There was a wide gap between the rich and the poor in the beginning of the twentieth-century. The rich lived extravagant, fun-filled, and care-free lives, while the poor worked tirelessly just to survive. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald used the main characters to show how lower class people have to pay for the mistakes of higher class people. One example Fitzgerald used to show how the lower class people pay for the mistakes of the higher class people is when Tom Buchanan goes to George Wilson to have his car filled up on gas. (Chapter two) Tom Buchanan is a high class, vastly rich man who doesn't have to work because of his vast wealth. George Wilson on the other hand is a working class car mechanic. George has to fix Tom's car problems for him. Tom doesn't deal with the problems he has with his car, he just lets George fix it for him. Another example Fitzgerald used to show how lower class people pay for the mistakes of higher class people is when Myrtle Wilson dies, and Tom Buchanan lives and gets to escape the situation. Both Myrtle and Tom were equally involved with their affair. Neither were being faithful to their spouses. And yet Myrtle, the poorer, working class women, pays for her affair, while Tom, the rich, upper class man, gets to escape the situation of the …show more content…
When Myrtle is killed by a car, Daisy was the one who was driving the car. Tom Buchanan tells George, Myrtle's husband, that Jay Gatsby was the one who was driving, not Daisy. After hearing this, George goes to Gatsby's house, and shoots Gatsby. He then proceeds to shoot himself. Daisy, the person who actually killed Myrtle and is the one solely responsible for her death, receives no punishment. While George dies as a result of Myrtle's death, Daisy lives and gets to escape the situation and ride off into the sunset with Tom. (Chapters
Fitzgerald offers his audience the proof through his story that there is only a slight possibility that a person can be both wealthy and ethical. He shows his audience how sometimes being poor is not always the worst thing and that it is easier to be poor and ethical rather than being rich and ethical. Works Cited "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Class Matters and the Great Gatsby both describe the differences between classes to show how unalike they are. Fitzgerald does this with color symbolism and his characters. He uses several colors as symbols to help him demonstrate the disparity in-between the economic classes. The East Egg homes are described as “white palaces.” The color white stands as a strong symbol of superiority and wealth (Bloom). Fitzgerald describes the valley of ashes as a dull, grey environment. Fitzgerald uses his characters to show the difference in social class. Tom Buchanans is a member of an incredibly wealthy family. Fitzgerald describes Tom as having “two shining arrogant eyes…and a voice full of contempt” (7). Meanwhile, Jay Gatsby, the novel’s protagonist, comes from an incredibly poor family and is described as having an aura of trust and understanding (48). Fitzgerald uses the two contrasting descriptions to show how T...
Similarly, to The Great Gatsby, many people that have money like to throw parties for little occasions, or to get their minds off of certain things. Another thing that can happen is some people with money look down on the people who do not make as much money as them, whether it is just giving them a dirty look or calling them a name. “In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. ‘Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,’ he told me, ‘just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.” (Fitzgerald 1) Contrasting, from The Great Gatsby, many individuals with more money than average donates to charities or certain causes that mean something to them or help other individuals in a positive way. Another difference between The Great Gatsby and The Grapes of Wrath is Daisy and Tom having a child but not paying much attention to her, her nanny is basically her mother, while in The Grapes of Wrath the kids were always watched by their parents or older siblings. “The rich get richer and the poor get—children.” (Fitzgerald 95) Comparably, with The Grapes of Wrath, families who do not have very much wealth can be much closer than others, having to go through struggles together just to find enough money for necessities. “Seek not greater wealth, but simpler pleasure;
...m that was based more on wealth and possessions and less on hard work and achievement. The fact that he later rebelled against the material 1920s culture shows that he was in fact cautioning against this lifestyle rather than encouraging it.” This more than anything proves Fitzgerald is making a commentary on the corruption of the American Dream rather than simply the tale of wealthy lovers.
Initially, while Tom Buchanan may seem like a wealthy, educated individual through his comments about racial hierarchy and social supremacy, it is gradually revealed that Tom is a victim of the carelessness that wealth can breed. His wealth provides him with an excuse for the poor decisions he makes and so, Tom is able to live life without a single thought about consequences. For instance,
During Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, it is apparent to be an absurd time for the wealthy. The shallowness of money, riches, and a place in a higher social class were probably the most important components in most lives at that period of time. This is expressed clearly by Fitzgerald, especially through his characters, which include Myrtle Wilson, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, and of course, Jay Gatsby. This novel was obviously written to criticize and condemn the ethics of the rich.
The world in the Roaring Twenties, shown in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and the world today all hinge on the same ideas and issues, the most basic of which is the difference between the poor and the rich. The book takes place in the Roaring ‘20s, a time when everyone was rich. New money clashed with old money, and the sophisticated breeding of the wealthy class was not happy. The vulgar, newly rich citizens were ruining society as morals loosened all around. Old money became hypocrisy, claiming they were pure when they were just as ruined as the new money.
“The Great Gatsby”, by F. Scott Fitzgerald depicts the vast social difference between the old aristocrats, the new self-made rich and the poor. He vividly interprets the social stratification during the roaring twenties as each group has their own problems to deal with. Old Money, who have fortunes dating from the 19th century, have built up powerful and influential social connections, and tend to hide their wealth and superiority behind a veneer of civility. The New Money made their fortunes in the 1920s boom and therefore have no social connections and tend to overcompensate for this lack with lavish displays of wealth. As usual, the No Money gets overlooked by the struggle at the top, leaving them forgotten or ignored. Such is exemplified by Jay Gatsby, Myrtle Wilson and Tom Buchanan. Their ambitions distinctly represent their class in which Fitzgerald implies strongly about.
Gatsby’s obsession with Daisy leads to his death when he allows Daisy to drive his car when they go home from the city. Gatsby was so devoted Daisy that he would not let her take the blame for hitting and killing Myrtle. When no one confessed for the crime, George Wilson started to go from garage to garage trying to find the owner of the yellow car that killed his wife. Eventually, George arrived at the Buchanan residence, where Tom insinuated that Gatsby was the one who was driving the car and who was Myrtle’s lover. While George was at their house, Daisy did not come forward and reveal that she was the one driving the car, letting George believe Gatsby was at fault. Gatsby was shot and killed in his pool by George Wilson the next day as a result of Myrtle’s
After Daisy has left Gatsby and murdered a poor woman, she flees with Tom. Nick comments later that he, “called up Daisy half an hour after we found him, called her instinctively and without hesitation. But she and Tom had gone away early that afternoon, and taken baggage with them” (Fitzgerald 158). The rich upper class escaped into their wealth so that they did not have to deal with their own consequences. The wealthy simply flee from a murder, a crushed love, and a lost friend and start a new life. While they leave the punishment will be taken up by the poor, believing that the system of corrupt social hierarchy will prevail. Finally the cycle is complete once the rich flee from their problems, and the poor deal with them head on, the rest of society simply casts the blame on the poor because that's what the social hierarchy calls them to do. Once Wilson kills himself and the police investigate the scene a quick conclusion is drawn, “So Wilson was reduced to a man “deranged by grief” in order that the case might remain in its simplest form. And it rested there” (Fitzgerald 168). The poor are the escape goats for the rich, and as soon as the poor can take the blame, the case is ended. The rich run the world, they have the power to control the papers, the money, and the people so fighting them is pointless, knowing this the reporters and the police just leave the case in the hands of the poor. The social hierarchy is followed allowing the rich to use the world as their
really it was Daisy who was driving the car when she hit Myrtle. Gatsby had lied to
After Myrtle was hit and killed by a car, Tom told George, her husband, that the person driving the car was Gatsby. It was actually Daisy who killed Myrtle, but Gatsby paid the price for her mistake. George Wilson went to Gatsby’s mansion and shot Gatsby while he was in the pool. After killing Gatsby, George took the gun and commited suicide. Then, Tom took Daisy and their child and moved away and left Nick Carraway without his cousin or his friend. Tom did not care about Gatsby’s death, even though he was someone his wife
George Wilson, who is married to Myrtle, and Tom Buchanan, married to Daisy, are most responsible for Gatsby's death. Wilson went up to Tom asking who owned the yellow car that killed his wife. Tom revealed that it was Gatsby’s car, knowing that Wilson had intentions of killing whoever owned the car, yet Tom didn’t add to the fact that Daisy was driving. Gatsby did have a relationship with Daisy, and Tom knew about it. Tom allowed Daisy to go in Gatsby’s car back to West Egg to prove that he did not care if Daisy and Gatsby were together, had Tom not let Daisy go in Gatsby’s car, both Myrtle and Gatsby would be alive.
...eotypically, and in the up-and-rising middle class. The greed portrayed by these characters has no explanation, at least that Fitzgerald offers, and thus should not exist; proving that these characters are simply greedy and deserve all that comes to them. And thus these two authors differ in the reasons why the greed occurs and, effectively, the difference in the short, 1-day gap from October 24 into October 25, 1929.
In conclusion, both men show characteristics that are similar despite their different upbringings. George and Tom can both be cowardly, selfish and controlling. Fitzgerald shows strongly that it does not matter what you have, or how much you have, but rather who you are underneath as a person. He shows that even the people that seem to have the most are the ones who have the least. Wealth and status is nothing without good character, and no matter how much you have, you can not fool people into believing you are a good person. Fitzgerald successfully portrayed the nature of man throughout all lifestyles.