Essay On Social Class In The Great Gatsby

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vPart I: The topic of social class is very oftenly addresses in The Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby depicts three main different social classes; old money, new money, and no money. The highest of the classes is represented by Tom Buchanan and his wife Daisy. They are “old money”, basically without having to work hard for it, they are rich. Old money families had fortunes dating back from the 19th century or earlier and also had built up influential and powerful social connections over period of time. The second class would be “new money” which was represented by Gatsby, even though he was wealthier than the Buchanans he had to work for his wealth and fortune therefore he is part of a lower class than the Buchanans. The “new money” class made their fortunes in the 1920’s boom era and had no profound social connections and would basically make up for that neglected aspect by lavish displays of their wealth.On chapter 1, page 2 Nick Carraway says, “When I came back from the East last autumn I felt that I wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever; I wanted no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart. Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my reaction—Gatsby, who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn.” In this quotation it is seen that Carraway is making an observation on Gatsby and saying that even though Gatsby may be lower class, or lower than the Buchanans Nick manages to see something of goodness in him. He thinks that maybe Gatsby has the "natural decencies" that other people of higher society, such as the Buchanans don't. There is also the middle class, which an abundance of is not shown in story plot of The Great G... ... middle of paper ... ...een in this novel. It is shown that wealth alone can not admit one into upper society, but education as well. In a conversation between Jordan and Tom, Tom attempts to show that wealth by itself can not make one of a high society."About Gatsby! No, I haven’t. I said I’d been making a small investigation of his past.""And you found he was an Oxford man," said Jordan helpfully."An Oxford man!" He was incredulous. "Like hell he is! He wears a pink suit." "Nevertheless he’s an Oxford man." "Oxford, New Mexico," snorted Tom contemptuously, "or something like that." "Listen, Tom. If you’re such a snob, why did you invite him to lunch?" demanded Jordan crossly. "Daisy invited him; she knew him before we were married – God knows where!" Its seen that Tom is also trying to discredit Gatsby of his education, to boot him out such a high class that Tom himself also belongs to.

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