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Social and class in the great Gatsby
Social and class in the great Gatsby
Social and class in the great Gatsby
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The Epitome of the American Dream
In most works of literature, past events that occur in a character’s life can provide a deep understanding for his or her moral values and present actions. The connection with the past can even offer a meaning to the work as a whole. This can be seen in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald creates the main character, Jay Gatsby, as an evident victim of materialism. Had it not been for Gatsby’s past relation with Daisy Buchanan, he would have not been corrupted by wealth. This incident enlightens the reader that materialism can corrupt people’s moral values and spirituality. The materialistic road Gatsby takes in order to be with Daisy is what’s actually pushing him away from achieving his spiritual
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dream. Gatsby’s action of attaching himself to Daisy unknowingly began a path to materialism. When Gatsby was younger, he despised the fact that he and his parents lived in poverty, for “his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all” (98). He believed he was only the son of God; he had his own spiritual ambition (98). Although very ambiguous to the reader, it is inferred that Gatsby’s ambition was to live the American dream, and when he finally boarded with Dan Cody, a wealthy mariner, he started his spiritual quest. However, he fell in love with Daisy. Gatsby conflated his own spiritual dream with Daisy, in which he would be forever wed to her; thus, creating a new ambition (110). Because Gatsby was very young and naive, he wasn’t conscious of what he was getting himself into. In this 1920 era, it is common for women to be attracted to wealthy men, like Daisy is. In other words, Gatsby is owing his life to a materialistic figure.
Daisy has always been the dead end to Gatsby’s spiritual dream, but he was never aware of the case.
Although Gatsby believes he’s fulfilling his new dream, in reality, he’s being lead to corruption. In order to win back Daisy after the war, he accepts a job in organized crime from Meyer Wolfsheim. He then buys a beautiful mansion, a fancy car, and a wardrobe filled to last many years. Gatsby has already achieved his wealth and fortune, but because he owes his life to Daisy, his dream isn’t complete. When Gatsby proceeds to confess his love for Daisy to Tom Buchanan, Tom not only reminds Daisy why she fell in love with him, but he also proves to her that Gatsby is a criminal. The reason Gatsby took part in this crime after the war was specifically to win Daisy over. However, his intentions took an opposite turn, for Daisy was “drawing further and further into herself” (134). The long, materialistic road he took to reach Daisy has come to a stop. From this point in the novel, his dream only begins to corrupt even further. Due to miscommunication, Gatsby is killed by George Wilson. Wilson lives in the Valley of Ashes, the result of the corruption of the American dream by materialism. He’s veiled in
“white ashen dust,” signifying that he too is a result of corruption (26). If Gatsby has been killed by Wilson, then it symbolizes that Gatsby was victimized by the corruption. However, Gatsby was not the only character to be corrupted by wealth. Tom and Daisy are infused with materialism, but why haven’t they been severely affected like Gatsby was? Tom and Daisy have always lived this life of fortune, and they’ve always been able to leave when situations become deranged. They live in a world where money can solve all of their problems. They don’t have any dreams because they already have everything they want and need. On the other hand, Gatsby lived his life from rags to riches. His whole life was a spiritual quest, and trying to achieve the American dream with crime and getting easy money, has made a negative impact on him. However, if Gatsby had never met Daisy, he would have attempted the American dream a different way. Henry Gatz revealed to the reader that Gatsby was always “bound to get ahead. He always had some resolves” of his own (173). Also, before he kissed Daisy, Gatsby noted that he imagined a ladder that “he could climb to ... if he climbed alone, and once there he could suck on the pap of life” (110). Gatsby could have achieved his dream for his own good intentions, but if it weren’t for his latch on to materialism (Daisy), he wouldn’t have been corrupted. Thus, the American dream can be taken by the easy way, and lead to a norm of materialism, or it can be taken by the hard and deserving way, with reward and accomplishments. It’s as if Gatsby was demonstrating how achieving the American dream has taken a wrong turn in life. Fitzgerald wanted the reader to understand how materialism has corrupted not only the American dream itself, but people’s moral values and spirituality, as well. In this novel, Gatsby has become the epitome of the American dream. It was during the roaring twenties that America had started it’s industrial revolution and seize the idea of a free market. People had just started to view the rewards that come with wealth and riches. However, as this ideology became more popular, the more it became negatively altered. Fitzgerald’s message didn’t occur just in the 20’s, but we can see it in our era, as well. Although money essentially makes the world go round, living only for material possessions and wealth, rather than spiritual values, could corrupt us too.
“Money can’t buy happiness” is a saying that is often used to make one understand that there is more to life than wealth and money. Jay Gatsby was a man of many qualities some of which are good and bad. Throughout the book of “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, we learn of his past and discover the true qualities of Jay Gatsby. Starting from the bottom, with little money, we learn of why Gatsby struggled so hard all his life to become wealthy and what his true goal in life was. When reading this story, the true reasons behind Gatsby’s illegal actions reveal themselves and readers can learn a great life lesson from this story and the actions the characters take. Readers can see through Gatsby’s contradictions of actions and thoughts that illustrate the theme of the story, along with his static characteristics, that all humans are complex beings and that humans cannot be defined as good or bad.
Gatsby is unrealistic. He believes he can relive the past and rekindle the flame he and Daisy once had. He is lost in his dream and accepts that anything can be repeated, "Can't repeat the past…Why of course you can!" (116, Fitzgerald). For Gatsby, failure to realize this resurrection of love is utterly appalling. His whole career, his conception of himself and his life is totally shattered. Gatsby's death when it comes is almost insignificant, for with the collapse of his dream, he is spiritually dead.
Andrew T. Crosland, an expert on the Jazz Age writings of author F.Scott Fitzgerald, wrote that Fitzgerald 's The Great Gatsby included over 200 references to cars (Crosland). This is not surprising as the automobile, like the flapper were enticing novelties at the time this book was written. The main characters in The Great Gatsby who, by the way, all drive cars are Nick Carraway, Jay Gatsby, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker, and Myrtle and George Wilson. Attractive, yet enigmatic, Gatsby tries to win the love of an aristocratic woman, who rebuffs Gatsby for her upper class husband. This leads to Gatsby’s tragic murder after he is falsely accused of killing Myrtle with his Rolls Royce. The automobile, as
Even after Gatsby does achieve his dream of prosperity, he is left unsatisfied always wanting something more. “He talked about the past, and I gathered that he wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy” (110). Gatsby remains dissatisfied with what his life has become; instead of attempting to change it, he tries to relive the past through Daisy. In addition, earning his money untruthfully leaves Gatsby with a feeling of discontent since he cannot pride himself in hard work by means of earning it. The material possessions in Gatsby’s life bring him temporary happiness and satisfaction unaware that Daisy will fulfill the void of eternal longing for love. Humanity views material possessions as a symbol of wealth despite the many other ways an individual can be wealthy. This corrupted view reveals why Gatsby could not be content and accept his past as a part of him. In the passage of time, Gatsby continuously strives for his dream unaware that it has already passed, symbolic for the realization that one can’t relive the past. “‘You can’t relive the past.’ ‘Can’t relive the past?’ he cried incredulously. ‘Why of course you can!’” (110). Despite the fact that he was poor in Louisville, Gatsby was rich in love and experienced genuine contentment. For the duration of his life, Gatsby
When he first meets Daisy, Gatsby becomes infatuated with his idea of her, or rather, the false persona that she creates of herself. In fact, Gatsby reveals that “she was the first ‘nice’ girl he had ever known” (155). Gatsby was so impressed with Daisy mainly because of her wealth and her status; it is what he wants. However, Daisy chooses Tom Buchanan over Gatsby, solely because of his social status. As a result, Gatsby revolves his whole life around her: he becomes wealthy, creates a new image of himself, and buys a house across the bay from Daisy. For instance, he fabricates lies about how “ [he is] the son of some wealthy people in the middle-west” (69) and how “ [he] was brought up in America but educated at Oxford” (69) in order to impress her. These lies end up altering others’ perspectives of him - not necessarily in a positive way - and impacting his life as a whole. Daisy unwittingly transforms Gatsby into a picture-perfect image of the 1920s: lavish parties, showy cars, and a false illusion of the attainment of the American Dream. Despite Gatsby’s newfound wealth and success, he never fully accomplishes his dream: to get Daisy. Gatsby’s final act for the sake of Daisy has no impact on her feelings towards him. When Gatsby claims that he crashed into Myrtle and killed her, Daisy carelessly lets him do so, which ultimately results in his death. To make
The dawn of the 20th century was met with an unprecedented catastrophe: an international technological war. Such a horrible conflict perhaps threatened the roots of the American Dream! Yet, most do not realize how pivotal the following years were. Post war prosperity caused a fabulous age for America: the “roaring twenties”. But it also was an era where materialism took the nation by storm, rooting itself into daily life. Wealth became a measure of success and a facade for social status. This “Marxist materialism” threatened the traditional American Dream of self-reliance and individuality far even more than the war a decade before. As it morphed into materialistic visions (owning a beautiful house and car), victims of the change blindly chased the new aspiration; one such victim was Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby. As his self-earned luxury and riches clashed with love, crippling consequences and disasters occur. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby delves into an era of materialism, exploring how capitalism can become the face of social life and ultimately cloud the American Dream.
F. Scott Fitzgerald third book, “The Great Gatsby”, stands as the supreme achievement in his career. According to The New York Times, “The Great Gatsby” is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s. In the novel, the author described Daisy Buchanan as childish, materialistic, and charming. These characteristics describing Daisy is also description for the way women were seen during the 1920s.
Gatsby’s true dream is made abundantly clear throughout the entire text; winning Daisy back and reigniting the flaming love they once had. Gatsby’s dream of having Daisy divides him from his power at one critical point in the text, “Then I turned back to Gatsby-and was startled by his expression. He looked-and this is said in all contempt for the babbled slander of his garden-as if he had ‘killed a man.’ For a moment the set of his face could be described in just that fantastic way” (134). As Gatsby is arguing with Tom over Daisy and whom she loves, he loses himself to his temper and emotion. He embarrasses himself and soils the image of himself that he's built up for others to see, and loses his perceived power. Gatsby also shows a lack of personal integrity, esteem, and power when he requests for Daisy to say she never loved Tom at any point in time, such as when he says, “‘Daisy, that’s all over now,’ he said earnestly. ‘It doesn’t matter any more. Just tell him the truth-that you never loved him-and it’s all wiped out forever’”
How does reading a story benefits an individual and improve his or her daily life? Extensive reading does not only serve as an entertainment purpose, but it is also beneficial to many readers because reading fiction can help enhance a person’s understanding of the type of society the reader lives in. For example, the famous novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is regarded as a brilliant work of literature, for it offers a detailed glimpse of the American life in the 1920s and comments on various social problems during that time period. The novel tells the story of a mysterious millionaire named Jay Gatsby who lives in the fictional town of West Egg, located on Long Island, during the summer of 1922. Gatsby wants to pursue his first
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, tells the story of a man of meager wealth who chases after his dreams, only to find them crumble before him once he finally reaches them. Young James Gatz had always had dreams of being upper class, he didn't only want to have wealth, but he wanted to live the way the wealthy lived. At a young age he ran away from home; on the way he met Dan Cody, a rich sailor who taught him much of what he would later use to give the world an impression that he was wealthy. After becoming a soldier, Gatsby met an upper class girl named Daisy - the two fell in love. When he came back from the war Daisy had grown impatient of waiting for him and married a man named Tom Buchanan. Gatsby now has two coinciding dreams to chase after - wealth and love. Symbols in the story, such as the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock, the contrast between the East Egg and West Egg, and the death of Myrtle, Gatsby, and Wilson work together to expose a larger theme in the story. Gatsby develops this idea that wealth can bring anything - status, love, and even the past; but what Gatsby doesn't realize is that wealth can only bring so much, and it’s this fatal mistake that leads to the death of his dreams.
Nostalgia, the bittersweet longing for things, persons, or situations of the past, is the dominant feeling throughout The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It is an eloquently written novel filled with intricate details and written to evoke the romanticism in anybody. The love affairs evolving throughout the story add substance as well as emotions to the author’s message, a moral lesson concerning how people think and behave. I found numerous instances in the book that aroused soul-searching questions that every person asks him/herself at one period of time or another. Mr. Jay Gatsby, the self made millionaire, is desperately seeking to reunite with his first and only love, Daisy Buchanan, who is already married to Tom. The story unfolds through the eyes of Mr. Nick Carraway, who lends a moral standing to the story, remains more distant than the other characters, and is more a spectator than being actively or emotionally involved in the situations. Fitzgerald’s use of Carraway as a spectator, and how brilliant it is, is one aspect that all literary critics seem to agree upon. The first literary critic, Jeffrey Steinbrink, primarily focuses his analysis on the element of time. He states, “the notion that the flow of history can be arrested, perhaps even reversed, recurs in The Great Gatsby as a consequence of the universal human capacity for regret and the concomitant tendency to wish for something better” (Steinbrink 179). The inability to recover the past as well as the tendency to try and correct it is most evident with Jay Gatsby.
Materialism has a negative influence on the characters in the novel, The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. “The most terrible thing about materialism even more terrible than its proneness to violence, is its boredom, from which sex, alcohol, drugs, all devices for putting out the accusing light of reason and suppressing the unrealizable aspirations of love, offers a prospect of deliverance.” This quote, stated by Malcolm Muggeridge, says that people get bored with the things that they have when they get new things all of the time. When they get bored with these things, they turn to stuff like sex, alcohol, and drugs. In The Great Gatsby, Myrtle, Daisy, and Gatsby are greatly influenced by money, and material things. The negative influence that materialism has on these characters is shown throughout the entire novel.
America has been labeled "The land of opportunity," a place where it is possible to accomplish anything and everything. This state of mind is known as "The American Dream." The American Dream provides a sense of hope and faith that looks forward to the fulfillment of human wishes and desires. This dream, however, originates from a desire for spiritual and material improvement. Unfortunately, the acquisition of material has been tied together with happiness in America. Although "The American Dream" can be thought of as a positive motivation, it often causes people to strive for material perfection, rather than a spiritual one. This has been a truth since the beginnings of America, such as the setting of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, which is an example of this set in the 20’s. The characters in this novel are too fixed on material things, losing sight of what is really important.
...are shown that Gatsby is prepared to do everything in his power to acquire Daisy’s adoration again, even let her get away with murder and will blindly go to jail for her. This however only leads him to his ultimate doom, as he is killed by Myrtle’s husband, Wilson. He may be a liar, but readers empathize with him as his only fault for being dishonest is his love for Daisy and being so blind to see that she is not worthy of that adoration.
Themes of hope, success, and wealth overpower The Great Gatsby, leaving the reader with a new way to look at the roaring twenties, showing that not everything was good in this era. F. Scott Fitzgerald creates the characters in this book to live and recreate past memories and relationships. This was evident with Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship, Tom and Daisy’s struggling marriage, and Gatsby expecting so much of Daisy and wanting her to be the person she once was. The theme of this novel is to acknowledge the past, but do not recreate and live in the past because then you will not be living in the present, taking advantage of new opportunities. Gatsby has many issues of repeating his past instead of living in the present.