Social Class In The Great Gatsby

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Plato’s words, “The greatest wealth is to live content with little.” apply to many things in life, but certainly not the book, The Great Gatsby by Francis Scott Fitzgerald. When most people think of The Great Gatsby, their mind automatically goes to a love story between Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan, but upon reading the book, it is clear that the bigger meaning covers a much wider field than that. After spending his whole adult life dreaming of being with Daisy Buchanan, Jay Gatsby finally has the opportunity to reconnect with her when her neighbor moves in right next door to him. However, with Daisy still being married, there are more complications than it seems for Jay and Daisy to get their happily ever after. A big theme of social class …show more content…

When James is offered a job at a small college, his reaction in the text reads, “despising the janitor’s work with which he was to pay his way through.” (Page 76). Jay’s already upper class state of mind caused him to be repelled by the thought of having to do ‘dirty work’ like being a janitor to earn his education. Had Jay been more modest and content with his class, there is a strong likelihood that he would have remained at the college to get his education and move on from there. Because he didn’t, however, he was able to chase his dream of the luxurious life and reach the times where he was able to throw blow out parties each night. All in all, Jay’s past is a strong contributor to the theme of social class in the story because of the ways that it depicts one of the main characters being opposed to keeping what he had in life, and the fight to be in the richer category. To begin, while Myrtle is having a get together at her house, Mrs. McKee comments, “‘I knew he was way below me.’” (Page 28). This quote in particular is in regards to one of Mrs. McKee’s old boyfriends. The statement shows that even though she isn’t at the top of the social class, Mrs. McKee still judged someone and ruled out the option of marrying them because of their social class. Another point of the social class theme with Mrs. Wilson is Tom’s treatment of her. On page 30, a portion of the story reads, “Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand.” Mr. Buchanan’s quick resort to physical abuse insinuates that he does not feel complete respect towards her. This violence was most likely justified by Tom in the sense that she is not on the same level as him, and therefore it is okay for him to take control of her and even hit her. Lastly, Mrs. Wilson’s treatment after death his a huge contributor to the social class theme. In

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