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Social inequality in the great gatsby
Social inequality in the great gatsby
Gender and class in the great gatsby
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Even the poor striving to become a part of the rich have no morals or ethics or even basic humanity. One does to some extent sympathize with the lower class in general but Gatsbys portrayal of the Wilsons removes all feelings of pity for them. Despite the heavy critique on the Buchanans and Gatsby Fitzgerald has failed to provide a sympathetic scenario for the Wilsons, as they represent lower class. George and Myrtle try to improve their life the only way they know how by either clinging to their business or by selling their bodies. Myrtle “rents” her body to Tom Buchanan in hopes of him marrying her in the future whereas her husband acts as a lapdog for Tom Buchanan. They are shown as villainous characters as they are committing evils that go beyond the morals of the society but in reality they are victims. They are victims of capitalism and the social class difference present in their society. Their portrayal as vermin in the eyes of the rich is accurate but readers do not feel sympathetic towards them which …show more content…
But why must we judge them for trying to achieve success through any means necessary? When we can remain quiet in terms of the rich and their illegal activities why should we criticize the Wilsons? The fact that Tom is having an affair with a low class woman also reinforces the prejudiced view that poorer women lack sexual morals, and are more likely to sleep around than ‘classy’ ladies. They are victims of oppression but we feel angry at George that he doesn’t have what it takes to “pull himself up by his bootstraps” and better himself, as the American dream tells us he should. We always end up blaming the victim instead of the system that victimizes him or her. The Wilsons are trying to do what is best for them, but the negative portrayal of their personalities make it hard for us to feel sorry for them and the situation they are
Myrtle Wilson came from a working class family with a low social standing. Due to her family’s lack of money, Myrtle’s options were limited to marrying men of equal or lower economic status than herself. As a result, Myrtle married George Wilson, a poor car mechanic. In her relationship with George, Myrtle lacked control due to her status as a woman and was thus forced to listen to her husband. However, because of her lower status, Myrtle did learn to use her physical attributes to her own advantage. In other words, Myrtle knew how to exaggerate her physical beauty in order to attract men such as Tom Buchanan; who would pay her with money and expensive gifts in return. Thus, “there is a clear connection between the material disadvantages” Myrtle faced and her lack of morals; given “the paucity of her allotment of the fundamental decencies” (Voegeli). In other words, because of her lack of economic backing, Myrtle Wilson grew up as a woman of lower class with less options in life; which limited her social power and drove her to act unlike any high class lady. Thus, Myrtle’s only option for increasing her status was through material services such as her relationship with Tom Buchanan. All in all, Myrtle Wilson’s economic status limited her to the life of a low class woman and her power others in her
“Nick-” she reluctantly drew words. “-Did I ever tell you of the letter Myrtle sent Tom, back in Christmas, about three years ago?” I already knew I didn’t want to have this conversation. I wanted to sit and hold my breath like a toddler until I got my way and she withheld this talk with me.
In the book Great Gatsby there are many examples of society and social class, many are shown to us as the book progresses. Some are shown to us very up front while, others are hidden in the text. Society and social class play a critical part in this book such as how people interact with the lower classes, to how the rich live their lives. When we look deeper into on how the Great Gatsby handles sociality and social class, which puts the characters in the positions they are in.
Myrtle eventually had similar goals as Gatsby, but her life did not begin the same way. She was of the lower class of society and married a simple man. The two pursued a poor life, but Myrtle’s husband George was a decent man. Nevertheless, Myrtle became unsatisfied, and when the opportunity arose to better the quality of her life, she took it. Daisy’s husband Tom, an unfaithful, rough man not very committed to his marriage, began an affair with Myrtle.
Perhaps one of the greatest ways Fitzgerald establishes the horrific times of the 1920s occurs when he evokes sympathy for Gatsby regarding his tragic death and the after affects. One night, after being in New York City for the day, Daisy and Gatsby are driving back to Daisy’s home. Daisy’s husband, Tom, has not remained faithful to her since their wedding day and he is in an affair with a woman named Myrtle Wilson. The road from New York City back to Daisy’s home travels past the home of Myrtle Wilson. As Daisy and Gatsby are driving by, Myrtle sees the car and recognizes that Tom was driving it earlier. Thinking that Tom is currently driving the car, Myrtle thinks that Tom has come to get her and take her with him. Myrtle then runs out to the car, but the car does not stop because Daisy is driving it, and ends up accidentally hitting and killing Myrtle. However, when George Wilson finds out that his wife has been killed, he is wrongly told that Gatsby was the one driving the vehicle. George Wilson becomes so upset by this that he goes to Gatsby house and shoots him. This event creates sympathy for Gatsby because he gets killed for an crime that he did not commit. Gatsby’s tell also signifies his love for Daisy and how he was willing to take the blame for the murder, so that Daisy would not suffer any
Many of the occurrences in The Great Gatsby produced far-reaching effects for several of the characters. Of these occurrences, one of the most influential and important incidents was the death of Myrtle Wilson. While her life and death greatly affected the lives of all of the main and supporting characters, her death had a very significant effect on the lives of Tom, Daisy, and Gatsby.
Scott Fitzgerald, two characters, Myrtle Wilson and Jay Gatsby suffered although different in social class appearance and gender, suffer from the inability to differentiate between illusions and reality, causing their downfalls. Myrtle and Gatsby have similar goals, but different ambitions. Gatsby wants to achieve wealth for the sole purpose of regaining his previous love interest, Daisy, where as Myrtle wants to obtain wealth for her selfish desire of status and integration into the upper class. However, they both begin their journeys to downfall when they sacrifice all morality for this wealth. Gatsby becomes a criminal, and seduces a married woman and ultimately break up her family for his own selfish goal of winning his old love back. While, Myrtle begins an affair with Tom Buchanan, a wealthy upper class man, who abuses her emotionally and physically, although her husband Wilson honestly loves and respects, solely because she falls in love with the idea of status and riches which Tom could give her. It is their incapability to separate their desired illusions from reality, which leads them to their
Gatsby plays the god-like character in this book so his means are good but both him and Myrtle do bad things to get higher in a crowd that will never take them in. To make themselves appear better to the other crowd, they lose some of the moral fiber that was there to begin with. (Fitzgerald, -page 83) Loss of morals in the 1920' in America caused the American dream to vanish. The god-like character of the book was a good person but he did bad things like bootlegging and joining in organized crime. Affairs happened in the elite crowd between Tom and Myrtle.
Myrtle believes she can scorn her true social class in an attempt to be accepted into Ton's, Jay Gatsby who bases his whole life on buying love with wealth, and Daisy, who instead of marrying the man she truly loves, marries someone with wealth. The romance of money lures the characters in The Great Gatsby into surrendering their values, but in the end, "the streets paved with gold led to a dead end" (Vogue, December 1999). The first example of a character whose morals are destroyed is Myrtle. Myrtle's attempt to enter into the group to which the Buchanans belong is doomed to fail. She enters the affair with Tom, hoping to adopt his way of life and be accepted into his class to escape from her own.
The first character who represents the shallowness of the wealthy is Myrtle Wilson, even though she is not wealthy at all. She seeks to escape her own class and stoops to the low point of betraying her trusting husband who loves her more than anything. Her attempt to break into the higher class that Tom belongs to is doomed to fail. Even though she does take on Tom's way of living during their affair, she only becomes more vulgar and corrupt like the rich. She scorns people from her own class and loses all sense of morality. Myrtle never finds a place in Tom's higher social division, and what reveals her impertinence most is that she thought she would succeed in the first place, giving up all her morals for the wealthy.
Throughout the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Myrtle is a victim of her own desperation. This sense of despair stems from her marriage to George Wilson. As soon as she marries George she knows she made a mistake and she pays for that mistake every second of her life. This despair that originates from her marriage then translates into her cheating on her husband with a married man, Tom Buchanan and completely ignoring him. Due to her obvious desperation, Tom is able to boss her around on numerous occasions and makes her do what he wants because of her desperation.
Tom is proud of his family, and has had many since his marriage. For the esteemed Tom Buchanan, Myrtle Wilson is simply the woman of the time. Due to Tom being consumed by wealth, people that recently came to fortune or individuals with less money hold no stake in Tom’s world. To Tom, they are nobodies.
George Wilson is the naïve husband to Myrtle Wilson, the woman having an affair with Tom Buchanan, who is the "brute of a man, a great, big, hulking physical specimen"(Fitzgerald 16) husband to Daisy Buchanan, the woman whom Jay Gatsby, the main character, is in love with: a very removed yet significant role in the story. Evidently playing the role of the common man, in a story revolving around wealth and possessions, George Wilson is the owner of an auto body shop and is described as a "spiritless man, anemic and faintly handsome"(29). Wilson's common man image helps to further develop the theme of Wilson is deeply in love with Myrtle to a point where he is paranoid of losing her. "`I've got my wife locked in up there,' explained Wilson calmly. `She's going to stay there till the day after tomorrow and then we're going to move away"(143).
On one level The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald comments on the careless gaiety and moral decadence of the period in which it was set. It contains innumerable references to the contemporary scene. The wild extravagance of Gatsby's parties, the shallowness and aimlessness of the guests and the hint of Gatsby's involvement in crime all identify the period and the American setting. But as a piece of social commentary The Great Gatsby also describes the failure of the American dream, from the point of view that American political ideals conflict with the actual social conditions that exist. For whereas American democracy is based on the idea of equality among people, the truth is that social discrimination still exists and the divisions among the classes cannot be overcome. Myrtle's attempt to break into the group to which the Buchanans belong is doomed to fail. Taking advantage of her vivacity, her lively nature, she seeks to escape from her own class. She enters into an affair with Tom and takes on his way of living. But she only becomes vulgar and corrupt like the rich. She scorns people from her own class and loses all sense of morality. And for all her social ambition, Myrtle never succeeds in her attempt to find a place for herself in Tom's class. When it comes to a crisis, the rich stand together against all outsiders.
...lthy, yet the wealthy, such as the Buchanans, is unhappy and disgruntled with their lives. For example, Jordan Baker is described as always being bored with an unaffected look. These character portrayals makes readers question if wealth and luxury is really necessary.