Racism And The Buchanan In The Great Gatsby

The "rotten crowd" to whom Nick is referring is Tom and Daisy, the bourgeoisie. Therefore, the Buchanan is described as part of the "crowd" who escape from their problems and masked behind their money as shown here, "But she and Tom had gone away early that afternoon, and taken baggage with them" (chapter9.4-10).For instance, "the knuckle was black and blue. “You did it, Tom,” this shows that Tom's aggressiveness, barbarism and dangerous temper (Chapter1-12). In addition, Tom represented the men during that time, "It’s up to us, who are the dominant race, to watch out or these other races will have control of things", where it can be inferred, that during the 1920s, the beginning of the twentieth century, America was characterised by racism, brutality and ill-treatment towards

racial groups. Daisy is illustrated as the women during that time," that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.” (chapter1-16). This highlights the fact that Daisy understands the subordinate role that women, especially established rich women, are expected to play such as to bear the extramarital affairs of their spouses.

Thus, it is better for women during that time to be oblivious to whatever is happening in their life so that they would not get hurt in the way. "I couldn't forgive him or like him, but I saw that what he had done was, to him, entirely justified", this shows that in nicks point of view, the Buchanan hold different moral values than Gatsby (chapter9.136-145). Nick hence, reveals that even a fraud and corrupt like Gatsby is better than the other frauds and corrupts because of his childish romantic desires which are focused on ideals such as love instead of materialism, and because he did the chivalrous thing in waiting and sacrificing himself for Daisy. Therefore, Tom and Daisy in Nick's perspective were seen as, "careless people," as they refused to accept the consequences as a result of their actions and rather hid behind the safeguard of their wealth. The wealthy do not want observe the real events happening in the world around them because they refused to have any guilt for their reckless

behaviour. Tom and Daisy also represented the American dream, during the era of the 1920s, where it was time of carefree enjoyment, the old wealth has attained huge amount of money, big house and to Tom he has gotten the dream girl. Even though Tom and Daisy have tried to distance themselves from Gatsby and the culture of new wealth, they cannot avoid the attitude of carelessness that has infected the wealthy in this era. Therefore, Nick assessment on Gatsby claims to be that he is much more significant than the others despite his flaws, hence suggesting that Gatsby is "worth the whole damn bunch put together".

Gatsby a mysterious young man, who came from nowhere, accomplished so much in a short period of time. Thus, Nick admires his achievements and, therefore, respected Gatsby differently from the Buchanan. Nick regarded Gatsby as a discipline young man. Gatsby’s boyhood schedule symbolises his aspiration to improve himself in every way possible. He always wants to succeed in whatever he tries—“run faster, stretch out [his] arms farther,” as Nick puts it at the end of the novel (chapter9). With Gatsby living in West Egg which represents new money, also known as the Nouveau Riche, while the Buchanan resides in the East Egg representing old money, where their wealth extends from previous generations and hence helps to cover all manner of sins, Nick assessment of Gatsby differs in a respectable manner and by moving to West Egg, he is trying to make something of himself, creating an identity, in a way like Gatsby. When Nick affirmed that, “no one else was interested,” it appeared to him that the East side lacked values and morals and that it was merely a land with a glittery surface (chapter9). As opposed to Gatsby’s former friends and acquaintances who refuse to come to his funeral, Nick has the decency and, in fact feels the responsibility to do this last thing for Gatsby. This also shows that Nick and Gatsby had a special connection and friendship, considering that Nick seems to be Gatsby’s only empathetic friend. Therefore, Nick judgement on Gatsby is based on their distinctive friendship, thus differentiating Gatsby with the Buchanan assuming that Gatsby is "worth" more.

However, this novel being entirely written in nick's perspective, we cannot take every thoughts and event to be entirely true. This is because; nick perception of the events could be misrepresented. Is Gatsby really worth more than Tom and Daisy? Yes, it could be true in nick perspective, but when the short story is perceived as a whole, it can be analysed that Gatsby is actually almost or equal to Tom and Daisy. This is due to the fact that Gatsby holds the same morals, which is embodying the American Dream, as Tom and Daisy which includes money, big house, high status and the ideal girl. Thus, Gatsby’s career began with a commitment to the same classic version of the American Dream but was corrupted by his obsession with Daisy, money, status. Gatsby strong desire to attain the American Dream has led him to succumb to business ventures that were illegal as shown in this text, “He and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter. That’s one of his little stunts. I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him, and I wasn’t wrong.” (pg133). This stressed the fact that Gatsby attitude is equivalent to the Buchanan and that Nick is deluded by Gatsby actions, assuming that Gatsby is different from the "rotten crowd".
The last thing Gatsby needed to accomplish the American Dream is to get the dream girl, which in this novel is represented by Daisy. Gatsby is desperate to get daisy back to him and be with him "just as if it were five years ago."(pg117). Gatsby’s "white flannel suit, silver shirt and gold-coloured tie" which was worn during the initial reunion with Daisy symbolises Gatsby’s extreme wealth and his strong desire to prove that he has now accumulated enough wealth to win back Daisy." 'Can't repeat the past?’ he cried incredulously. ‘Why of course you can!’", this proclaims that Gatsby does not have the ability to recognise reality; hence he is struggling to accept that things and people can change in 5 years (chapter5pg118). He expected Daisy to just leave Tom and fall back in love with him the moment she found out he was rich. Gatsby is so determined on recreating 1917 and the love he and Daisy had before he went to war that he is almost detached from reality. Gatsby self-deception in assuming that he had the capability of controlling time fails otherwise. This is evident when Gatsby knocked off a clock and catching it before it hits the ground. This highlights the fact that Gatsby is trapped by his dreams having an ideal love with Daisy, he has been so busy chasing a dream rather than enjoying reality just as the clock is trapped in that exact moment when it stopped working. This therefore reveals that even with all his charisma and wealth, the “Great” Gatsby is still greatly flawed and somewhat delusional, thus emphasising the fact that Nick assessment on Gatsby is misinterpreted.

In conclusion, we can see that it does not matter if it is the old money or the new money, because money once acquired, gives you the ability to be reckless. Thus, I do not agree with Nick's assessment on Gatsby as it is not accurate to say that Gatsby is "worth" more and is much more significant than the others as he is equivalent to the "rotten crowd". Nick's assessment on Gatsby could be misinterpreted as this short story was entirely written in Nick's point of view and, we cannot interpret the real thoughts that Gatsby have, all the events were described base on Nick which could bias at some point of time. Thus, Gatsby despite his flaws is not as "Great" as perceived by Nick, therefore opposing Nick's assessment of Gatsby.