Class And Economic Conflict In Karl Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby

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In The Great Gatsby, a novel written and set during the post-World War II society of the 1920’s, author F. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates what life was like for those thriving to reach the American dream. Economic prosperity appeared open to all and the dream of leading a rich life was within arm’s reach for many. While the Roaring 20’s appear to have been a time of social and economic prosperity, a Marxist interpretation of the time and novel may suggest the opposite. Marxism, or the Marxist approach, is based on the philosophy of Karl Marx, which analyzes the interaction between classes and societal conflict. A recurring Marxist concept in The Great Gatsby is the idea that economic conflict produces the class system and the class system, ultimately, produces conflict. The Great Gatsby is set in the 1920’s, a time where the class system was, arguably, the most evident it has ever been in America. Fitzgerald takes his reader back and forth between two parts of Long Island called East Egg and West Egg, which are separated by a dark place called the Valley of the Ashes. East Egg is res...

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