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Social Class In The Great Gatsby

993 Words4 Pages

The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, comprises of many ideals of the Roaring Twenties such as power, greed, and the American dream. The Great Gatsby offers a vivid peek into what life was like in the U.S. in the 1920s. Fitzgerald breaks this novel down to show the distinct social classes of wealth - no money, new money, and old money and shows how money and power can enable a person to do many lamentable actions. The "Roaring Twenties" sets a distinct phase for Fitzgerald to transition the differences between the three social classes in his book and how it relates to the wealthy classes controlling everyone. F. Scott Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896, in St. Paul, Minnesota. He attended the St. Paul Academy, and when …show more content…

The quote shows that Tom thinks that the lower class must be kept ‘under control or in check’ so the upper class can be prevalent, demonstrating Tom’s dislike for others and makes the other classes sound ineligible of anything. This illustrates Tom’s shallowness as he still holds the confidence of upper class supremacy. He treats George Wilson poorly during visits since he lives in the ‘Valley Of Ashes’ which is not a wealthy part of town. Tom has an affair with George’s wife, and never foresees the consequences. As such, it can be implied that Tom really has no sympathy, as he doesn’t care what his actions do to his wife or George. The majority of 1% tend to run the market, get away with corruption and get away with many illegal scandals due to the immense amount of money they have. “If there is a modicum of good news, it’s that average Americans sometimes get what they want — but only because their views often coincide with what rich people want.”(U.S. News) Showing that Toms views how the ‘dominant race’ must control

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