Wealth And Poverty In The Great Gatsby

The issue of social class has been prevalent throughout society and in every civilization there have been people who were wealthier than others. In the novel The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald portrays several themes but the predominant topic addressed in book is social class -not just the obvious contrast between wealth and poverty, but the differences between types of wealth. The narrator, Nick, states in the beginning that he is “ still a little afraid of missing something if [he] forget that, as my father snobbishly suggested, and I snobbishly repeat, a sense of the fundamental decencies is parceled out unequally at birth”(2,Fitzgerald). Nick describes that money isn't the only thing that some people are born into and the poor can also

The book starts off with illustrating the clarity of a social pyramid, going as far as separating each individual class. “About halfway between West Egg and New York the motor road hastily joins the railroad.. This is a valley of ashes-a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens...with the transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air ” (23,Fitzgerald).The poverty stricken inhabit the valley and work is soot and grime, while the remaining populate live with at least some dignity, the valley of ashes is nothing compared to West Egg and East Egg. At the top of the pyramid, we find The Buchanans and Jordan Baker- originally from East Egg have inherited their wealth from their ancestors and simply lead the ‘old money’ lifestyles, this however does not include Jay Gatsby because of the fact that he has acquired money illegally. This is because Gatsby has acquired his money by hard work and some illegal means. “For a moment I thought he was going to suggest a gonnegtion” Though at this point in the novel Gatsby is long gone, there are still pokes at his possible bootlegging