Class In The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, frequently uses the elements of a story to help support the theme of class in society. Though it is pretty hard to distinguish the differences of social class in modern day, this story helps readers recognize the high and low classes during the 1920’s. Throughout the book, Fitzgerald constantly provides shocking imagery with the combinations of word choice, colors, setting, and symbols to keep the audience interested. He uses the characters to provide a deeper understanding of how one might have felt in the aspects of different classes, and how they dealt with their problems. In doing these things, he gives readers a sense of being a part of this story, almost if they were experiencing the

From the start, the two main classes are repeatedly being compared in this book. The high class people who lived in East Egg, who was born with money, versus the lower class people who lived in West Egg, who were new to wealth. Nick, the main character, described West Egg as, “the less fashionable of the two, though this was a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them” (page 5). Compared the the pristine place of East Egg where, “across the courtesy bay, the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water” (page 5). Based on these descriptions, there is a major difference in the way these two communities live. With these images in mind, readers are able to easily perceive the two social classes, whereas it would’ve been difficult if Fitzgerald were to say, “The ones who lived in West Egg were poor, and the ones who lived in East Egg were wealthy.” Without setting and other literary elements, The Great Gatsby may have been a disaster, or plain, and boring. It would’ve been harder for readers to understand the context of a situation they were reading about. A clear setting allows readers to immerse into the book and obtain the full reading