Social classes represent the hidden structure of America, as well as in several other countries in the world. If one is unsatisfied with the social class they are born into, however, is it possible for them to change it? The answer is yes, they can, as per evidence from real life situations and from The Great Gatsby. Some might say that it is impossible to change the social class one is born into. In their opinion, if that person is born poor, consequently they will certainly die poor.
The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, tells a story about social structures and how impossible it is to achieve the American Dream. The story takes place in the villages of East Egg, West Egg, and New York City in the 1920s. It depicts the rigid class system of the time and how hard it was to move up in status. Narrated by Nick Carraway, one of the main characters in the book, who witnesses the withering of the American Dream for Jay Gatsby and the shallowness of the upper class. Each character in the book has a unique personality, characterized by descriptions of where they lived.
The Roaring Twenties, known as the decade of the 1920s in the Western World, consists of dramatic changes in social values. The cultural differences between the 1920s and the Victorian era changes people's behavior, where they become more free-will, youthful and carefree, despite of being more conservative before. People are more open-minded and found satisfaction through the “open pursuit of sex, money, and booze” (Berman 53) as they suggest their wealth and status in the society. New York City had become one of the cities where materialistic wealth has become the key of happiness and the standard to judge people's success, further leading Americans to pursue each other in a negative, acquisitive way. Through the different scenes and characters of the famous novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald explores how the society twisted the original idea of
In life those who surround us have the greatest effect upon our lives. A person’s ability to collect friends of a certain social class is vital to the type of life that they will live. Although it is the dream of all people to live with immense wealth, the others of the same social standard can tend to act in a way that can damage the people around them. A result of being surrounded by this type of person is seen in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, in which many characters are hurt by the behavior of the rich people around them. In this novel three characters, Jay Gatsby, Myrtle Wilson, and George Wilson, play important roles in explaining how social classes cause society to become dysfunctional and can lead to chaos and even death.
In his novel, The Great Gatsby, he writes about the idle but permanent rich, temporary rich would be rich and the patient, envious poor, though the focus is always on the first group. To materialise their dream, Americans had to do all they could, honestly or dishonestly, in order to make themselves more comfortable. During the 1920s, America was characterised by class differences. People from the poor areas and families constituted a lower class, people from the rich areas and people from the aristocracy constituted the upper class because the major goal of most Americans was to achieve happiness; each class had to struggle on its part to gain its happiness according to its will.
II. Introduction Class and the American Dream play significant roles throughout The Great Gatsby. For it is interwoven through each character's interactions with each other. There are two major themes shown throughout the book. Daisy Buchanan, wife to Tom Buchanan, represents both themes in the book.
F. Scott Fitzgerald's writing, The Great Gatsby, is known for the sight it gives into the themes of wealth and social status. Fitzgerald uses the distinct division of the East and West Eggs, the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy, and Tom and Myrtle's relationship to demonstrate the differences in social class. F. Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates the division and difference of social class through his verbose descriptions of relationships and opinionated ideals. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses a distinct division between the East and West Eggs to demonstrate the differences in social class. In the story, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald says, “I lived at West Egg, the - well, the less fashionable of the two” (Fitzgerald 5).
An individual’s socioeconomic status, shaped and influenced by wealth, education level, and background, predominantly determines one’s power and privilege in society. Socioeconomic status is an ongoing factor in determining one’s own ranking in society and its social hierarchy. It is present in modern day society and has been for years. The novel, The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a conspicuous depiction of socioeconomic status and how it relates to power and privilege. In the West and East Egg, they live luxurious lives and the people living in The Valley of Ashes work paycheck to paycheck.
In the Great Gatsby, there is a wall in the social classes between the people: self-made and legacy. The invisible wall between the two sides where people that try so hard to have status/reputation aren’t able to pass through the barrier. The characters in this novel actively seek to get out of their social classes by doing whatever it takes, but fail to do so. This further shows how Fitzgerald asserts that even if a self-made man can make just as much money as someone from a family of money, they will never be able to obtain the status/protection/network/influence that comes from one’s background. Fitzgerald uses Gatsby as a way to prove that self-made men cannot become as successful than someone that was born with a legacy.
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.
In The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald brings to our attention the ideas of greed, power, betrayal, and the American dream in the 1920’s. The social stratification peeks this list of themes as you can see through Nick Carraway 's point of view, the different complications of the everyday life. As Nick begins his new life in West Egg, he encounters three types of people. Daisy, an image of perfection, and grace, who comes from ‘old money’. Myrtle, born poor, and holds her reputation as the ‘other women’.
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.
1. Society and Class The Great Gatsby is offering a peek into American social life in the roaring 20s. The 1920s is a time of economic growth since the World War One had just ended. Fitzgerald presents a picture of America he observes around him.
Class status has to do with a series of different aspects that relate to the degree of luxury in terms of wealth and lifestyle. From a generic viewpoint, class refers to a wealth concept that characterizes your lifestyle, assets, and family income. Although there are three generic categories for assessing one’s level of wealth (lower, middle, and upper class), is it possible for there to be a significant fluctuation in amount of wealth over a long period of time that culminates to a change in lifestyle? This question is one of the central themes of a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald known as The Great Gatsby. Jay Gatsby is a key character in this book that attained a lot of wealth throughout their lives, but passed away by the completion of the story.
The setting in The Great Gatsby is used mainly to paint a picture of the class differences in the roaring twenties. The people from all the social classes suddenly became aware of the class differences. It was evident that the social classes were clearly divided by location, amount of material possessions and the way one person acts. Throughout the story multiple examples of social classes were being inserted in The Great Gatsby, and how each social class was not found of the other. The American Dream is not all what is made up to be throughout this novel compared to portraying the different views of the objection of American Dream from then compared to now.
