Great Gatsby Societal Standards

1103 Words3 Pages

Have you ever worked so hard for something in your life? Have you wanted to be greater than what you were born with. Or, what if you were born with everything handed to you on a silver platter? Despite their similarities, they have distinct differences. In this essay, I will demonstrate how The Great Gatsby accurately represents the different classes in American society and the American Dream. Let's begin with the cushioned, rich, and lovely Daisy Buchanan. With her porcelain white skin and bouncy blonde hair, Daisy was born into a wealthy family in Louisville, with everything at her manicured fingertips. She grew up learning from society and others to exude ditziness, excitement, naiveness, and a bubbly personality. She knew the charm of talking …show more content…

“I'm glad it's a girl. And I hope she'll be a fool- that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.” Daisy tries to embody being “A beautiful little fool” by lounging around and adding ignorant comments into the conversations to be näive and silly. Daisy has become this perfect woman, who is a prized possession, a trophy wife, always the best. But is it ever enough? Societal standards are always changing and unreachable, always looking for someone to be the ultimate bride and perfect girl. We can see the era of Marylin Monroe, perfect blonde, skinny, sexy, and exciting. But, as times change, Marilyn is no longer in style, instead thrown in the back of the closet and forgotten as society looks for the next golden girl. So, even women like Daisy and the iconic Marylin Monroe, find themselves thrown away once they no longer fit the …show more content…

Gatsby, or James Gatz, started with humble beginnings on a farm, “knowing” he was worth more than his origins. He traveled around, looking for an opportunity to reinvent himself in high society. That opening came in the form of Dan Cody’s need for an assistant. Gatsby spent five years learning and practicing his new identity, charming and interesting Jay Gatsby. However, upon Dan Cody's scandalous death, he inherited no fortune but gained an education in the art of speaking and behaving like his ideal persona, the “successful heir” Jay Gatsby. Gatsby continues to flirt with the idea of Jay Gatsby as he finally meets Daisy in Louisville. She is painted as the perfect girl, with soft smiles and eyes that shine in the moonlight with thousands of possibilities glimmering all so close yet so far. He immediately falls in love, never wavering from her. He gets sent to the army, leaving her for almost 5 years. Gatsby reveals why he never went after Daisy. Immediately after the army, he wasn't the Jay Gatsby he aspired to be. She eventually got bored and married. This shattered Gatsby's already wounded heart, the beautiful girl he loved had chosen another man, basically rejecting him and taunting him that he wasn't good enough. This started the dominoes of his obsession with Daisy, the idea of going back to the moment they met on a warm summer night in Louisville. Gatsby closes off to

Open Document