial backgrounds; from characters like Tom who come from money, or characters like Gatsby who came from almost nothing and worked hard to get to where they are, Fitzgerald brings out social and class structure throughout the novel. Fitzgerald shows how vastly different new money and old money are from each other. The Great Gatsby shows Marxism and class structure by comparing East and West Egg, how old money views new money through Tom, and the embarrassment from being a self made man.
East Egg and West Egg have been compared numerous times throughout the course of The Great Gatsby. Almost every

While Tom hates Gatsby and sees him as less because he is a bootlegger like the rest of the newly rich, Tom seems to exclude Nick from this stereotypical judgment. When talking about Tom, Nick describes, “We were in the same senior society, and while we were never intimate I always had the impression that he approved of me and wanted me to like him with some harsh, defiant wistfulness of his own.” (Fitzgerald 10) Although Nick was from West Egg, he felt as though he was accepted by Tom. Tom viewed Nick differently than the rest of those in West Egg because he stems from old money, while Gatsby does not. Tom also views Nick apart from West Egg because Tom is married to Daisy, Nick’s cousin, who, much like Nick, derives from old money. At almost all points of time that Tom and Gatsby are together, Tom gives snide remarks about Gatsby and invites hoping that he would get the hint. They may both be from West Egg, but Nick and Gatsby are viewed vastly different from each other in the eyes of