Great Gatsby Racism Quotes

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Racism was common all throughout the early twentieth century. For instance, according to bbc.co.uk, “In 1921 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a serious race riot took place and 25 blacks and 9 whites were killed” and, “By the mid-1920s, the Klan had over 100,000 members”. In addition, according to www1.assumption.edu, “Ford became a virulent anti-Semite”, showing that the 1920s were filled with racism against multiple races. Likewise, racism is not absent from The Great Gatsby and is often overlooked in its significance throughout the novel. It is largely portrayed through Tom Buchanan, a rich, caucasian-nordic male. Throughout multiple instances in the book, Tom blurts out rather racist ideology. For instance, on page 13 he states, “It’s up to us, who are the dominant race, to watch out or these other races will have control …show more content…

However, racism is not just subjected through Tom, and Nick Carraway himself even has slightly racist tendencies. For instance, on page 70, nick states, “Mr. Wolfshiem's nose flashed at me indignantly”. At first glance, one would not suspect this to be slightly racist. However, when taking into consideration that Mr. Wolfshiem is a Jewish man, the racial stigma of Jewish people having big, protruding noses becomes apparent. As mentioned before, anti-Semitism was on a rise during the 1920s. Furthermore, throughout the discussion, Mr. Wolfshiem is portrayed to be a crooked con man, another racial stigma about Jewish people that was heavily circulated during the time, especially since the Ku Klux Klan had rapidly gained followers along with the Nazis. This is not to say however that Nick is a full-blown racist, however, it is just likely that due to the preferences of society at the time, even people like Nick had become slightly influenced. Overall though, racism in the Great Gatsby has a large impact on the view of the

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